Features

As stealth pilots, mission planning is our “tactic”.
The mission planner inputs the most accurate scenario
into the computer, along with some other criteria, and
the computer calculates for a while then spits out the
best possible routes to fly. The mission planner
picks one and “humanizes” it, changing, adding,
deleting, to build the final product, which will be
loaded into the jet. The pilot will ensure the
correct route is loaded, take off, and let the
autopilot fly. So the mission planning computer is a
key part of the stealth world. Called the AFMSS, it
sometimes takes on something of a personality. Here
is Korea, we have 6 connected stations set up and
every day at least one seems to think of a new problem
for our contractors to fix with their esoteric DOS
commands.

Usually the AFMSS thinks of such “features” (as the
contractors affectionately call them) at the worst
possible, and most aggravating, times. But once a few
weeks ago, an AFMSS actually made me laugh. It seemed
to be playing a game with me. I had a dialogue window
open that I needed to modify, but every time I moused
over it, it vanished. I’d move the mouse cursor away,
and it would reappear. I tried another dialogue
window. It vanished. The game of “catch the window”.
I played for a few minutes, laughing at this new
feature…then restarted the machine, vaguely sad to
squash the machine’s creativity in this new “feature”.

Hope you have a better relationship with your computer
these days!
Donna