Originally Posted by
Douglas89
Meanwhile, here I am trying to fly a little 172 and I am at around 30 hours. I wonder how many hours a typical fighter pilot had during WWII prior to being deployed?
I think I read that they had at least 500 hours of training before they were sent overseas. Even then the squadrons generally sent the senior (most experienced) pilots on missions that could get hairy. The newbies flew even more in theater training flights.
There are plenty of stories about wing commanding officers who flew as wingman to a junior officer who had more combat experience before electing to lead missions themselves.