Originally Posted by
Spanky189
Ya know that two AF pilots can fly 16-18 hours in one day? Throw one more pilot in and we can go for 24-26 hours. Better not let those guys at JB hear about that or maybe you'll actually have to work a little harder... Get real!
Apples and oranges. You're talking single sortie vs multiple flights (with requisite terminal delays).
It's been a few years since I flew with the AF, but in order for us to fly 24 hrs, it required two pilot augmentees and a pretty big waiver; no lower than WG/CC, IIRC. And that's in the RC-135 on JCS tasked missions.
Your example does NOT apply to the average AF sortie, nor does it apply to the majority of AF pilots.
Having flown several 15+ hour sorties in the Rivet Joint, I can personally attest to how tough it is on the body. What's your longest sortie and how much of a basket case were you after you landed?
I can remember one KOFF-OERY sortie which was mx delayed for ~6 hrs. After we landed, our crew went to our hooch in Eskan. I woke up 26 hours after falling asleep & thought that the rest of the crew had woken up and gone back to sleep. Wrong! I was the first one who woke up. Yeah, that's real good for the body.