Originally Posted by
Spanky189
You're entitled to your experience.. but
Reality is (See AFI ..any heavy reg...) 2 pilots is 16 hour duty day and 3 pilots is 24 hours. No waiver required. Add 2 hours to each in a wartime situation, hello, Iraq now, Iraq a few years ago.
To answer your question about my longest sortie with 3 pilots, it was Dover to Somalia w/ 2 air-refuelings, 14.1 hours. OH, I also did GM to Pakistan, without a waiver, and without getting out of the seat (12.1). Longest day was Frankfurt to Saudi(8 hr), 6 hours on the ground awaiting fuel and then flying back to GM(another 8 hr). Also-(only 2 piots now). South Africa to Stuttgart,GM in one day, 3 legs, 18 hour day, 2 pilots, no waiver or WG/CC intervention or concern. Long day? Yes, it sucked but that was the job. You do it and move on.
Flying in a holding pattern is not Rocket Science. Just plug it in and sit back.
The guys today are doing alot more than I experienced so my suppot is totally with them. They are doing a great job.
Even though I realize you guys in the Air Force are studs, the question I would want to have answered if I were a passenger on one of your 16 hour flights is this; How sharp are you really after one of those long flights? Also, nobody in the Air Force is asking you to do that kind of flying for 30 years!
Studies have shown that past a certain point in sleep depravation, you start to act and react as if you've been drinking. Flying+Drinking=Bad Combo. The flying public is adamant about two things: One, pilots don't work enough. Two, nobody wants a tired pilot behind the controls, especially their flight to Disney World! Contradictory, I know, but those are the facts.