How often military pilots fly
05-09-2011, 03:40 AM
#11
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Originally Posted by AZFlyer
USMCFLYER/Crewdawg, thanks for the clarification. Are flights (excluding ferry/x-ctry) in the fighter world short due to the nature of the mission you practice for? i.e. it doesn't take too long to fly to the range and drop a few bombs and RTB; practice air-air fighting?
It would not be unusual to burn 10,000#s of gas in 0+45!
Lots of sorties in the F/A world - few hours compared to other communities on average.
USMCFLYR
05-09-2011, 02:50 PM
#14
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Originally Posted by AZFlyer
This now makes perfect sense as to why some of the 1000 hour patches I've seen are HUGE. A bit of a milestone, it seems. Saw a viper pilot once with a patch about the size of a small dinner plate.
USMCFLYR
05-09-2011, 04:58 PM
#15
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In the AFRes C-5 unit we had loads of guys clocking 40-60 hours a month, every month for the last 10 years. Mostly 7-10 day trips. All quality time, too. Upgrade to A/C in two-three years, then PIC heavy jet time.
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05-09-2011, 06:24 PM
#17
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"How much do you fly" is really a loaded question.
"Hours" is what many people chase when it comes to finding the next job.
"Sorties" is a pretty good measure too. Better than hours when it comes to how much time you spend "preparing, flying and debriefing"... though you may have fewer "hours".
In U-2 land (to include the T-38), you will fly about 2 times per week when not deployed,... more if you are aggressive on picking up sorties.
"Hours" is what many people chase when it comes to finding the next job.
"Sorties" is a pretty good measure too. Better than hours when it comes to how much time you spend "preparing, flying and debriefing"... though you may have fewer "hours".
In U-2 land (to include the T-38), you will fly about 2 times per week when not deployed,... more if you are aggressive on picking up sorties.
05-09-2011, 06:55 PM
#18
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Originally Posted by Red Forman
Don't forget to check out the coast guard. A buddy of mine averages about 40 hours a month there. That's not a ton, but more than most.
05-09-2011, 07:33 PM
#19
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Originally Posted by HuggyU2
"Sorties" is a pretty good measure too. Better than hours when it comes to how much time you spend "preparing, flying and debriefing"... though you may have fewer "hours".
The reason for that was the 2004-2007 timeframe in Iraq, where fighter AEF deployers were performing 4-6 hour sorties of "pipeline patrol" and similar non-tactical missions. The result was that there were some guys tagging 1,000 hours on their FIRST OPS TOUR, yet had little to no tactical prowess because so much of that time was on these AEF sorties.
05-10-2011, 02:56 AM
#20
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Originally Posted by Hacker15e
4 or 5 years ago, there was some informal discussion in the USAF fighter biz about using sortie count instead of hours as a measure of experience.
While "sortie count" may also not be ideal way to quickly track experience, I believe it is significantly better than "hours".
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