It can be worse "flying the line". In the 1960s we were limited to 125 hours a month and 330 hrs. for the quarter. (C-141) . Numerous times we burned out before the quarter was over and one month (Pueblo Crisis) they granted wholesale waivers. I got 156 hours that month. It was constant 12 on, 12 off.

Maybe it is different for the AF, but believe me - the fighter guys are gone a lot too. During my fleet tours - I was gone for approximately 12 out of 18 months, and those long days get longer when on deployment because there is little else to do but work (and workout)

Fighters being a drag to fly
I never thought of it that way - but to each their own I guess.

Gilligan, I'm nearing the end of my career and would go back and start over again in a heart beat. You do not always work 12 hr days and your days are spent briefing, flying, debriefing and studying/talking tactics. There is the ground job stuff to do but it is rewarding. Not to mention taking time out of the day to hit the gym. If you love flying, then there is no better job. You do deploy a lot ( at least in the USMC), but deployments meant increased flying and seeing different places and most importantly, doing what you where trained to do. When you feel burnt out and have to rotate our for a "career enhancing" ground job, you realize pretty darn quick how good you had it.

Sounds like those Ip's were right that flying fighters were a drag.

This is something I think said by people who will never have the opportunity to fly them. Dudes do get burned out, but I would do it all over again.

Good luck if you're in UPT.

I too would do it again. I'd love to be back in my late 20's . Between me and a few buds "The reasons you join are different than the reasons you stay, each persons situation is different"

In the civilian world you can spread out more work by hiring more employees. But in the military, usually most of the work is training which enhances the readiness and proficiency of the war fighters...if you spread the work out, you end with a larger number less-proficient fighters. Our military is better than anyone else's largely due to that work ethic.

Better to have fewer guys who really know what they're doing. The world is full of half-assed military forces with civil-service schedules, and we've rolled over more than a few.

I'll bet those IPs NEVER flew a fighter. Sour Grapes and all that.

I spent 25 years in the AF flying two fantastic fighters. A drag?? NEVER! Lots of work? YES! But if flying isn't your passion, don't volunteer for fighters. It is definitely NOT just another flying job.

I had no idea it was so bad for pilots in the military. Being in the military myself, I must say I was always treated fairly. We couldn't make 8hr days work out in the field or when something "needed" to get done, but management was pretty good about treating people fairly and giving time off when appropriate. When just doing normal training and maintaining, almost every day was 8 hours. My brother on the other hand in the Navy, he had some stories about "standing watch" and how that was in addition to other duties during a "workday". Didn't seem to make sense to me to give someone a job and normal workday and then give them another shift right after that, unless it was so spread out that it happened rarely and equal time off was given, but that didn't seem to be the case, not to mention normal human exhaustion and performance are huge issues.

A few misconceptions you have at the moment:

- The long hours are across all branches in aviation... except maybe Coast Guard because they are unionized... I think (yes, that's a joke)
- The long hours are across all platforms not just the fighter pukes.
- The majority of us understand long hours are the price we pay to fly the equipment we do. But like you said, we get burnt out which does drive a lot of people out of the service.

Nearly every time I have a flight it's a 12 hour day minimum. Depending on what time the flight is will depend on if I get anything done that day. I might get up in the morning, stay at might house and do 4 hours of work on my computer before I can legally go into work which turns into a 12+ hour day.

Thanks for the info. The info I got made it sound like the heavy guys worked normal 8 or 9 hours if they weren't flying. For fighter guys it seemed they worked 12-14 hours everyday even when not flying.