fighter pilot hours?

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 08:45:59 -0600, "Jeff Crowell"
wrote:

Sims are great for buttonology and procedures, and can be a lot of
fun (and they can scare the hell out of you sometimes).

I loved the sim segment from the short-lived and by-me-lamented TV
series on the American Fighter Pilot (or whatever the name). Our hero
had all the red buttons flashing at him at once.

I'm glad to hear your comments on the million-dollar flight sim. I
have a pal who believes that the Microsoft version on his home
computer has qualified him as one of the Few in the Battle of Britain.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Expedition sailboat charters www.expeditionsail.com

"phil hunt" wrote...

Do you have any figurews for USAF and RAF pilots? Does the number of
hours typically vary depemnding on type of aircraft flown? Also, to
what extent can good simulators replace flying time?

USN minimum is 100 hours/year. That's way too low to actually maintain
proficiency.

15 hours/month is about minimum for proficiency; 300 hours/year is reasonable.

"phil hunt" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 13:18:37 -0400, Kevin Brooks
wrote:

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
.. .

I fly about 50 hours a year and wish I could do more, just to stay in
the groove.

Could I have stayed current in a jet fighter, flying about 140 hours a
year?

Depends on what Air Force you are talking about. I was reading the other
day
where the average annual flight time in the Russian Air Force has been as
low as the 40 hour mark--and they don't have decent simulators to help
make
up the deficiency. Supposedly, that average allows the younger pilots to
get
in some 60 or 70 hours a year, while the older guys get stuck with less
than
the 40 hour average. ISTR that some of the NATO nations (and I am not
talking the recent additions here) have annual flight hour numbers that
have dipped as low as the 80 to 100 hour figure; ISTR that even our ARNG
helicopter aviators are (or were a few years ago) required to get a bit
more
than that each year.

Do you have any figurews for USAF and RAF pilots?

Can't find any (after a quick search) for fighter/attack aircraft, other
than in "relative" terms (using 1988/89 as a baseline value that is not
actually stated); you maye derive more info by reading the following more
completely:

www.comw.org/pda/afread02.html

Does the number of
hours typically vary depemnding on type of aircraft flown?

Apparently so; the above reference indicates, for example, that in 1994 the
C-5 pilots were averaging 133 hours per year, and C-141 pilots were
averaging 123 hours. I'd imagine fighter pilots, especially those of
multimission aircraft like the F-16, require significantly more hours to
remain truly proficient (as already mentioned by Ed and others).

Also, to
what extent can good simulators replace flying time?

You'd be better off asking that question of someone who has experience with
the latest high-tech sims. I doubt they are on par with actual flying
experience, but I also have little doubt that they beat sitting around
rereading flight manuals to kill time...

Brooks


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