hours in fighter jets

[Jetronic]

A Belgian Air Force F-16 pilot will be the 6th in the world to score 5,000 hours on the aircraft

Captain Steven De Vries, a Belgian Air Force pilot, will score 5,000 flight hours for the first time on Friday in a training flight in an F-16 from Kleine

www.aviation24.be

How many hours is typical on 1 type in a career?

 

[GON]

I am amazed a fighter jet in Belgium was operational for 5,000 hours.

Working in Germany about five years ago, had a need for German military aircraft, could not be US aircraft for the mission due to some legal mumbo jumbo.

When I requested the German air support, the response was they had no military aircraft operational, none. Next comment was there was not a sense of urgency to keep their aircraft operational- USA will support us if there is a need.

Maybe other Western European countries maintain their military aircraft with a higher priority than Germany.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

That's pretty extraordinary. In my experience, which is admittedly dated, 2000-3000 hours is pretty common for fighter pilots in a type that was in service for their flying career. Over 3000 hours you are usually looking at someone who has picked staying in the cockpit over career broadening assignments that are required to achieve higher rank. With the GWOT going on so long, multiple tours and long missions may have adjusted those numbers up somewhat.

 

[edyvw]

I am amazed a fighter jet in Belgium was operational for 5,000 hours.

Working in Germany about five years ago, had a need for German military aircraft, could not be US aircraft for the mission due to some legal mumbo jumbo.

When I requested the German air support, the response was they had no military aircraft operational, none. Next comment was there was not a sense of urgency to keep their aircraft operational- USA will support us if there is a need.

Maybe other Western European countries maintain their military aircraft with a higher priority than Germany.

Germany had a lot of issues around that. Remember when Angela Merkel had to take regular line to Brazil bcs. A340 communications failed and another one did not have crew ready?

 

[edyvw]

That's pretty extraordinary. In my experience, which is admittedly dated, 2000-3000 hours is pretty common for fighter pilots in a type that was in service for their flying career. Over 3000 hours you are usually looking at someone who has picked staying in the cockpit over career broadening assignments that are required to achieve higher rank. With the GWOT going on so long, multiple tours and long missions may have adjusted those numbers up somewhat.

Depends on type of airplane too. In former Yugoslavia pilots were getting maximum possible time during the Cold War. But that was around 200hrs per year as squeezing out more in MIG21 is serious achievement considering physical demands, maintenance and most importantly the fact that plan cannot stay very long in the air.
With F16 it is much easier to achieve that.
My buddy that did PhD with me clocked 4,000+hrs on strike eagle. But he was all over the world and involved in all conflicts from Desert Storm to Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

[Jetronic]

I am amazed a fighter jet in Belgium was operational for 5,000 hours.

Working in Germany about five years ago, had a need for German military aircraft, could not be US aircraft for the mission due to some legal mumbo jumbo.

When I requested the German air support, the response was they had no military aircraft operational, none. Next comment was there was not a sense of urgency to keep their aircraft operational- USA will support us if there is a need.

Maybe other Western European countries maintain their military aircraft with a higher priority than Germany.

the training flight had 4 planes, and the 4 pilots together clocked over 16,000 hours. That means the other 3 averaged over 3500 hours aswell

 

[Astro14]

While the hours/year are similar across Air Forces, the US military has an "up or out" structure to it, while other militaries keep officers in their pay grades for far longer. There are advantages to both approaches, but it means that a career fighter pilot in the US is lucky to get to 3000 hours with a mix of staff/desk jobs (that help get them promoted) and operational/flying tours. Most fighter pilots have less. I've seen Fighter Squadron Commanding Officers with less than 2000 hours in fighters. It happens.

It happens even more now that flying hours have been cut over the past decade.

5000 hours in a fighter is truly remarkable. It won't happen in today's US military.

 

[Jetronic]

The belgian military is much slower to promote or demote personnel compared to the US, but I suspect that pilot chose not to be promoted

 

[Tikka]

While the hours/year are similar across Air Forces, the US military has an "up or out" structure to it, while other militaries keep officers in their pay grades for far longer. There are advantages to both approaches, but it means that a career fighter pilot in the US is lucky to get to 3000 hours with a mix of staff/desk jobs (that help get them promoted) and operational/flying tours. Most fighter pilots have less. I've seen Fighter Squadron Commanding Officers with less than 2000 hours in fighters. It happens.

It happens even more now that flying hours have been cut over the past decade.

5000 hours in a fighter is truly remarkable. It won't happen in today's US military.

Hi Astro.
Modern Jets such as the F35 and F22 are very expensive to keep in the air, as well as using time allowed on the airframe. Is this a significant factor in the hours a Pilot will fly or is it just another cost factored into the budget?

Do modern flight simulators accurately duplicate real flying? Will pilots use simulators more and more in the future? Obviously a pilot cant pull 9g in a simulator but i hope you get my drift.

 

[Astro14]

Simulators are being used more and yeah, the cost of flight hours is a huge reason. The military flies millions of hours. Going from say, $10,000/hour (total, with fuel, maintenance, and airframe amortization) for something like an F/A-18 to over $30,000 or even $40,000 for the stealth jets is billions of dollars.

Simply: there is enormous budget pressure to reduce flying hours.

So, more simulators.

And, this is huge, the Navy is betting on technology to replace proficiency and skill in carrier landings.

It’s called “Magic Carpet”.

And it’s an incredible shift in paradigm.

Edit: The Navy used to spend 20-25% of its tactical jet flight hours on landing proficiency and qualification. The potential budgetary savings are tremendous. My rough estimate: if we cut out carrier landing training, and then, on one dark and stormy night, when the technology goes down, and the untrained new generation of pilots are all unable to land manually on the carrier, and have to eject, putting a dozen new F/A-18s into the water, we still saved a lot of money that fiscal year.

 

[Astro14]

Navy Brings 'Precision Landing Mode' Carrier Landing Assist Tool to New Fighter Pilots - USNI News

The Navy is in the final stages of fully adopting a Precision Landing Mode for fighter pilots, with young fleet replacement squadron pilots for the first time conducting carrier qualifications with the tool that significantly cuts down on the work required during an approach to the back of an...

news.usni.org

Pictured on the LSO platform in the article is Admiral John Meier. “Oscar” and I waved together as JOs. We were both in CVW-8. Me in VF-84. Oscar in VAQ-141. Our time there included the Desert Storm cruise. A fine man, now in charge of all our Atlantic Fleet Air Forces.

I need to buy him a beer, and see how he feels about this radical shift in the Navy’s approach to landing. As a former LSO, Squadron CO, and ship’s CO, he’s seen it from all aspects.