What is the general 'a day in the life' of a military aircraft?

[Regn752]

I was thinking about making a day in the life scenario just involves routine air force operations in a non-conflict zone.

 

I wanted to know what a military aircraft and pilot might do on an average day? (Can be either west or east airforces). I imagine pilot training and air patrols might take place with fighters/interceptors such as the f15c, but what about the A-10c? Does it sit in the hanger most of the time? What about moving aircraft to different airbases and when would they do that? (trying to think of a use for the carriage pods the a10c has).

[Joni]

might be interesting to hear about what an a10 does during peace

[QuiGon]

might be interesting to hear about what an a10 does during peace

 

Preparing for war ;)

 

No, seriously, what should they do? I guess, they'll sit in their hangars and get out from time to time for all kind of training flights. Sometimes they transit to different locations for special training events.

[cichlidfan]

Sometimes they wash them and paint them, but I don't think that would make for an interesting mission (and it takes longer than a day ;) ).

[Snoopy]

might be interesting to hear about what an a10 does during peace

 

Training, we sometimes fly a lot more at home than we do overseas.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Snoopy

[Vampyre]

Training, we sometimes fly a lot more at home than we do overseas.

 

True story. The Navy is the same way. We are training almost every day. We train how we fight and that gives us the edge over our potential enemies.

[Joni]

Training, we sometimes fly a lot more at home than we do overseas.

 

We?

[cichlidfan]

We?

 

Snoopy is an A-10 crew chief.

[smnwrx]

We?

 

We, as in a member of the armed forces. I think he is pointing that whether you are a pilot, mechanic, airmen, sailor or soldier WE are always training to be ready when called upon by the powers that be.

[Joni]

Snoopy is an A-10 crew chief.

 

Oh ok, thought he was a pilot. thx

[Joni]

We, as in a member of the armed forces. I think he is. pointing that whether you are a pilot, mechanic, airmen, sailor or soldier WE train to be ready when called upon by the powers that be.

 

Agreed.

[Snoopy]

We?

 

Yes "we" you asked.....

 

might be interesting to hear about what an a10 does during peace

 

So I answered what we (the A-10 maintainers and pilots) do during peace. We fix jets and pilots fly the hell out of them and we fix them again. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

 

A view from my "office"

 

[MegOhm_SD]

When the A10s were in Myrtle Beach before Clinton closed it down you could see them daily taking off and landing. I used to drive over to a road close to the runway and watch them come and go. They would fly low over my house to and from the practice ranges on North Carolinas Barrier Islands near Camp Lejune.

 

Today I see F18s weekly out of Oceana making practice runs on John Kerr Resevoir Dam. Cool to watch. When they come off target they circle back and hit burners to join up in formation. We also see Helicopters and Ospreys flying low over the lake routinely.

 

A few years back there were Sea Stallions following a B1 Lancer low and slow treetop. I could see the faces of the crew.

 

Not to mention the refueling ops taking place overhead along the I-65 corridor out of I guess Pensacola and Elgin.

 

Near Oklahoma City I have seen B52s doing touch n Gos. It goes on and on. So yeah they are busy.

Edited September 17, 2015 by MegOhm_SD

[Joni]

I should've been born in the US so much!!!

[QuiGon]

It's nice that your pilots can fly that much. :thumbup:

 

Our Air Force sometimes struggles to get enough flight hours, so that our pilots don't loose their license. Meeting minimum flight hours as required by NATO is often impossible. :(

Edited September 17, 2015 by QuiGon

[Joni]

It's nice that your pilots can fly that much. :thumbup:

 

Our Air Force sometimes struggles to get enough flight hours, so that our pilots don't loose their license. Meeting minimum flight hours as required by NATO is often impossible. :(

 

that is something i didnt expect to hear about a 1st world country. why does that happen there? budget?

[luckyhendrix]

that is something i didnt expect to hear about a 1st world country. why does that happen there? budget?

Yeah, not every nation can give 20% of its budget total defense

[Joni]

still, i always imagined those countries as very combat orientated in terms of training and constant development

[QuiGon]

still, i always imagined those countries as very combat orientated in terms of training and constant development

 

The troops are, but the politicians in this country are not, not at all. But they provide the money and our military budget is pretty much the lowest within NATO (1,2% of GDP) and flight hours are expensive.

 

We also have pooling & sharing, which means, that our units have only about 70% of their vehicles (e.g. tanks) and if they need more (for training or deplyoment) they're supposed to get them from a pool. That doesn't really work of course, but it's a different story.

[vladd148]

Hey guys, I've been playing this once in a while for quite some time but have not really bothered coming on the forums. That is until I saw this discussion!

 

As a Canadian Air Force pilot currently still in training, I can somewhat speak on behalf of what RCAF pilots do. And to put it simply, we do a whole lot, and it really depends on what airframe you get assigned to.

 

In the CAF after our phase 2 on the Harvard II (Texan) we get assigned either fast jet, multi, or rotary. The split in terms of % of graduates is typically 20-20-60, and it's all based on what the Air Force needs. You don't join the RCAF with the mentality that you will only fly jets, you have to accept the possibility that you may very well get chosen for any of the three options.

 

Now as for the typical flight duties for a trained operationally ready pilot assigned to a squadron (not doing a desk tour) the typical workday can vary depending on the airframe.

 

The CF-18 fighter jocks can typically expect about 3-5 hours of flying/week, which is not a lot by any means. Those flights can be check rides, fly pasts, exercises, as well as QRA (Quick Reaction Alert or scrambling). When they're not flying, they're attending briefs, working with air operations, taking a course, etc.

 

The Helo guys can also vary, depending on what they're flying. I don't know too much about the maritime guys flying the Sea King/Cyclone, or the SAR guys, but for tac hel (my bread and butter), you do a ton of flying in the Griffon or the Chinook (depending on what you get assigned). It's not uncommon for the younger junior Captains to be flying every day during the workweek, amassing 10-15 flight hours per week, and 4-500 hours per year. These flights can be general pilot or flight crew training, supporting the army, familiarization flights, exercises, as well as transporting, and paratrooper jumps. And of course operational flights.

 

Hope that shed some light, at least on the rotary side of things. I've had some exposure to the fighter world, but my experiences with the multi guys have been quite limited. Cheers :)