Avg Flight Hours Per Month?
- Thread starter franknd
- Start date
raimius
15-Year Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2006
- Messages
- 3,019
It really depends on what aircraft and mission. It could be 5 or it could be 30+. I think my personal low was a little less than 200/yr, and high has been around 450/yr. How that rolls out also depends on if you are in a plane that does 15hr missions or 1.3s.
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2006
- Messages
- 3,961
“Average” hours for AF over the course of a career is going to vary substantially. For an O-3 it will depend a lot on what their assignment is at the time.
My son had just over 2000 hours in the F-16 in his 10 AD years, so the “average” would be 16-17 hours a month. However, those hours come at wildly different rates. As a regular line pilot at an overseas base it might be minimum hours just to keep qualified. You may only fly one 1.3 sortie a week. As an instructor pilot at a B-course you might fly 4-5 times a week or 25 hours a month. When my oldest son was deployed to Afghanistan he had over 300 hours in 6 months because the missions were typically many hours. When he was on a joint assignment in DC for 9 months he never flew once.
So, there’s isn’t a good “average” answer. And, as ramius said above, it varies even more by airframe.
My son had just over 2000 hours in the F-16 in his 10 AD years, so the “average” would be 16-17 hours a month. However, those hours come at wildly different rates. As a regular line pilot at an overseas base it might be minimum hours just to keep qualified. You may only fly one 1.3 sortie a week. As an instructor pilot at a B-course you might fly 4-5 times a week or 25 hours a month. When my oldest son was deployed to Afghanistan he had over 300 hours in 6 months because the missions were typically many hours. When he was on a joint assignment in DC for 9 months he never flew once.
So, there’s isn’t a good “average” answer. And, as ramius said above, it varies even more by airframe.
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2010
- Messages
- 895
Army is the same as above in terms of depends on airframe and job. Apaches have higher minimums than the lift assets due to gunnery proficiency requirements. If the O3 is in command, probably doing better than their peers around 20+ hours a month stateside assuming no aircraft availability issues. If the O3 is on staff, very dependent on how much that O3 has integrated with the company they support as a staff aviator, assuming they’re in assignment within a CAB, and can be anywhere from minimums (8-12 hours a month) to the same as an O3 in command.
Helo pilots won’t fly as many hours typically a year as big cargo planes in the AF if you’re just looking to rack up total flight time. The missions typically aren’t as long based on a helicopter’s range. 150-200 hours is a good years for the conventional side of army aviation not deployed. Deployed, that goes out the window and guys can be flying what they’d fly in a year in six months or less if the unit is busy. Most I’ve flown in a year is 350 hours. Least was 200 hours, including when I was on staff. I was also fortunate enough to be assigned to units with high optempos and made a significant effort while on staff to stay in the cockpit. Some of my buddies have not been as fortunate; some have flown more. A lot of army aviation is just like the big army and about luck and timing where you show up. It also can be feast and famine where you fly a ton at one point during the year based on operational requirements and then the unit is resetting from a deployment or maintenance and weather hit the unit and you’re flying minimums for a while until the cycle fixes itself.
Helo pilots won’t fly as many hours typically a year as big cargo planes in the AF if you’re just looking to rack up total flight time. The missions typically aren’t as long based on a helicopter’s range. 150-200 hours is a good years for the conventional side of army aviation not deployed. Deployed, that goes out the window and guys can be flying what they’d fly in a year in six months or less if the unit is busy. Most I’ve flown in a year is 350 hours. Least was 200 hours, including when I was on staff. I was also fortunate enough to be assigned to units with high optempos and made a significant effort while on staff to stay in the cockpit. Some of my buddies have not been as fortunate; some have flown more. A lot of army aviation is just like the big army and about luck and timing where you show up. It also can be feast and famine where you fly a ton at one point during the year based on operational requirements and then the unit is resetting from a deployment or maintenance and weather hit the unit and you’re flying minimums for a while until the cycle fixes itself.