Spectators Balcony (Spotters Corner)If you're not a professional pilot but want to discuss issues about the job, this is the best place to loiter. You won't be moved on by 'security' and there'll be plenty of experts to answer any questions.
I am 15, and I am mad on planes and flying, so for my statistics coursework I am studying that.
Just a quick question for everyone - how many flying hours do you have, and how many hours do you do per year (about)? Also what type of license do you have?
I'll then compare this with other types of pilots like private pilots, airline pilots and test pilots.
Good luck with the study, but you'll need to compare like with like i.e how many hours does a pilot whose been in the RAF for 5 years have compared with a pilot whose with an airline for 5 years.
Not to mention the difference between FJ, Rotary and ME with long haul, short haul and corporate which will account for big variances....
I have always wondered how many hours could be logged up in a career.
At EGPK in the 60s/70s those wizened freight dogs (disrespectful term IMO) with Seaboard, etc. Started in the military, perhaps in WW2, and still doing the job decades later.
Always envied those of you who took up the job at a young age and were able to make it your life's work.
Typical more modest totals one has to have before moving on from training to larger/faster/hitec aircraft, too, would be interesting to many, I am sure.
What about all you guys flying the daily grind month after month or year after year on contracts in the outback or beyond the Arctic/Antarctic circles connected with oil/forestry, etc?
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Lincolnshire
Age: 70
Posts: 9,345
The V-force norm in the 60s and 70s was 300 hours per year. Compared with a modern civilian pilot that was not much. The difference is that the military pilot flew only sufficient to maintain a capability, in this case a combat proficiency should he need to go to war.
The civilian pilot must fly as much as he can to earn revenue for his company. Too many pilots flying too few hours is an unnecessary overhead.
I averaged over my flying life some 180 hours per year. During a Cod War my annualised average was neared 700 and during the end of the Cold War it was over 500 per year.
Total 4500 24 year career All rotary (apart from 40 hours Chipmunk....the worst 40 hours of my life) Annual 20 (returning from Staff post) Military Hold but not used ATPL(H)
Just past 10,000 over a 32-year career. But 18 of it was full-time AF pilot and like Pontius Nav said, we don't get that much, even as a truckie. As a civilian now, flying corporate, about 350-420 per year. FAA ATPL, six Types on the back, current on two.
Total time just over 21,000 hours. My first flying lesson was when I was living in England at the age of 13. When I soloed on my 16th birthday, June 29, 1963, I had over 125 logged hours of dual instruction/right seat time in the J-3, L-20 Beaver, Piper Tri-pacer and an Stinston L-5. My father was an US Air Force pilot and we used Air Force Aero Club aircraft.
Because I suffered from Polio as a child I was unable to become a military pilot, so I did it the hard way. While in University I flew on charter on weekends and during the summer break. My first full time job as being a pilot was that of flying the US Mail at night starting in a Piper Twin Comanche and then an Aztec. My first corporate pilot position was flying a Piper Navajo and my last was flying a Falcon 50/900.
For ten years I left the corporate aviation industry and flew Boeing 727s for the United States Marshal Service. (Along with Sabre 80s, Westwinds, Lear 28 and a Lockheed 731 Jetstar.)
As a professional pilot my lowest flying time in one year was less than 100 hours. My highest flying time in a year was 1,256 hours while with the Marshal Service. At that time there were no restrictions or limits placed on Government pilots on how much we were allowed to fly, our normal schedule was flying at least four days a week all year long. Very seldom, however, did I just fly four days a week, usually it was five days or more a week, this included a lot of weekend operations.
I am typed rated on the Boeing 727, Sabreliner, Citation, Lear Jet, Westwind (IA-Jet), Jetstar, DC-3 and the Falcon 50/900. I have also flown full time the Kingair 90 and 200 and fours series of the MU-2. Needless to say I have flown a lot of light general aviation aircraft both single and multi-engine. Regarding the Sabreliner I flew the 40, 60, 80 and the 65, the IA-Jet I flew the 1121 Jet Commander, 1123 Commodore, Westwind, I and II.
The most unique aircraft that I have flown was a PQ-14. The most enjoyable would be a toss up between the 727-100 (with -8 engines) and the Falcon 900EX.
The most hated was the MU-2, all of them. The 1123 Commodore coming in a very close second.
Currently not flying.
Sorry, left off that I have an ATPL and Turbo-jet Flight engineer rating. Areas of operations was world wide.
ATPL (A), 4300 total time, both airline and corporate. Flew an average of 700 hrs/year during the last years. Now I've moved to corporate again, so it's likely to drop to something 400ish :-)
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