LC461, the answers to your question are honestly extremely variable, depending on which aircraft type you fly, and other factors. To give you a taste, I'll give you a few thoughts based on my experience within Air Lift Group. While fighters (Air Combat Group) are the obvious, glamorous desire of most wannabes, ALG is pretty busy at the moment with a lot of operational flying in the Middle East.
Hours per week actually flying. Not as much as the airlines. You don't tend to fly regularly, it depends on when the tasking comes up. Therefore, some weeks, some months even can be pretty bare, while others are busy. SQNs that deploy (Middle East, Timor, Solomon Islands) tend to end up with higher peaks and lower troughs than the non-deploying SQNs. To give an example, here's a 12-month snapshot by month: 35, 5, 6, 0, 0, 42, 74, 73, 71, 5, 59, 11. Total 381 hours. That includes a 3-month deployment. The bare period was when others were deployed!
The other issue is that RAAF pilots have 'secondary duties' to perform. They are the publications officer, times officer, weapons officer, navigation officer, mess entertainments officer, tactics officer etc etc. So, the basic week is still Monday to Friday, 8am to 5 pm. You're always busy with something, even if it's just study.
Lifestyle. Fantastic! There's a great sense of cameraderie. The flying, no matter which SQN you're at, is excellent (as long as you take the right attitude). Operational flying gives you a great sense of satisfaction. However (there's always something!), repetitive deployments to the MEAO do wear thin, particularly if you're married. So 37SQN in ALG and the Orion SQNs are good for junior pilots to get early operational flying, but if you're more senior and married with kids it can be a bit of a drag.
Preparation time. The RAAF multi-engine SQNs progress co-pilots to command in pretty short time, 2 to 3 years. So it expects co-pilots to work reasonably hard and consistently to achieve that. Having said that, I've never thought it was particularly onerous, just consistent effort both at work and at home. (Pilot's course is another issue, yes it's hard work constantly!)
Aircraft transfers. People generally stay within their FEG (Force Element Group). So, once you're a fighter/maritime/air lift pilot you'll generally stay there ... unless you elect to go (and are selected, and pass) QFI (Qualified Flying Instructor). After a stint at one of the schools, however, you'd still expect to go back to your original type (or FEG at least). There are occasional cross-FEG transfers. Within ALG, because there's a number of different SQNs & aircraft, there can be slightly more movement around, but due to keeping corporate experience, the primary expectation would be to stay on type.
As with others, I never regretted the time spent in the RAAF. Like any job, it frustrates you at times, and there's the point at which it's right for you to move on. But for a young guy straight out of school, providing you're genuinely committed, and clearly understand what you're getting into, it's a great option. Can I suggest that you should contact Defence Recruiting and see if they can put you in contact with some junior pilots at a local base to be able to get a full description and so you can ask questions. Ask about ADFA and pilot's course too.
All the best.
