How many hours do you fly ??

[overpitched]

As working pilots I was wondering how many hours on average you fly per month. I know it varies a lot and I was wondering if there is a minimum amount of flying bellow which it starts to get a bit dangerous due to lack of recency.

[mustering guru]

Well I did 240hrs in one month a few years ago...but i dont think it counts!

On average now about 100hrs per month is a good amount

Actually i used to average between 1200 and 1600 hrs per year and that was a 8 to 9 month year....used to feel it by the end

[giveitsome]

I guess it all depends upon what you are doing (type of op) and how much your ACFT type/operations costs per hour. Current type costs ~ $12,000/hr AUD and hence not more than 300 hrs per year logged in my log book.

Doing some moonlighting flying a smaller type for another operator that costs ~$1500/hr and hence they treat it like a taxi so lotsa hrs there if I need them.

If you are employed as a driver then thats where you will spend your time. If you are a managing or Chief Pilot then you will spend most of your time tracking down the bloke at your local government regulator who just wrote some stupid rule that will make your operation difficult or more expensive.

Most professional pilots fly in the order of 300-700 hrs per year. As you can read above the mustering dudes will fly max hours, as the ACFT is vital to the role, however it is main due to the fact that the ACFT is cheap to operate and therefore the usage rate can be justified.

IMHO,

Give It some





;)

[Bertie Thruster]

IN the Police and HEMS and SAR roles its more being paid for the time you are ready to fly, at very short notice, rather than than the flying time!

Bit like a fireman really.

[vortexstate]

mustering guru;

As hard as I try I can't seem to make your hours fit into a F&D rooster! I can only go as far as 1200 hours with airwork dispensations, but can't seem to find where it tells me in the regs that I can do more.
You must come around one day and show me how it is done as I have some extra hours laying around too.........:ok:

[Ascend Charlie]

How many hours do I fly?

About 2 minutes on takeoff, three minutes on landing, and then nimble-fingered switch flicking with heading bugs and FMS the rest of the time.

[overpitched]

What I was thinking (maybe not worded very well) is that as you work your way up the ladder often it seems the higher up you get the less you fly. When you have a job where you may only fly as little as once a week ,say ems,media etc I am wondering if you get to a point where you are not really flying enough to maintain your skills.
Certainly I would think you are not as sharp flying 3-4 hours per week than when you start out and are flying 20-30 hours per week. Or maybe thats just me ?? getting old ??

[mustering guru]

Hey vortexstate,

Going back a few years in the mustering industry as all you old mustering guys know you basicly didnt log it........its not someting we talk about openly but it did happen unitl a certain someone was caught by CASA and that put a stop to it. I would say now most of mustering is pretty legit except for some private operators who dont give a ****

[rotorboy]

Really depends, last winter flying seismic almost 200 per month. At the moment flying fire for forestry 250-300 for 120 day contract. I seem to average 700+ a year with some good vacations ....

rb