Whats your longest flight ?
 

Without the use of AAR, what is the longest flight you have had to endure.
My guess is that in recent times it will come from the Kipper fleet (Nimrod) but some older Shackleton crew members or even Hastings on Op Helitrope may come up trumps.

I will start off with 4 Mar 2000 Nimrod Mk2 10hr 35 Mins on a Link 11 trial flying off the SWAPPS at a constant FL120.

I can just beat that, 28 Aug 94, Gander to Nellis in a Hercules CMk 3, 10 hrs 40 mins.

Normal time for E-3D WAD to LSV (Nellis) is 10hrs 50mins direct for RF.

My longest unrefuelled Tornado is 3hrs 05mins and 11hrs-dead on E-3D, although both still had "some" fuel to go. I seem to remember an F3 in the 80s flying transatlantic unrefuelled West to East with 2x 2250l and 2x 1500l tanks ("ferry fit") - don't know how long that was but must be 5-6 hours??!!

Did 10hrs and 5mins in a Tornado with AAR once - very uncomfortable!

iRaven

Nimrod - 13:10 polex in 91. 2 prods.
3* RAF - 10:30 to Vegas
3* civvy - 11:35 BKK - ARN

Jacksonville NAS to Lyneham, October 1995, Hercules CMk3 XV209. 10 hours 55 minutes. Remember it well, OCU trainer with a particularly unpleaseant trainee captain. It's funny what sticks in your mind after all these years. Happy days.

OUCH! I did 8 odd hours in Telic and that was long enough, how did you not run out of engine oil????

eeeh thats nuthin' the guys in gliders have been doing 14-16 hour flights
bb

At a Farnborough airshow many years ago, the RAF kept a Shackleton airborne for the whole show. Wasn't the same one of course - a Shack took off as the show started, the next one started it's take off roll as the previous one was on finals 24 hours later. So one can presume the Shack actually remained airborne for 24 hours at a time - assuming the crew didn't think ''Sod this'' - landed somewhere and went down the pub.

What the point was, I've no idea!

Personally, RAF 11:35 in a VC10. 10:45 in a Victor (just as uncomfortable as any FJ). 13:50 in a 747 (but 5 hours spent sleeeping!)

Stanley - Ascension 4 Aug 83 Hercules C1 XV187 11 hrs 30 mins as a rear PAX. A long flight, but a lot quicker way to RTB than my deployment in the SS Uganda which took 15 days !

17 hr 50 mins with 1 AAR (I know, without refuelling was the question). West coast USA to Middle East. Painful....

13hrs 20min B-25J Mitchell Stockton, Ca to HNL....

1983 [no GPS]

TBM-L, I remember your overflight of BNE in Dec 83, I was on leave back out from Europe. No GPS!!! (I am glad I never took your offer of many years before of being a nav on your future planned trips :bored:)

R, All the best :ok:

Reaper 20.5 Hours.. :E .ok ok you meant manned aircraft..!:ok:

That would be right LJR, sitting in your hotel in Vegas!! Did you get the campaign medal?

Yes.... for the 4 month holiday in KAF as the TO & Land dude..:eek:

That gives a slightly misleading answer for fast jet operators. Even having suffered long sorties down the back of a C130, it doesn't compare to being stuck in a bang seat for hours on end.

Without AAR it was 3.05 in a Tornado F3 with big tanks. We were doing endurance checks on oil useage behind a Tristar tanker. Twice around UK IIRC.

With AAR it was 10.15 (4,45 night and 5.30 day) from UK to Oman for the first Saif Sareea. We needed special dispensation to exceed the GASOs regulations. My lasting impression was someone in the Tristar waving something appetising as the dawn broke over the Middle East. My sausage roll wasn't quite as attractive.

Sounds like iraven was on the same trip!

I have quite a few 7.00 tanked QRA sorties in F4s.

14.5 hours, Lajes to Bermuda, Shackleton MR2 1961:eek:
Regards, Den.

2/6/68 C130E A97-181 12.55 Gatwick to Mcguire AFB

7/9/68 C130E A97-159 13.15 Butterworth to Laverton

8/10/68 C130E A97-172 13.35 Butterworth to Richmond

14/11/68 C130E A97-180 14.05 Butterworth to Richmond

The last three were medavacs for Australian army with Vietnam wounded.

Never heard anyone complain they were going home.

Regards

Col

5 Sqn RNZAF - P3B
 

IIRC, the kiwis kept a P3B airborne for c 20 hours in the late 60s, when the aircraft were new and state-of-the-art (now they are 44 years old and...state-of-the-art!).

Perhaps a fishead from 5 Sqn could confirm this stat? There used to be a plaque up in the crew room from Lockheed.

As a previous poster (DW) mentioned, Farnborough 1960, Shackleton MR3 flew as last item one day to appear as first item the next day!
7.9.60 to 8.9.60- 22Hrs
Also, same month, 15.9.60 - 17h 10m - SAR
Egg banjos, pies were just a dream!
RV

14:45 in a Herc, No AAR but we were a tanker so had the tanks down the back. South Atlantic SAR in 1993. Not much left in reserve and no divs, unless you count Stanley.

All of my 5 flights in the back of a C130. What a pig!:{

Bahrain-Fairford,12:15, Apr 70 with Chris Haysom and Pete Milward. Did some longer days crew duty,but stopped off at Gan or Akrotiri en-route before going on to Bahrain or Changi.

Dec72 supposed to be doing Lyneham direct Bermuda with strict instructions not to lob into Gander because the Canadians didn't want ammunition for Belize going their way. At LPD for Gander it was obvious the winds were stonger than forecast and Bermuda was out of the question; div'd back to CYQX for fuel then on to Bermuda.14:50 airborne. None of that logging taxy time like the civvies!

A chum of mine, an old tanker AEO had been on Neptunes as a sergeant siggie. His proud boast was a 3 day trip, taking off at 2345 and landing at 0015 the day after next, a total of 24hrs 30 (2 crews on board). Never actually saw his logbook, mind, so he might have been shooting a line! Did 7 mins on a Victor once - captain need to get airborne for night currency and an approaching cu-nim put him off the idea of extending it to 45 mins circuit bashing as was the norm.

3.5ish hours in a Puma, (helicopter) from Belize to Grand Cayman... :ok:

As a civvie, on June 13th 2010 - Hong Kong direct to Detroit - 16 hours with a newly adopted daughter who simply refused to sleep for more than an hour at a time and really would have preferred to get off... :uhoh:

Most depressing moment, C-130 four hours out of Ascension, AAR rendezvous, fuel refuses to flow, break off and return to Ascension knowing we´re going to do the whole damn thing again the next day.

For me - 8.00 in a GR1, 27 Aug '91, Marham to Dhahran leading the return to the Middle East post-GW1 for Op Southern Watch. We didn't get any dispensation to over-run the engines. I'm amazed those F3 engines made it all the way.

I am aware of an RAF pilot who has done over 23 hours at the controls of a B2 (obviously with AR) and I also believe the record was in excess of 40 hours. :\

As an engineer, knowing that anything more than 20 minutes in a MB seat in any FJ I've sat in/worked on starts to get uncomfortable, some of these times are crazy! certainly earned your flying pay those days fellas!

The crews of the Vulcans and indeed their supporting Victors, used on the black buck raids must be up there time wise.

6 Hrs 50 minutes in a Sea King..... Bladder just survived

March 09... 11:30 in a C130K. Took off from Basrah, landed at Basrah, never left sight of Basrah for the whole time...:zzz:

1971 - Herc - 14 hrs 25 mins Bahrain - Thorney Island via the Cento route. Had to ask London for direct Sandgate (ah the memories) to Thorney. APU did not not start as we taxied in! Couldn't see the face of the staff captain on shutdown (it went dark) who put the whole flight in jeopardy but he was a 'wheel' who couldn't be argued with. Anyway, good training as a stude planning in-flight diversions (topos everywhere) to Thessaloniki, Rome and CDG. V tired after the flight but 'I learnt about flying from that' - don't be stupid, even if you are a 'wheel'. :ugh:

1982 - Herc - 26 hrs 05 mins - ASI - ASI - 2 AAR brackets, 1 hour's loitering near the ships and RTB in the dark with no refuelling. Augmented crew but had other duties when not in the seat. Mine was to man the cupola to look out for the Argie 707 or anything else.

LJR
It had not even crossed my mind about UAV`s, dont tell me you put entries in your logbook and wear a flying suit as well?

12.35 Tristar KC1 BZN - Albuquerque direct (No AAR but we had the underfloor tanks full)
10.20 C130 Mk 2 - SW approaches guesting on 'SNOOPY'

Shack Mk 3 - 15h 50m 1965
Nimrod Mk 1 - 11h 10m 1975 No AAR

Just had a look...
 

...back to the '60s at Ballykelly. High summer up in Bodo doing 13.10 and 13.15 on consecutive days. Back at BKY in November 14.10 op trng from 1800 until breakfast time the next day and the really scary bit was the pilot aimed bombing at 100ft from 0700 until 0745 and finishing off with a few circuits. Later that morning (I was in my scratcher) the staish came raging over to the squadron and demanded of the boss WTF he thought he was doing putting crews through this routine just to push a chinagraph line up the wall. After he had departed the boss assembled the troops and said that "finally" he had "persuaded" the staish to stop this "mad hours scramble" so there would be no more 14hr trips. The walls were very thin in that building so everyone knew the true version of events.

I don't think they make squadron bosses like that anymore. Do they?? This guy was left over from the war and was as batty as a box of frogs.

The Ancient Mariner

16:45 in a Shack on 'Ops tasking' in the Indian Ocean, followed by three more sorties in 6 days totalling nearly 60 hrs in 7 days.

Chinook over 12 hours in two sorties in one day (Air India) - and no in flight catering!!:{

Any claims on the most (nonstop) flying hours, taking off from BK and landing at Machrihanish? On a clear day you can see one from t'other.

I've done around 12 hours but no exact dates or logs to back it up although Ex Strong Gale rings a bell. Would have been between 1968 and 1971.

30 December 2002 - 14.50 in an E-3D over Afghanistan (including transits) when, depressingly, the replacement jet didn't turn up on time.

I think the all-time E-3D record for Op VERITAS was 17.50, with the average being around 13.15. [But these missions did include AAR and I'm not sure what the non-AAR record would be]

My longest over 'stan (Jan 2002) was 15:40 - again due to the USAF E-3C not turning up on time. I believe that the longest E-3D sortie was the crew that was retasked on 9/11 to monitor returning civil traffic to UK after the US closed their airspace - probably PLE for a full toilet! Not sure of the exact time although I understand that 2 x AARs were needed. Good effort by all!