How Do Fighter Pilots Prepare for Long Sorties / Ocean Crossing?
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2023
- Mover and Gonky discuss how they prepared for long sorties in the F-16 and F/A-18. Check out The Mover and Gonky Show Mondays at 8PM ET LIVE. • The Mover and Gonky Show
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There is the old joke: A fighter pilot meets up with a tanker, and tells the tanker pilot: "Watch this!" - and does some aerobatics. Then the tanker pilot goes: "oh yeah? Watch this!" The tanker flies straight and level for a few minutes. The tanker pilot comes back on the radio: "Did you see that? I went in the back, had a fresh cup of coffee, a sandwich and went to the bathroom"
Old joke, but very true. LOL (Retired KC10/KC135 boom operator)
@@Bsquared1972 Ditto, C-130 flight engineer.
Now imagine the U2, where the missions are 12 hours long, they are locked inside a space suit, and all their food is in tube form. In an aircraft with no autopilot designed to be hand-flown in the coffin corner for the entire flight.
Even among pilots, there's Pilots.
@@harveywallbanger3123 The U-2 does have an autopilot and it is used for the majority of the flight.
@@nemesis2264 NOW it does. For most of the aircraft's life the autopilot was unreliable and not used.
I did several pond crossings in the F-111 and F-117, longest was 14.2 hrs. Hit the boom 12 times Kunsan to Hickam in the 117. I would only eat meat and cheese for 3 days prior. The worst was being in a poopie suit, using a piddle pack was almost impossible. I took "Go" pills on one in the F-117, never again, I was tweaking so hard afterwards, couldn't sleep for about a day.
Cool. It must be really stressful back then.
Did you ever have access to special rations like U2 Pilots?ua-cam.com/video/LZuEGAsO4CA/v-deo.html
@@WALTERBROADDUS No, those guys wear pressure suits, we just had normal fighter pilot gear.
Knowing that the GO/NO-GO pills are also a big part of the SOCOM ecosystem, it’s no wonder so many of our veterans are suffering from addiction. First they give you drugs, then tell you to stop after they’ve created a problem. Me, I’m just a dumb Army MP, but it means I’ve got to deal with this crap now either deployed because guys an all amped up and acting stupid. Or, after they return and I’m in garrison and they’ve started visiting the local civilian “pharmacy” to supply their habits and now I’ve got a guy that’s been taking testosterone, HGH, or flat out steroids, high on meth, drunk, and wants to fight.
So sick to have flown Nighthawk! Thanks for ur service!
As a boom I did an A-10 fighter drag from Afghanistan to Qatar. Longest 7.5 ever and didn’t realize how slow we were going until I saw a C-130 pass us.
As a KC10 guy, I almost died over the Pacific dragging 2 F15s to AZ. Same deal, took off at midnight so they'd land during daylight. At some point we must've turned a little bit and one of the eagles was co-altitude and passed in front of us. Maybe 30 feet in front of us. Caught some good wake turbulence. Dude was taking a nap. His wingman chewed him out pretty good. We asked that they hold off our altitude after that scare. Fun times
I remember a interview with Brazilian pilots flying the T-27 Tucano (turboprop trainer like the T-6) across the Atlantic. One of the pilots slept and their wingmates were terrified, because they could do nothing but screen at the radio while he drift away off course. Fortunately one of them (I believe it was 4 aircraft) stayed with the asleep pilot until he woke up 15 min later, and managed to bring it back to formation with the C-130 that was leading the crossing.
Thank heavens we had a toliet in the B-1. I did a 27.5 hour flight once from Dyess to Diego Garcia and it sucked but at least you can stand up and stretch your legs or lay down in the aisle for a nap. B-2s and B-52s routinely do longer sorties than that. Felt sorry for the fighter guys doing long sorties.
I always find it incredible during WW2, P-51 pilots flying escort missions to B-17s all the way to Germany and back. Seem to recall that was something like a eight hour round trip.
and no autopilot for the trip (constantly having to retrim aircraft i would suspect).....
longest I've flown myself is 8hrs. But I flew post-service. But on combat patrols in OIF/OEF an easy mission was 10hrs straight, every single day. They could easily be 12-16hrs. And some went as long as 36-48hrs straight with no sleep, no bathroom breaks, no meals, no nothing but doing the mission. and 2 missions in a single day was not uncommon. Once in Iraq, for 2wks straight, we did 8hrs mission, 8hrs off, 8hrs mission, 8hrs off, repeat for 2 straight weeks without a break. That was rough. Most of my missions were in a one-man vehicle too, just like a fighter plane. No one to trade off with, no one to talk to, no one to slap you awake. Fortunately I have a 10.75hr bladder and have driven across the US many times 22-36hrs straight solo.
In combat if we ran out of piss bottles, well, you did what you had to.
I recall reading that Lancaster pilots would rig a tube to piss down and if they were disliked the ground crew would tie a knot in it. Apocryphal probably.
Even longer were the escort missions to Japan.
H3, and H53 Jolly green’s had piss tubes for pilot and copilot. Had one in back for crew. Newbee’s were told
you have to piss out the door......they were pissed... literally 🤣 !!!
I was a Rivet Joint guy, we had an 18.5 hour Sortie iso Noble Anvil, the entire crew was wiped out at the end of the mission. You could not pay me enough to do that again!
Thank you both for the behind the scenes! 🙏 Your service is appreciated!!
Tell me about sleep. I was a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam for a year. My platoon was in the field in combat for 2-3 months before we were brought back to battalion for 3 days of rest and some hot chow except during those three days my platoon had to stand lines on the battalion perimeter while "resting".
To be honest, I preferred being in the field with my platoon rather than being in battalion for so called rest. There was no rest.
I used to be a private pilot with commercial and instrument ratings. I took advanced aerobatic instructions, in mountain flying in Alaska. While I never had to fly hours and refuel in air, I can relate to their descriptions. I never had a flight that that couldn't refuel on ground, but in my military career I had missions where we needed ambient to sleep.
But I was a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam from Dec 1968 to 1969 and I can tell you that sleep was the biggest problem I had in defensive positions at night--including me.
When you are mentally and physically exhausted day after day in combat, you have no idea how hard it is to stay awake at night in a defensive position. Even if your tour to stay awak is only on hour, many Marines couldn't do it. So I had to walk the defensive perimeter every hour every nigh to ensure one Marine was awake and alert. That meant that the hour I had to sleep was reduced to 30 to 15 minutes before my radio operator took over.
Firefights, friendly fire, diseases, accidents, and other problems were not as challenging as keeping at least one Marine at each position awake during the night. If everyone was asleep, the enemy could have killed us all.
Think what would happen if a pilot fling a very long mission fell asleep. In my opinion, sleep is a bigger enemy in combat than the enemy. Just my opinion.
As a KC10 boom, hauled fighters over the water many, many times. Common themes were high-protein, low-residue diet a week before the flight (as mentioned by @robertschaab8653) such as steak cubes and cheese. The crews that got to fly onboard with us were quite thankful for an airline lavatory. :) Inflight, we would often play Trivial Pursuit or Battleship, Tanker against the fighters to pass time. You could always tell when one of the fighters was relieving him/herself, as their acft was way out there away from the formation. LOL I can remember one particular sortie during desert shield; we were in Spain, waiting on a KC135/F16 formation coming from CONUS--we would pick them up, drag them through the Med, and get them into Saudi Arabia. We were sitting in the aircraft ready to go when we heard the KC135 calling us--they had a boom malfunction and could not refuel; they needed us to meet them ASAP. We got the acft started and took off, heading directly for them. We did an RZ over Spain, and I went right back to the boom pod and got the boom down. The fighters came in and immediately started a 'Quick Flow' routine. (pioneered by the USAF Thunderbirds) When I plugged the first guy he had about 20 minutes of fuel left (he reported over the interphone), and just wanted about 1000 pounds. He then moved off the second guy came in immediately, and #3 joined right on his wing. We continued this 2 or 3 times until they had enough gas that we could cycle them through normally and top them off. Super stressful, but we got it done. After the sun came up the lead came in for gas and told me it was a rough night, his environmental system went to full cold, and he was freezing. He lifted his throttle hand up and told me his fingers were pretty much stuck in that position. I could see the Eagles on his shoulders, he definitely had some balls of steel, and had bragging rights after landing. I praise you fighter guys for what you do, and it's a scary thing going across the pond, let alone in a single-engine fighter. Thanks CW!
While we were both in the Mighty 34th FS Rude Rams, now MG Scott "Rolls" Pleus told me he crossed the pond with 2 liter bottle of Coke on one side console, a big bag of tortilla chips on the other, and salsa between his legs. Our pilots used to play Battleship over the radio. On one transit, our F-18 exchange pilot didn't respond during a periodic radio check and wasn't in position on the tanker. A somewhat desperate visible search found him above the tanker, inverted, and happy as a lark. He was completely unaware of his attitude...
Wait, why does he say you can’t land a fighter at night?
WTF? 🤔🧐🤨
It’s so great having Gonky as a regular on the channel, he is a UA-cam force multiplier. Such wonderful chemistry between Gonky and Mover.
nice
Had a friend who flew A10 in the guard. He flew from Michigan to "Italy then someplace else" the day after Thanksgiving 1991. A short while after he took the "no go" pill Thanksgiving day we carried him to a car then into his bed. Before he passed out he said they were going to play Battleship on the way across the pond. 😂
It always surprises me what Pilots have to occupy themselves on these pond crossings, never would’ve thought someone would be using a PSP for movies in a fighter
What’s wild to me about this is thinking about how different it was for aviators in the past. Modern sortie is 2 hours, back in stuff like Midway pilots were flying 2-3 hours just to get to where the target MIGHT be.
My shortest combat sortie was about 3 hrs. Most were 4-6.
I heard about the drug use years ago. Apparently during the Cold War when SAC was flying the Chrome Dome missions. They would give the flight crews some pills to keep them awake for a few days and then when they got off duty they would give them some pills to sleep for a day or two. I wonder what the long-term effects of that would be because that can't be good for you.
It depends a bit what your constitution is. The effects can go from a panic attack, in rare cases even a psychotic break to, can do this on occasion for a few years and get away with it. There are people who abuse party drugs or an upper/downer regime regularly for a while and have no lasting bad effects. There are people who try amphetamines at a party one time and end up in psychiatric hospital. Also, as Mover describes his own experience, the effect isn't the same for everyone, it can increase nervousness to a level where you simply can't work. It's a bit like coffee. There are people who get bad effects off coffeine. I'm sure the guys tried the pills before taking them on a mission to see how each individual reacted to it.
Interesting that Mover's first non-graded ride was in Iraq. I cross-trained from maintenance to flight engineer in '03 and they really wanted me to get over there and do my part in OIF. The last hours I needed for my time requirements were logged eastbound over the North Atlantic, and my first ride without an instructor looking over my shoulder was a mission from Qatar to Somalia (keep your eyes open for pirates with manpads in boats). Two days later I had my first combat mission to Bagdad. That was interesting; the insurgents were trying to jam ATC radios on the way in, and on the way out we got a missile warning on take off, popped flares and evaded with zero altitude and not much airspeed, and had to feather an engine on the way home.
My longest sortie was a shade over 10 hours. But most of them were much shorter; a typical 130 mission generally was about 4 or 5 sorties. My personal record was 10 sorties in one day, just hopping back and forth between Balad and Bagdad. That day sucked. By the time I retired, I had logged 682 combat sorties, I think something over 250 missions.
😊😊😊
Hi Mover and Gonky. I am enjoying this format very much. I watch the original podcast on both channels and now seeing out takes by subject is of great value/interest. Thanks lads.
As a KC-10 guy, a memorable fighter drag was Aviano to Bradley Connecticut.
Guard A-10’s with high drag travel pods installed. We did toboggan AR for 14.1 hours for the crossing.
We were augmented Crew, had hot meals, bunks and a nice Lav to use.
These guys were crammed in there wearing their poopy suits and no auto pilot; good times!
Many years ago the USAF F-4 fighter squadron I was assigned to (I was a ground pounder) had to fly from Georgia to South Korea and back. That was impressive!
Look at that young Mover in the 16 ! Good to hear from you two .
Interesting details about the psychological strains of long combat missions.
When I watch Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart, seeing the B-36 and the B-47 doing the distances those guys did and just have my utter admiration and respect just the same I have for you and Gonky
wow, great stories by all the pilots and air crews, thanks for sharing guys, interesting stuff!
Hey you guys need to include an female jock in the next on this subject. We never had those long sorties on the 50's but I'm 92 now and car trips need extra stops. I enjoy both of your channels, keep up the great work.
ua-cam.com/video/gIHle3tqfJk/v-deo.html
I've actually always wondered about how pilots would use the bathroom in flight. It's not generally a topic of conversation but it is a fact of life. I appreciate you guys covering all this
Many aircraft used to have a urine receptacle. And you unzip fly and insert. Today of course you have things like adult diapers.
I love you guys. My Uncle-In-Law Lt Cornell was an F16 pilot, instructor, test pilot, and had some sway on the F35 avionics. I love visiting and talking to him. He now works for Southwest Airlines and lives in TX with horses on his ranch. Your vids are like that you would love to talk to Lt Cornel Cassidy. Oh By the way I got my PPL back in 2002 but don't currently fly.
I worked with a couple of F-15 pilots in the past. Great guys. But their stories about how they relieved themselves in the cockpit during long flights certainly took some of the glamour away from the "Top Gun" fighter pilot image. No one ever thinks of that stuff when Maverick is buzzing the tower.
I always felt for the men and women flying in the A-7's when we would Transpac from Almeda to Hawaii. At least in the A-3 we could stand up and stretch out.
I'd like to hear an A-10 driver speak on this issue. As a former KC-10 Tanker driver, the pond hopping with A-10s was painful. Low, slow, with AR tobogganing not enjoyable across the ocean.
I once found a book in the school library about an F-100 pilot describing his life (I was always on the lookout for any aviation books). Anyway, one part of this book was about the squadron making a trans Atlantic crossing, and the pilot happily describing taking amphetamines to stay alert for the flight. Given this was during the Nancy Reagan "Just Say No to Drugs" era, it was rather surreal.
I remember a similar book, set in the late '50s, chronicling the career of a notional fighter pilot.
@@petesheppard1709 That might have been the same one. I've been trying for a while to track down the title, but no luck.
@@RocketToTheMoose I hadn't thought about it in decades; I read it back in the '60s. Our hero was supposedly assigned to a squadron commanded by Chuck Yeager (before he was made famous by 'The Right Stuff') and deployed to Spain. 😎
@@petesheppard1709 I do remember something about Spain as well.
I surely wish I could remember the title, too.
A former Army Ranger told me about having UCAV air support, and that their pilots operated 24 hours straight. He said they took a mild amphetamine to stay awake the entire time, and that he'd rather have an AI flying the UCAV than an amped up human who might misidentify a friendly fireteam. Blue on blue.
I used to fly on the EC-135 that carried the control team that managed the refueling process... We would take off out of Pease or Loring, tankers would fly about 1/2 way across and swap out with tankers from Mildenhall...
Ya know, most folks never know the about the "off the wall" things a fighter driver has to go through on a long mission like that. Ya just cain't pull over to the gas station and take a "piss" or do a "dump". And sittin' in the same chair for hours and hours is no picknic either. I greatly admire all these young folks in our flying services, that have to experience this stuff. "Keep 'em flyin' guys"!
Go to the bathroom, avoid overhydrating, bring snacks, get sleep.
longest I've flown myself is 8hrs. But I flew post-service. But on combat patrols in OIF/OEF an easy mission was 10hrs straight, every single day. They could easily be 12-16hrs. And some went as long as 36-48hrs straight with no sleep, no bathroom breaks, no meals, no nothing but doing the mission. and 2 missions in a single day was not uncommon. Once in Iraq, for 2wks straight, we did 8hrs mission, 8hrs off, repeat. That was rough. Most of my missions were in a one-man vehicle too, just like a fighter plane. No one to trade off with, no one to talk to, no one to slap you awake. Fortunately I have a 10.75hr bladder and have driven across the US many times 22-36hrs straight solo.
I remember reading about a U-2 flight over the Soviet Union wherein, shortly after takeoff, the pilot mismanaged a fart and ended up sitting in liquid shit for the next eight hours. I also recall that he captured some really valuable photos of a Soviet nuclear test site, so arguably it was "worth it". I hope they gave him a medal, or at least a box of Depends, for taking one for the team.
"Mismanaged a fart" 🤣
My uncle used to say "Never trust a Turk, Never trust a fart"
As thrilling as the idea flying one of these jets is, it is also terrifying to think of being in that tiny cockpit for hours on end and long enough for nature to start calling loudly.
I am so lucky that my longest flight in flight school was like 5hrs straight where you had to sit on controls of the little Piper. Nowadays I have flights from Germany to Egypt/Canary Islands that are 4-5-6hrs a leg with 1hr turnaround and back .... so very long days but luckily in the 738 I flew and the A320s I fly now you can just walk in the fwd galley and use the bathroom. I hate long flights but I love the Autopilot and the Bus is much more comfortable than the Boeing. Makes life more easy. Grüße
And did debrief with “Inch” in Jacksonville; he had a back to back flight; 2 flights with a hotpitt refuel in between.
And came in with a APU running light; the boy walked in to debrief with his pisbag full after 5 hours in the seat.
I just had to ask; “welcome back Inch! Did you buy a goldfish when sightsering?”
Not amused to state it mildly🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Had a SOF at Luke his callsign was Helmet for utilizing his helmet bag for his emergency. After my F16 ride I realized just how impressive that feat must have been with the lack of movable room. Not to mention the belts.
Being at Kennedy Space Center recently and seeing how astronauts survive made me wonder about pilots. I thought they possibly made special suits for long trips. You pilots are special.
I had always wondered about how bodily functions were handled after reading about these long flights in history books.
If I had to go # 2 in a fighter jet i would just eject
we ate MREs to get constipated. that's how we solved that issue.
I flew F16s out of Homestead and my longest sortie was 5 1/2 hours to Cold Lake Canada. We launched 24 ships from HST and didn't make a single radio call. All of our com was through the boom to the tankers. We dropped our bombs and was within 1 second of our TOD. No one knew we were there until our bombs hit. It was EPIC! The hardest part was as you both mentioned was housekeeping. My box lunches were totally in the way...
I flew F16s starting at MacDill in 1988, then Homestead from 1988-1991 and then Kunsan (Panton) from 1991-1992, and finally Michigan ANG from 1992-1994. I finished up at United Airlines 1992-2020. I had a great career. Ps. I was called to combat in every squadron I was in but was always called off for reasons we didn't know until later. (i.e., the F117 took our place in Panama before anyone knew there was a F117)
My grandfather flew PBY's in WWII S&R and would stay airborne for 8+ hours looking for downed airmen in the Pacific Ocean. At least with the PBY's they could get up and walk around, and they could land pretty much anywhere there is calm water, but I can imagine it must be fatiguing being in the same seat for so many hours.
"then grandpa said 'give me ten more go pills, dammit!' and pressed on until at last he spotted the survivors from the indianapolis"
@Mover & @ Gonk appreciate your segment, adding on the facts, long flights (sorties & ponds) to my understanding. Both the F16 & F/A18 are classic US Navy pilot warships, however, preceding takes a far more effort than an physically or mentally assessment. I am advised the time magnified within, perhaps, a transcon non-stop as bypassed refueling through and through? Do you think reemphasizing, again these assessments furthergo test-runs?
We had a viper pilot callsign was Smokey; with a reasion!
Picked him and others up as debriefer on the way back from afganistan.
Canopy opend up and it was all smoke and a full ashtray🤣
05-06 cruise on the Roosevelt, vfa-15 we had a pilot who almost bust Iranian airspace due to a bathroom issue, his helmet bag and seat pan went right over the side. Can't remember his name or call sign anymore.
There was an A-10 pilot at DM that had to use the piddle pack during a hot refuel/reload between flights & didn't reconnect his harness. Unfortunately he was involved in a mid-air collision after that & slid out of his harness after he ejected.
The was also a picture going around a long time ago of an F-4 RIO mooning another ACFT. I have no clue how he was able to position himself to do it, but it was a funny picture.
There's a video on UA-cam of a Vietnam thunder chief pilot and he had a terrible bowl explosion and you can hear the communications back and forth, he actually aborted the mission and turned around. But it's absolutely a hilarious video to watch, I would say when he got back he had to strip down and someone had to hit him with a garden hose and clean everything off of him.
I honestly never thought of this aspect of flying a fighter jet. That doesn't sound fun at all. Makes me want to go to the bathroom which is 7 paces away. There is reading material there as well.
Went on a SAR after going to a night club as a groundie,,arrived at dawn to refuel etc ..got on a flight as a observer later, than afternoon looking out the waist window all I saw was ocean I was seeing clippers in full sail.mansion on hills
I know the B-2 guys have a cot, toilet and a microwave for long journeys but even taking turns I still don't know how any pilot could be 100% focused on the mission being in that environment for 20 hours plus. The Afghan missions must have been a bitch. Then you have the mental fatigue and stress of carrying out a precise bombing op and then the journey home. Massive respect for you guys. I heard a story that a B-2 guy got back from a 20-30 hour combat op and his wife told him to mow the lawn.
Did an eastward circumnavigation in a hondajet (over the span of about 4 weeks) and i can confirm the pacific sucks. Really stetching the limits of what the little plane can do safely and a whole lot of nothing to look at.
Whats nice when you're in the middle of nowhere is it cruises at .77 but is still small enough to have a bigger selection of airports.
If we had a code -1 oven in the tanker for a fighter drag, I’d hit the BX for some cinnamon rolls and bake them in the oven; or shoppette for some frozen breakfast sandwiches or burritos early in the sortie before doing the crazy cycling on the boom.
In the AOR, freakin chicken nuggets in the oven if they had ‘em. After the rough sorties early in the war, if you had duty day, you would turn in your sortie “stuff” and then go preflight jets until you burn out of duty day. Then ride the A-train to reset the circadian rhythm.
13.4 for me…GV from Greece to Houston…9+ hrs UH-60 Afghanistan and Iraq
Mover are you going do something about the Block 70 Viper and is there any difference between that and the Israeli Viper that is similar to the eye?
Take it food considerations beforehand are taken to not have anything upset the stomach
You guys need ETOPS 🥳🤩
What do pilots do to regulate their pooping cycles. Besides the mention of Imodium, do you have to watch your diet in some way? Like monitor what time you eat before a flight or avoid certain trigger foods?
High-protein, low-residue diet. Basically steak and cheese. It fills you up, but makes very little poo. Also constipates you a bit, so you do not have to go as much. :)
@@Bsquared1972 Gotcha! Thank you.
Does the tanker take off with and fly the whole route with your jet? I didn’t realize that, I figured it was meeting up with you at various points but that actually makes more since…😅
For tanker drags it’s typically a buddy departure. And even that can get gooned up.
In U2s we did up to 14 hours. The S model can stay up 24 hours without refueling.
Hey Mover and Gonky... wanna pitch a million dollar idea with me to the navy/air force to train for bodily functions in a small cockpit, in a way that would be both fun for the pilots and cheap AF for the military?
Not to compare the activity to military work service and war fighting, but,
SOARING. Train them in cross country soaring on the weekends.
You take away all the complexity of an F16/18/22/35, but you have mostly the same conditions where you con focus on those Human factors: Long flight, cramped space, need to eat, drink, and waste.
If you can gain 500' in a thermal while bleeding the lizard during a low save a few hours into a 300km triangle... having a quick slash while you're on AP for the next hour kind seems like nothing (as long as nobody is shooting at you, obviously)
Anybody get call sign "Piddle Pack"? I saw an EA-18G with Casket & Zero.
Homestead Afb??? That's my town. Makos!!
See. There is a benefit to flying a truck over the pond. Also, there might be a place for Dependz on a long flight as a backup. I guess that "relief tubes" were before your time? All things considered, I guess this is why you earn flight pay. Good shows, guys. I had to laugh at Wombat's story about making a guy do a latrine dance. There was a command directive to knock that off in C-130s due to corrosion damage around said facilities due to that .... stunt. Also, you didn't mention about "Low ash" meals prior to an extended ops....is that a thing of the past, too?
Is there any non-mission related crosstalk/ chitchat between cockpits?
Absolutely
where do you store all these consumables & piddle packs? the F-15 has a big map case to put things - the F-16's can fit an ipad, but that's it. do you have a bag in your lap or do you Lay it on the console? there is no room
Usually the helmet bag which is stuffed in the corner.
Does any F16 model can fly directly from East Coast US to Terceira Island base in Azores, without refueling? Is this technically possible?
Iot’s of Imodium.
Step 1, make sure you have your piddle pack lol.
Gonky: "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines!"
My circadian rhythm has me dead sleepy at 4:30 pm and only for about 45 min, and this is the time I'm driving home from work. I fight to stay awake on the drive. By 5:15-5:30pm I'm wide awake again. Do you all get anything like that and how do you deal with it inflight?
How do you prepare for a pond cross? My PT Silkies fit, mini whiskey's in the Helmet bag (Shh).
I think only the USAF has an office that is allowed to plan oversee passage flight, and other services (Navy, Marines, Guards etc.) must use them as well if they have to cross. Maybe Mover can confim this, I heard it from the Swiss Brigadier F. Carrel who told his story bringing back the first F-18F produced in the U.S. to Switzerland back in the mid 90's
What's the speed on the crossing?
I can't imagine being crammed into a fighter jet and just sit for 8 hours.
My longest pond-crossing was 13 hrs into the wind from Ramstein to Seymour-Johnson in the F4E. We did that numerous times. For me, the worst part was the "poopie" suit. My longest single-seat was from Ohio to England in the A7D. It had a relief tube. For the F4E, I had baggies with cheese and ham cubes, supposedly low-residue. I've crossed the Atlantic a dozen times and the Gulf of Mexico twice in fighters. We had "go pills" for consumption 20 minutes before landing. In those days, there was no restriction on weather or day/night. It was the cold war, and busting a 100ft ceiling after a fighter drag was par for the course.
In the SR-71, there was a special patch called the "Astro-crapper" patch. I knew of no one that got that prestigious patch.
Piddle?!?!?!😊case of beer for each 1 you leave in the acft😂
Are external drop tanks ever used anymore for long-haul flights? And what about the possibility of using internal bays for fuel storage, when carrying weapons isn’t needed, on the newer stealthy aircraft?
Yes. No. Fuel systems are much more complex than that.
Air Force has tankers in the air at all times!
Why no night landings?
What about n°1 and n°2 ?
So I've heard the A-10 has a high loitering time. But of an F-16 can have a 7hr sortie with tanker support. Then what does "Loitering time" mean? With out tanker support?
Time on station.
Biggest problem for these fighter pilots who fly long haul is there are no Airhostess delivering them any food servings & beverages . That's a big drawback of flying solo on fighter jets even if it is group flying
An F4 pilot once told me he drank alcohol the night before to dehydrate his body prior to long flights. Is this true?
So relief tubes isn’t a thing? I couldn’t imagine having to drop a deuce inflight. Gotta be a mess and smell. The glamorous life of a fighter pilot? Love your channel and Gonks addition to the story line is awesome.
Well they wear oxygen masks so the smell probably isn't to bad for the pilot, but I'm sure the ground crew would love it. Imagine that smell just marinating in there for hours lol
Wow, thank you for your service. What was it like flying the F-111?
Neither of us flew the F-111.
A10, we can go as long as you want, only problem is getting out.
Us civilians always talk about dog fighting and stuff, but there is so much more to being a pilot.
I guess I prefer to be a Private Pilot. If it's really windy maybe 30 minutes and practice some touch and go's because it's windy and probably across wind. If it's a pretty calm afternoon about an hour. And I guess thank God a Cessna 182 has the range it does because you can always count on the fuel stops at the tiny airports. Yes sir I'd rather have my life LOL
a bigger, more powerful, heavier aircraft doesn't care about the winds so much. High wing loading. I've flown 8 straight hours in a C172, on an IFR training flight with one of my students. I let them pick their Xcountry flight destination, and he decided to max it out.
I've also flown Cessan 150s solo for over 4-7hrs straight many times.
Those are long days. but they were always interesting and exciting. the long flights I seem to remember the best and have the most stories to tell about them.
Yeah; I have a 1hr bladder myself. When flying cross-country, I would think about being strapped into those hard ejection seats for hours, and suddenly my slight discomfort in that GA cockpit didn't seem so bad.
After 7+ hr flight do they have to pry you out of the cockpit? I know how I am after a long commercial flight! I can't imagine a fighter jet.
I was 26 at the time. You can do a lot of things at that age. 😂
@@CWLemoine I'm 26...I disagree. I feel like I'm 96.
Wasn’t Gonky navy?they would give him a ride
Today, I've learned: Disgusting school toilets prepared my bladder for becoming the perfect F16 pilot.
How did you do get to deployments, if you only did one ocean crossing?
There are more pilots than jets. We get to the theater on airlift or contract transport.
@@CWLemoine Oh ya, that makes sense.
@@CWLemoine So can maintenance sustain deployed aircraft, indefinitely, with parts and engines shipped over?
why can you not land at night?
the less glamorous side of being a fighter pilot
I know you guys talk about real life stuff. I once did a "pond" crossing from Tbilisi, Georgia to Constanta, Romania on an F-15C in DCS World. 40k feet cruise alt at M1.0 or M0.9 don't remember. Everything took one hour. Only fitted with tanks and now that I'm wiser I know that I should've dropped the tanks when empty to reduce drag. Starting fuel 25k lb down to 5k when I reached my destination.
Is the Sukhoi SU-34 the only fighter jet that has a toilet?
not really a fighter jet, and seems to suck as a strike aircraft too given how many have been shot down already. I bet the Su-34 is as good a dogfighter as the F-15E (not good at all).
Why can you not take off and land at night?
Dont eat taco bell before heading out would be my guess.
Sandwiches, Gatorade and snickers
😎