LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
The 1st Fighter Wing was in the air for 1.52 years during fiscal year 2005, falling just short of the 1.6 years they were allotted by ACC.
While the F-15 squadrons beat their flying hour requirements, fluctuations in the F-22 arrival schedule and maintenance difficulties caused the 27th Fighter Squadron to dip below their goal, according to the 1st Operations Support Squadron The 1st OSS Current Operations Office runs the 1st FW flying hours program, which tracks the number of hours each squadron flies in a fiscal year.
Maj. Erik Joy, 1st OSS Current Operations chief, said they were able to redistribute the hours to get the most out of them.
“Towards the end of the year, the 71st Fighter Squadron was tasked with Operation Noble Eagle, they flew more than their allotted hours,” he said. “The F-22s weren’t going to fly all of their hours. We went to ACC asked them if we could take some of the F-22 hours and give them to the F-15s.”
Flying hours are determined based on the number of aircraft, the amount of training needed and how many ONE missions they may be tasked to fly. The 71st FS and 94th Fighter Squadron were authorized a combined 13,364.1 flying hours, while the 27th FS were authorized 727.8 hours because it had far fewer aircraft and pilots during the year. The F-15 squadrons met their goals, flying a combined 13,390.7 hours, and the 27th flew 505.3 hours.
Maj. Joy said discrepancies like this are not uncommon.
“One part of it is the F-22 is a new airframe,” he explained. “There were more maintenance issues and less F-22s.”
Other forces can impact flying hours, he added. “If we have really bad weather for a couple of weeks, you lose those sorties,” he explained. “And last year, because of the cost of the war on terror, ACC told us to stop flying, but they ended up giving those hours back.”
It is ACC that ultimately determines how much each wing flies. John Cilento, ACC Flight Management, helps divvy up flight hours to each wing in ACC.
“We are the office that establishes flying hours based on their ready aircrew training sortie requirements,” he said. “We also base it on the cost of doing business requirements like air shows and travel.”
Mr. Cilento said the 1st Fighter Wing’s case is a little different from other wings when it comes to assigning hours.
“Obviously we have to address the drawdown of the F-15s and the growth of the F-22,” he said. “You don’t have the full allocation of F-22s, and the F-15s are going away, so you’re flying fewer sorties and hours than normal. It’s difficult to fly at rates you would under normal conditions.”
These conditions were taken into account when the FY-06 hours were established. This year, the F-15s are scheduled to fly 9,071 hours, while the 27th FS hours leap to 7,173. Combined, Langley pilots are going to be in the air 1.85 years.
So how does Langley fit in with other ACC wings? The comparison is apples to oranges. “No two F-15 wings are alike,” Mr. Cilento said. “Some have two squadrons. Mountain Home only has one, so it’s hard to compare them. But here, the F-15s are flying less than normal.”
The F-15s, however, are off to a good start. “Through December, the F-15s are 26 hours ahead of plan,” Mr. Cilento said.