Nov. 9, 2016
1st FW Raptors, crew soar through flying hours
JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. – —
The 1st Fighter Wing’s F-22 Raptors collectively reached their flying hour mark this fiscal year of more than 6,000 hours.
For each fiscal year, the flying hour program tasks the number of hours pilots need to acquire in order to maintain proficient in combative flying, based on budgeting and the maximum number of sorties the wing is capable of producing.
With limited resources available, the 1st FW completing the hours was an intricate balance between progression in maintenance and tactical logistics, which guided the Raptors to success.
“We have to maximize each and every sortie flown to reach the highest level of combat readiness,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Michael, 1st Operational Support Squadro¬¬¬¬n director of operations. “It takes a significant number of man-hours and resources to prepare and fix the aircraft for each and every flight.”