AlbieF15
F15 Ret/FDX/InterviewPrep
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2001
- Posts
- 1,764
Like just about every other fighter pilot out there, I launched at 0stupidthirty (0300-0600) many times before an 8-10 hour sortie, especially flying from the states to Europe.
Noise abatement, altrav (the block of airspace for tanker and fighters), and fields being open all contributed to the timing, but the idea of "landing in the daylight" also weighed in.
Personally, I always thought staying on your normal body clock, driving across the pond, then landing after dark was easier than trying to go to sleep at noon the day prior. I HATED to whole act. I had a flightmate in a cell I was leading one night who darn near couldn't get gas and almost had to divert. He was a rock solid pilot who had no previous problems...but he not anywhere close to his "normal" state of alertness. When we talked later there were several guys in the same cell who confessed to "zoning out" "nodding off" several times during the deployment. At FedEx, this window is refered to as the "critical period", recognizing the challenges of flying when your body is at its worst. United refers to it as the "Wave of Circiadian Low" or something similar, and likewise has restrictions on how many times you can be scheduled to fly there and the required rest requirements.
When I went to become an aerospace physiologist a few years later, I learned a lot about how tough it really is to work during that period. Since our fighting force now does some much of its work at night, and we train with NVGs, etc, I cannot understand why we still have the mindset of "...must land in daylight". When teaching Human Factors classes, I would always make note of that to guys who were going on the be Squadron CCs and Ops Group Commanders, reminding them that both anecdotally (war stories from these classes) and scienfically (human factor study data) it was much tougher to try to swap your body clock around that land after dark. I know of 2 squadron commanders who told the deployment team "we ain't launchin' then..", but usually I've seen guys just accept whatever timing is offered.
I had a few pet peeves when active duty, and this was one. The other was leaving $40-50 million dollar jets out in the rain and elements every day at stateside bases. I drive an old 89 volvo...worth about $1200 blue book...but I put it in a garage at night. Then I go fly a $35-40 million dollar Eagle that has just had rain pour down the ECS intake and soak the cockpit avionics. I've watched crew chiefs sweat and get sunburned while working on them, and get rained on as well. However, both at Eglin and at Tyndall, I'm now seeing some sunshelters being installed. So...there has been some progress in one area that used to bug me...so maybe they'll fix the other one too
Noise abatement, altrav (the block of airspace for tanker and fighters), and fields being open all contributed to the timing, but the idea of "landing in the daylight" also weighed in.
Personally, I always thought staying on your normal body clock, driving across the pond, then landing after dark was easier than trying to go to sleep at noon the day prior. I HATED to whole act. I had a flightmate in a cell I was leading one night who darn near couldn't get gas and almost had to divert. He was a rock solid pilot who had no previous problems...but he not anywhere close to his "normal" state of alertness. When we talked later there were several guys in the same cell who confessed to "zoning out" "nodding off" several times during the deployment. At FedEx, this window is refered to as the "critical period", recognizing the challenges of flying when your body is at its worst. United refers to it as the "Wave of Circiadian Low" or something similar, and likewise has restrictions on how many times you can be scheduled to fly there and the required rest requirements.
When I went to become an aerospace physiologist a few years later, I learned a lot about how tough it really is to work during that period. Since our fighting force now does some much of its work at night, and we train with NVGs, etc, I cannot understand why we still have the mindset of "...must land in daylight". When teaching Human Factors classes, I would always make note of that to guys who were going on the be Squadron CCs and Ops Group Commanders, reminding them that both anecdotally (war stories from these classes) and scienfically (human factor study data) it was much tougher to try to swap your body clock around that land after dark. I know of 2 squadron commanders who told the deployment team "we ain't launchin' then..", but usually I've seen guys just accept whatever timing is offered.
I had a few pet peeves when active duty, and this was one. The other was leaving $40-50 million dollar jets out in the rain and elements every day at stateside bases. I drive an old 89 volvo...worth about $1200 blue book...but I put it in a garage at night. Then I go fly a $35-40 million dollar Eagle that has just had rain pour down the ECS intake and soak the cockpit avionics. I've watched crew chiefs sweat and get sunburned while working on them, and get rained on as well. However, both at Eglin and at Tyndall, I'm now seeing some sunshelters being installed. So...there has been some progress in one area that used to bug me...so maybe they'll fix the other one too
