Oldest active military pilot you know

[waveflyer]

In the Canada no age limit thread, I pointed out the inconsistency between military and civilian standards-
What I am ignorant of is how old - how long do military pilots fly?
It seems most Mil pilots have to leave the cockpit in order to progress past LtCol- so there is a natural progression out of the flight deck- but what if a mil pilot wants to stay flying?
How long can they?
What is typical?
What's the outlier? What's the oldest you've seen someone fly fighters? Whats the oldest for Tankers/cargo?

 

[FoxHunter]

In the Canada no age limit thread, I pointed out the inconsistency between military and civilian standards-
What I am ignorant of is how old - how long do military pilots fly?
It seems most Mil pilots have to leave the cockpit in order to progress past LtCol- so there is a natural progression out of the flight deck- but what if a mil pilot wants to stay flying?
How long can they?
What is typical?
What's the outlier? What's the oldest you've seen someone fly fighters? Whats the oldest for Tankers/cargo?

http://www.kirtland.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123234449

http://www.midweek.com/content/story/midweek_extrastory/the_oldest_pilot_in_iraq/

 

[SWA Bubba]

In the Canada no age limit thread, I pointed out the inconsistency between military and civilian standards-
What I am ignorant of is how old - how long do military pilots fly?
It seems most Mil pilots have to leave the cockpit in order to progress past LtCol- so there is a natural progression out of the flight deck- but what if a mil pilot wants to stay flying?
How long can they?
What is typical?
What's the outlier? What's the oldest you've seen someone fly fighters? Whats the oldest for Tankers/cargo?

You're probably still not gonna' get someone past 65 (or even 60, for that matter). Officers generally start at around 22 years old (college graduates), and that's the realistic floor for a military flight student to start training (not that there isn't some exceptions). A 30-year career puts you at 52 years old. Very few, if any, military officers do MUCH more than that. Mike Boorda (a former CNO) spent 40 years in the military, but he enlisted at 16, and died at 56. Even if someone did 40 years starting at the traditional 22, that would put you at 62, and the only officers that can stay THAT long are typically 4-star flag officers, typically well beyond their flying years. This is because if you fail to progress, you're generally eventually forced out. The oldest Navy pilot I ever personally met was a 2-star admiral (CNATRA) who occasionally flew a T-45 training jet. He was 48 or 49 at the time. And I believe the main reason he still got to fly, was as a perk of his particular job (Chief of Naval Air Training). I'm sure there are a few other military pilots who may be older, especially if they started later.

You just don't see MANY "old" military pilots.

Bubba

 

[waveflyer]

http://www.kirtland.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123234449

http://www.midweek.com/content/story/midweek_extrastory/the_oldest_pilot_in_iraq/

The current Air Force recall program, which is now on hold, had an age limit of 62 for Airmen to come back on active-duty. Colonel Routt is currently on an age waiver extension until September, 2012. That will put him at six weeks before his 65th birthday when he retires for the final time.
"For me, the Air Force has always been the place to be," said Colonel Routt. "It's been my dream and I've been very fortunate that I've been able to do it so long."

So I have the obvious point, that the military has an arbitrary age limit, and needed an age waiver to get to the FAA 121 limit of 65-
But ultimately, I've been caught up in the stories, and enjoy hearing about the careers-
Good post bubba- are any military practices relevant to the airline discussion on age? Or am I speaking from total ignorance in making parallels?

 

[Mamma]

I've seen some of these old timers come back on active duty to the C-17 and it is pretty sad. I admire their patriotism but have to wonder about their sanity to do such a thing. This one old guy, I saw him around the system when I was on an 11 day junket. He looked old as dirt. At the beginning he looked very tired and his co-pilots looked like his grandkids....all scurrying around the place and playing games. Towards the end when I saw him, I was worried as to whether he would survive the trip. I have done this kind of torture flying for the last 10 years and I am probably 20 years junior to this guy and am ready to throw the towel in. It gets so hard to fly backside of the clock for 22-23 hour crew days. The consecutive max duty days and clock flipping was taking a very heavy toll on him and it was evident from talking to him that he was in the wrong place. Guys like this and LT Col Routt need to be in a nice slow C-172 with their grandkid not flying the line on military operations. This arena is best left to the youngsters.

 

[T3700]

The age waiver you refer to has to do with being brought back on active-duty, not flying.

The military has a more stringent annual flight physical than your average FAA Doc gives. There is also an annual physical fitness test plus weight restrictions. Some of the 300 lb walking heart attacks I've seen in the cockpit would have long ago been forced out of military flying. I agree that you would have to be crazy to want to get back into military flying at that age. The long days, air-refueling, low level flying, etc., are a young man's game.

The FAA has zero authority over military pilots and their qualifications. I'm not sure what the military does is any justification for or against age limits in civil flying.

 

[Carl S.]

I worked with a couple of Army CWO4 and now CWO5 rotorary wing pilots in their early sixties!!! Commisioned got pushed out at 28 years unless you got O-6 or better if I recalled, but they never flew.

 

[Mamma]

The military has a more stringent annual flight physical than your average FAA Doc gives.

That's pretty funny. Stringent flight physical in the military!? Maybe to get in it is but afterwards its a joke like the FAA one. The only difficulty with the military physical is you can't doctor shop. We have FAA docs around where I live that are barely alive themselves. But, they have a line of guys wanting their service. The military, you get who you get but they are so overworked on physical days they just run it like a mill.

 

[T3700]

Try getting through the hearing test by asking a flight surgeon to use the "whisper" test instead of putting you in the box.

 

[Mamma]

Try getting through the hearing test by asking a flight surgeon to use the "whisper" test instead of putting you in the box.

Nah. The box is good! I just keep clicking the button at the appropriate time! OR until it tells me to stop!