J-7 fighter pilot Wang Wenchang retired from the China Air force after 29 years of service with 5290 flight hours, 6 types of aircraft nearly 10,000 sorties
Some take takeaways:
Assuming he flew every year, which is never the case, then his avg flight hours would be 182.4 per year. During much of the 1990s and 2000s, most of the pilots just don't accumulate as many flight time as they do today. Wang Wenchang likely gained more hours during second half of his career.One word of caution: his experience and statistics might not be applicable in analyzing the freshly minted J-10, J-11 and J-16 pilots who are carrying out all the front-line duties.
Most his sorties were short ~ 30 to 40 minutes (10,000 / 5290). Given he was a pilot on the notorious short-legged J-7 early models (judging by the photo and video) as well as his time on basic and intermediate trainers. This is not a surprise.
If counting basic, intermediate and different models of J-7 in Air force service, his "6 types of aircraft" is fairly standard as well.
1 comment:
Congratulations to Wang Wenchang on his 29 years of service. I envy the fact that he spent much time in various versions of the J-7, not the most modern of designs, but a real aerial hot rod.
Today, Pakistan pilots still enjoy a sortie in their F-7PGs because of how they respond to a pilots inputs. China's current front line types come from a solid heritage.
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