Wing closes out flying hours

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Mills
  • Public Affairs
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  The 71st Flying Training Wing closed out its fiscal 2005 flying hours Wednesday, two days before the year ended.
The T-1 flew 27,813 hours, the T-6 flew 3,550 hours, the T-37 flew 35,180 hours and the T-38 flew 14,817 hours.
"Weather permitting, the plan was to finish Wednesday, with catch up hours Thursday if they were needed," said Maj. Gary Godwin, 71st Operations Support Squadron wing programming. "We knew we would be finished ahead of time. Navigational aid flight testing may have impacted the hours, but fortunately that didn't happen."
Major Godwin attributes the wing's success to programmers, instructor pilots and students.
"There was good management of the flying hours on the director of operations side, and we were able to adjust numbers with the command through the year as we looked toward the end," he said. "IPs in the T-6 were also an enormous help in filling the hours. They've worked really hard the last month in meeting the goal of the flying hour program."
The wing also saw a fair first year for the T-6.
"We had a few minor issues, but the introduction of the new frame went about the same as the transition to the T-38C. Overall, this year went pretty well," Major Godwin said.
Flying hours are set to ensure proper pilot training and to help maintenance keep the base's fleet healthy. Air Education and Training Command Instruction 21-104 states the flying plan is a contract between the wing commander and AETC and must be met to "conduct high quality student training and maintain high aircraft mission capability."
Col. Kevin Kriner, 71st Operations Group commander, commended the flying squadrons for their hard work.
"I'm proud of the job all of the squadrons did balancing limited resources with training requirements and our ongoing transition to the T-6 in fiscal '05," he said. "We closed out the year ahead of schedule and ahead on the training timeline, which will be an enormous benefit as we attack fiscal '06."