four THOUSAND hours: A-10 pilots set flying hour record

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Sherri Savant
  • 917th Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale AFB, La. --  A-10 pilots strapped into their jets like they would any other day, but this time, they would set records, records that very few in the entire Air Force A-10 community have ever dreamed of achieving. 

Lt. Cols. Jimbo Macaulay and Brady Glick, 47th Fighter Squadron A-10 pilots, landed on the flight line Thursday afternoon, Sept. 1 after completing 4,000 flying hours each in the A-10 aircraft. 

The two become part of a very elite group of approximately 10 A-10 pilots in the entire Air Force to cross the 4,000-hour mark, three of whom are now right here at Barksdale.
They flew as part of a four-ship with Col. Bob Tarter, Wing commander, and Lt. Col. David Deaton, Wing chief of Safety, who also recently completed 4,000 hours in the A-10.
“These men are true aviators in the grandest sense,” Colonel Tarter said. “This historical accomplishment puts them in a league with few peers. I am very proud of them and honored to have flown with each of them.” 

Even more significant than the 4,000-hour milestone, according to Colonel Macaulay, was the four-ship combined time record. “It (the four-ship) symbolizes the experience and credibility of our A-10 FTU instructors in the 47th Fighter Squadron,” he said.
The experience the pilots obtain from the many flying hours they rack up...they transfer to students. 

“We learn something from every sortie we fly, so it logically follows that experience directly correlates to knowledge, and our job as instructors is to transfer that knowledge to our students,” Colonel Macaulay said. 

The average A-10 experience of instructor pilots here at Barksdale is about 2,700 hours per pilot, making the 47 FS the most experienced squadron in the world, according to Colonel Glick. 

After the many walks to and from the jet, neither pilot plans to hang up his gear for the last time anytime soon. 

“I love to fly as much now as ever,” Colonel Glick, the 17-year veteran A-10 pilot said. “My enthusiasm for ‘strapping on’ an A-10 has never waned over the years, and I’m hoping to fly for many more.” 

“There is no other fighter that is comparable,” Colonel Macaulay said after completing his 2,500th sortie in the A-10. “The almost daily smell of Hercolite gunpowder from the GAU-8 firing is a necessary tonic that keeps me motivated.”
“The race is on to be the first to 5,000,” he said.