How dangerous is it to become a fighter pilot?

Question

If you cannot generalize this question, then I'm sorry for asking. But maybe you could tell me anything you know about it really.

Answer 1

Warbird Pilot is a sped. You have alot of responsibility while fying a fighter. I fly a 1979 Piper Archer II, and thats just a single engine piston.... and it takes at LEAST 80 hours of flying to get your liscense. You have to worry about over-stressing a fighter, you have to worry about the G-forces in a fighter... and you also have to worry about all of the flight restrictions (for example, you can't break 769 mph. (sound barrier) over land). Those are just a couple of many things. However.... I'm going to to go to college to study aviation and become a fighter pilot in the USAF. As dangerous as it can be... i'm still going for it!!!! BECAUSE THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!!!!!!!

Answer 2

No more dangerous than flying in general.  The training is small steps, building up to the whole package.

As hokey as it may sound, Tom Wolfe talked about the pryamid in the Right Stuff -- there's lots of little steps and not everybody makes it.  Today, however, the accident rate is no where near what he wrote about.

Answer 3

Actually, because of the envelops operated in, there is more danger than civil/commercial aviation.

One example- Commercial planes must maintain a minimum distance from each others, like 5 miles.

A fighter must get right up on a refueler to take on fuel.

When I was a mechanic on fighter jets in the service, we had incidents of pilots running into each other, striking the ground (usually target fixation), equipment failure, etc.

This can happen at a MUCH higher rate of speed than any current (remember, the SST is retired) commercial aircraft.

All of this is not to mention that sometimes there is someone shooting at you, either from the air or ground.

Answer 4

dangerous not so much, you would need to be really dedicated and study, study, study.  A fighter pilot goes through briefings before  a sortie, and after.   You have to fly the plane, watch radars for others. talk and coordinate over radio. and maybe even fire off a few rounds or a missile or two. and still not get  shot down. Its extremely complicated to say the least.

Answer 5

WEll it takes a lot of college, and there's no garuntee that youd fly the fighter of your choice in the first place.

As far as risk, yea its risky. Youre flying at 400 mph plus in tight turns close to the ground and/or buildings and/or other planes, and thats just in training. Add getting shot at into the equation, and it gets even riskier

Its not a suicide mission though. If you have what it takes and you pass all the tests, including the dreaded vision tests, you will be trained more extensively than any commercial or civilian pilot.

So in short, yes its dangerous, but then again its a combat oriented job, so its inherrently dangerous. But again, its not an assured thing that most pilots will die within X amount of years of becoming a pilot.

Answer 6

Other than the fact that your job will be to go out and take on a bunch of folks who will be trying to blow you out of the sky, no more dangerouse than any other flying.