A UH-1N helicopter assigned to Fairchild AFB, Wash., surpassed 17,000 total flying hours during a recent sortie, racking up the most flight hours of any UH-1 in the Air Force’s inventory, according to the base’s 36th Rescue Flight. “To know that we have the highest flight hours in the Air Force, and for the helicopter to still perform so well, is a testament to our maintainers at Fairchild,” said Maj. Tyler Rennell, 36th RQF evaluator and the pilot of the UH-1N, serial number 69-6648, for the milestone sortie on Feb. 24. “An aircraft designed in the 1960s and maintained for nearly half a century is still being flown today with the highest mission capable rate of any other platform in the Air Force,” he added in the base’s April 10 relea?se. The 36th RQF supports survival, evasion, resistance, and escape training in Washington.??
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
