Two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters simultaneously surpassed 10,000 flight hours on a sortie from Kirtland AFB, N.M., last week. “I’m humbled to get the chance to take the very aircraft I used to fly when it had double-digit flight time and fly it past the 10,000-hour mark,” said Rod Reay of M1 Support Services, who is the 58th Special Operations Wing’s chief HH-60 pilot, following the mission. Both Pave Hawk 644, to which Reay was referring, and Pave Hawk 680 joined the 58th SOW with less than 5,000 flight hours in 1994. “It is a true testament to the Air Force’s military, civilian, and contract maintainers that an aircraft produced with an original lifespan of 7,000 flying hours is now surpassing the 10,000-hour mark,” said Reay. The Air Force has been using Pave Hawks since 1982. USAF officials last month announced that the projected fielding date of a Pave Hawk successor may slip by as much as three years to 2018. (Kirtland report by Connie Rankin)
Meink: Air Force Has Five More E-7s Under Contract
April 30, 2026
The Air Force has contracts in place for five additional E-7A Wedgetail airborne battle management aircraft, Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers April 30. Meink also said the Department of the Air Force wants to work with Congress to find ways to continue to fund the E-7 next year and beyond,…