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Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Looks like contractor pilot error.

Contractor is now on the hook for the plane.

Got a reference? I'm not reading that anywhere.

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Originally posted by trapper189:

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An F-35 can't fly from Fort Worth to Edwards without refueling???

Apple maps says 1,300 miles from Fort Worth to Edwards and google says the F-35 has a range greater than 1,200nm or 1,380 miles. How much greater, I was not able to find.

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FAR 91.167 specifies minimum required fuel reserves:

§ 91.167 Fuel requirements for flight in IFR conditions.

(a) No person may operate a civil aircraft in IFR conditions unless it carries enough fuel (considering weather reports and forecasts and weather conditions) to—

(1) Complete the flight to the first airport of intended landing;

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, fly from that airport to the alternate airport; and

(3) Fly after that for 45 minutes at normal cruising speed or, for helicopters, fly after that for 30 minutes at normal cruising speed.

This section specifies "civil aircraft." Not sure how it applies to military aircraft on a ferry flight, which leads to more questions, like what about military aircraft with pure transport (not combat) roles.

I hate to see this for the pilot, he could have injuries that could prevent him from ever flying again, or not (Brian Shul), in any case a very traumatic event for him.
We probably will never know the real cause, and I am all right with that, the less we tell about a weakness with a military aircraft the better.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Looks like contractor pilot error.

Contractor is now on the hook for the plane.

The pilot was a US Air Force pilot, not contractor. And it’s a bit premature to call this pilot error without knowing anything about what actually happened.

Question for current or former military military pilots (arabiancowboy, mojojojo, or others):

When a military aircraft flight is not combat-related, for example a ferry flight like the one being discussed, do all FAR Part 91 requirements apply? Things like fuel requirements?

Typically no. Each service has its own regs on its aircraft operations. They may mirror or be similar to FARs but they are service air operations manuals.

The Navy has NATOPs 3710 and the Coast Guard has Air Ops Manual 3710. They spell out weather and reserve fuel requirements for their operations.

In the CG, at least when I was flying, we were still under the DOT so we always tried to follow all FARs that weren't in contradiction to our Ops Manual 3710, but we weren't technically operating under an FAA license, we were flying under the authority of the Coast Guard.

I'm sure that the Air Force and Army have similar controlling directives for their aircraft operations as well. That would dictate fuel reserve and weather minima requirements for their flights and missions.

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Originally posted by V-Tail:
Question for current or former military military pilots (arabiancowboy, mojojojo, or others):

When a military aircraft flight is not combat-related, for example a ferry flight like the one being discussed, do all FAR Part 91 requirements apply? Things like fuel requirements?

The USAF follows a rule book known as the 11-202v3 for fuel type questions, although it can be further limited by the aircraft specific regulation (known as 11-MDSv3, where MDS equals the actual aircraft name).
The 202 has a little blurb on the opening title page that says (I’m paraphrasing) “follow these rules but if not addresses, follow applicable FAR/AIM guidance.”

All that to say military fuel numbers usually make sense but individual pilots are given a lot of agency to make logical decisions (at least in my community). I’m flying 121 now that I’ve retired and the company is always trying to fly with minimum fuel needed. In the military I could just throw on whatever extra gas I wanted without asking anyone’s permission.

I only ran out of fuel once, haha, but it couldn’t be helped.