Pilot logs in 5,000 hours: one of five people in the Air Force to fly 5,000 hours in the C-17

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David K. Flaherty
  • 452d AMW/Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  An evaluator pilot with the 729th Airlift Squadron became the first reservist at March Air Reserve Base to log in 5,000 flying hours on the C-17 Globemaster III, June 23. 

Maj. Dan Nichols hit the monumental number while piloting a mission to Bulgaria in support of a fighter-jet deployment, making him the fifth pilot in the Air Force to log in 5,000 hours on the C-17. 

"A lot of guys here have five thousand hours in military airplanes, but not very many Air Force pilots have five thousand flying hours in a C-17," said Lt. Col. Jim Finney, Director of Operations at the 729th AS. "Maj. Nichols is one of the most experienced guys in the airplane - active duty or Reserve." 

Maj. Nichols has spent his entire Air Force career on the C-17. He began flying the jet while on active duty, going straight to the C-17 after graduating pilot training in 1995 - the year the plane was introduced into the Air Force's inventory. Since receiving his wings, worldwide conflicts have kept Maj Nichols flying and in the air. 

"My first Christmas in the Air Force was in Germany doing Bosnia stuff," said Maj. Nichols. "A few years later, Kosovo kicked off. Then a couple years after that came the events of September 11th. In 2002, I was gone pretty much the whole year. If I was home, I was only there for four days or a week." In addition to experience, Maj. Nichols has also played an active role in the transport jets development. When the C-17 program was in its infancy, a combination of C-130 and C-141 methods made up the plane's operating procedures, said Maj. Nichols. As time progressed, different tactics and techniques were developed that were specific to the C-17. Maj. Nichols, along with other senior C-17 pilots on base, provided their input in various Air Force conferences that helped improve C-17 tactics, techniques and procedures that are still being used today. 

"A lot of the tactical procedure that are in the book, he invented," said Capt. Doug Ferrette, a C-17 pilot at the 729th AS. "You definitely want a flight with him when you're learning. It's one thing to read how something is done, but when he's there to explain why it's done, it just goes that much farther." 

To the pilots of the 729th AS, Maj. Nichol's knowledge of the C-17 is invaluable. As one of only a handful of evaluator pilots at the 729th AS, Dan Nichols is at the pinnacle of C-17 program, said Lt. Col. Finney. He continues to pass on the knowledge he has learned in a long career that has helped shape the way pilots fly the C-17 today, and for years to come. 

"There's kind of a joke among the rest of us at the squadron," said Capt Eric Ozols, a C-17 pilot at the 729th AS. "If you say, 'that's the way Dan Nichols does it,' then it's got to be right. He's a really great pilot and we're lucky to have him here."