July 17, 2008

Almaden native logs 5,000 hours as Air Force pilot

Major Dan Nichols, an evaluator pilot with the 729th Airlift Squadron, is the first reservist at March Air Reserve Base to log 5,000 flying hours on the C-17 Golbemaster III.

Maj. Dan Nichols, an evaluator pilot with the 729th Airlift Squadron, performs a preflight check before an aerial demonstration during an air show in the Czech Republic. He helped to create tactics, techniques and procedures for the C-17. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman David K. Flaherty)

The Almaden native achieved the number on June 23 while flying a mission to Bulgaria to support a fighter jet deployment. His achievement is rare, he is only the fifth pilot in the Air Force to log 5,000 hours on the C-17.

According to the director of operations at the 729th Air Squadron, while many Air Force members have piloted military planes for 5,000 hours, not many have done so with a C-17. “Maj. Nichols is one of the most experienced guys in the airplane -active duty or reserve,” Lt. Col. Jim Finney told an Air Force publication.

Nichols’ entire career in the Air Force has been in the C-17. He started flying the plane on active duty after his 1995 graduation from pilot training. That was the first year the jet became part of the Air Force’s stock of planes. Since then, conflicts around the world have kept him flying.

“My first Christmas in the Air Force was in Ger-many doing Bosnia stuff,” Nichols told the Air Force publication. “A few years later, Kosovo kicked off. Then a couple years after that came the events of Sept. 11. In 2002, I was gone pretty much the whole year. If I was home, I was only there for four days or a week.”

Nichols has also played an active role in the transport jet 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, he said. As time progressed, different tactics and techniques were developed that were specific to the C-17. 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.

Nichols talks with the local children during an air show in the Czech Republic. He helped to create tactics, techniques and procedures for the C-17. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman David K. Flaherty)

He invented much of the tactical procedures in the book, Capt. Doug Ferrette, a C-17 pilot said. “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.”

“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.”

Nichols grew up in the Almaden Valley, the son of Sue and the late Don Nichols. A graduate of Pioneer High School, he attended San Jose State, where he was a ROTC member, and graduated with a degree in aeronautical aviation. He went to the Air Force’s Flight Training School immediately after graduation.

Editor’s Note: Some of the information for this story came from Air Force Print News Today.