How Many Years Does an Airplane Fly? What is its lifespan?

This is the most crucial issue today; when an airplane can be called new and when it can be called old and unable to fly. 

I would like to explain this by giving you an example from your car. 

How long can you use your car? 

Can the 1960 F-4 Phantom airplane fly today? 

The main topic of all these and similar questions comes to the question of how long is the flight life of an airplane? 

The most accurate answer for this is the sum of the flight hours required for the wear of the materials used in the construction of the aircraft. 

In other words, as long as you buy a 1960 model airplane and maintain it continuously, if the flight hour life is 20,000 hours, it will fly until it completes that hour. Whether this plane is 5 years old or 55 years old. 

But if you have a plane with structural or software problems such as the Boeing 737 max aircraft, it cannot fly, even if it is 3-4 months old, unless IFAA (International Federal Aviation Agency) has not authorized it to fly. 

Airplanes, like cars, are specially manufactured for many purposes such as passenger transportation, cargo transportation, fast travel, fire extinguishing, military purposes or spraying. 

If an aircraft is not flying and maneuvering as a military aircraft, its flight life is longer. Since military aircraft maneuver with high G, cracks or structural damage may occur in their fuselages over time. 

When an airplane is put into service, that is, when it is purchased and started to be used, all flights and malfunctions are recorded one by one in the aircraft's registration file.

How many hours were flown in total, which personnel intervened in which malfunction, what is the authorization and training of the person who intervened, these are kept in this registry file one by one. 

When a problem arises, the accident investigation team takes all these files and their contents and examines them one by one. 

When that airplane malfunctions, when your Toyota car malfunctions, it is taken to the service center like the owner who wants the work to be done correctly. 

The service intervenes and fixes the fault, tests it and delivers it to you. If it is under warranty, there is no charge. But if it is a usage-related error, a fee is charged. 

No, it is not possible for airplanes to be cheaper and take it to Motorist Veli Usta. 

People who have received the training of that aircraft and authorized to sign can only make the malfunction of the aircraft and say that the aircraft can fly. 

The pilot also takes the airplane and, if necessary, takes it on a test flight and performs all the flight tests that need to be done and gives the airplane an OK OK to fly report and signs it.

Either you make structural modifications to it, or you take it out of flight and send it to a museum or school. 

By the way, the US Air Force has taken 1000 F-4s, vacuum-sealed them and buried them in Death Valley, an airplane cemetery in the USA. Thousands of planes like this are buried there, never used. 

As the F-4 planes used by the USAF, that is, the US Air Force, wear out, they continue to use the parts and the plane itself. 

We said it was a special airplane for everything. 

Since passenger planes will not maneuver much, structural damage such as cracks etc. will not occur in these planes in a short time. 

But since fighter planes require maximum movement and maneuvering, these maneuvers are recorded depending on the pilot's limits. For example, if 6 G is normal for the aircraft, every maneuver above it is reported to the ground crew. The aircraft's G-clock also records the last G and stops there. If 8.5 Gs are taken, the aircraft is checked for the connection and observation points that need to be checked and if there is no damage, it is allowed to fly again. 

Airplanes also have periodic maintenance and are taken to the maintenance hangar as these maintenance are carried out. Oil and fuel filters are canged. Engine oil and hydraulic fluids are changed or completed.  

Some parts are dismantled during certain flight hours, even if there is no malfunction, and sent either to the factory or to repair workshops in Turkey, if any, to be serviced and returned to flight. After the necessary tests and maintenance are carried out there, they are stored in the supply system or warehouses to be used again. 

The aircraft has flown for a certain period of time, but there are no problems. It still undergoes periodic maintenance. And if necessary, it is checked whether there is structural damage to the aircraft by taking X-rays and applying procedures called (NDI) Non Destructive Inspection. When High G is taken, these operations are performed without waiting for periodic maintenance if necessary. 

All these maintenance operations are carried out by the manufacturer company during the production of the aircraft or while the aircraft is in service, as a result of incidents, problems and maintenance, just like in vehicles, the maintenance procedures required to keep the aircraft ready for flight continuously with emergency maintenance operations, if necessary, within the scope of the findings obtained from the existing maintenance procedures manuals and malfunctions, and the maintenance procedures required to keep the aircraft ready for flight are also included in the technical documents and these documents are also updated. 

Since the systems in today's airplanes are digital, if there is a malfunction, the system immediately indicates these malfunctions to the pilot and ground crew under its own control, just like the warning signs we see in cars. 

Considering that there are cars that go 3 million km today, with good maintenance, you can fly these airplanes for the recommended flight life as long as you do not have supply problems in the parts of these airplanes. 

Afterwards, you can increase this life by making modifications. 

The estimated aircraft flight hour life was 8,000 hours for F-16s. In parallel with Lockheed Martin, the Turkish F-16s underwent the same structural modifications made to all F-16s in the world in cooperation with the Turkish Air Force and TAI, and gained the ability to fly an additional 4-7 thousand flight hours.

These aircraft can also be upgraded with more modern systems by having the systems on the aircraft examined by specialized teams and engineers, if necessary. The F-4/2020 has been upgraded in this way in cooperation with Israel. 

And I know that it is still actively operating with very good operational and bombing success. 

Why did I write all this? 

When buying a second-hand car, just as the statement that all maintenance has been carried out at an authorized service center creates a sense of trust in you, so does a well-maintained aircraft. 

The authorization and repair certificates of the institutions that are determined to have performed this work incorrectly or incompletely are immediately revoked by the competent authorities. 

In order to work at THY, you get these authorization certificates by taking the exam and then you start working at THY. But we also receive training for the aircraft we will work on, and then you can operate on that aircraft. 

All the information of each personnel, how many years they have worked on which aircraft, is recorded in this way. 

Just like airplanes, pilots' entire flight life is also recorded. How many hours they have flown in which airplane, what is their health status, what are their diseases, all these are recorded one by one. 

Pilots also undergo mandatory medical examinations and if they are fit to fly, they receive a flight certificate. 

In the light of all this information, a 60-year-old airplane can fly if it has never flown or has not completed its total flight life.  

Like the man who bought a car in the 1950s and kept it at home and never used it, or like the man who hid his F4s in Death Valley ARIZONA and hid the plane.

A brand new airplane may be grounded if problems are detected in its systems. Boeing 737 MAX example. 

All these are procedures carried out under the supervision and control of the IFAA international aviation federation. Unless these people give their approval, you cannot fly, or if they say it can fly, it is up to you to say it cannot fly. It can fly, but if you say I can't find spare parts or I don't want to fly it, you don't fly it. 

Aircraft engine is one of the parts that can be replaced or modified. If you want, if your fuselage is strong, you can buy a new engine just like your old model car and mount it on your airplane and fly it. For this, approved engines can be purchased from the relevant manufacturer, if available. 

This is the essence of the events that have been renovated in recent days, no one has not seen it, no bird has nested in it, no spider has wrapped it. 

If you take your car, even if it is old, and keep it and its systems up to date with maintenance, you ride and travel in your car.   Even if it is a 2020 vehicle that you do not put oil and water in, if you have not maintained it, you will have problems after a while. 

The problem is about what you want to do. 

If it was said that I want to do this job, but if 2 fire extinguishing planes were bought every year instead of investing in them, we would have 12 new model fire planes in the last 6 years. 

This situation may change according to the decisions to be made by managers who love their country. 

If it were me, I would compare the maintenance costs of these aircraft in THK with the purchase and maintenance costs of new aircraft and I would have a completely new fleet of fire extinguishing aircraft within 10 years with a certain amount of renewal every year.

Or I would solve the problem with partial renewal and partial maintenance of the existing aircraft.

If we do not want to use these planes because they are old, second-hand ones could also be purchased and used abroad.  

To give an example from the world, the Boeing 737, which left the factory in 1970, is currently serving in the Airfast Indonesia fleet as the world's oldest commercial airplane still in use. 

It is all about knowing and finding the flight cost-effectiveness ratios of these airplanes. If you want, I would give the old airplanes to schools for training or sell them and use them for civilian passenger transportation or tourism at various airports. 

Conclusion

How long an aircraft is in service depends on several factors:

1. Aircraft type: Different aircraft have different life expectancies. Commercial passenger planes are usually in service for 20 to 30 years, while private planes or light sport aircraft can be used for shorter periods.

2. Intensity of use: How intensively an aircraft is used can affect its service life. An aircraft that flies frequently and covers long distances may have a shorter lifespan.

3. Maintenance and repair: Regular maintenance and repair of aircraft can extend their service life. An aircraft that is regularly checked and repaired by a professional maintenance program can last longer.

4. Technological advances: The aviation industry is constantly developing new technologies and improving the efficiency of aircraft. Newer aircraft models can offer longer lifetimes and better performance.

Taking these factors into account, the service life of an aircraft usually ranges from 20 to 30 years. However, in some special cases, airplanes may be in service for longer periods, while others may have a shorter lifespan. Aircraft maintenance, use and adaptation to technological advances are important factors affecting service life.