He's fought this war while guzzling liters of Mountain Dew and Coke, wolfing down tortilla chips and shoveling in Hot Tamales candy. The captain slept seven hours on his mission, and the major less than three hours. Then, pumped with adrenalin, they head for Missouri. The pilots' wives get telephone calls from Whiteman officials once their husbands have cleared enemy air space and wait another half day or more to see them. She told me that after she got the call she slept well.
Research shows pilots get drowsiest on the drive home.
Some pass the time reading magazines. Others try to nap. Often they chat about high-school days, about their plans for the next day, about sports. Once the wheels of their jets finally touched down on the same runway from which they lifted off about 30 hours earlier, the pilots headed for a few hours of briefing and then to their own beds. After his mission, the captain slept two hours before spending an evening at home with his wife and child.