John Edward Long Jr. (November 10, 1915 – July 18, 1999[1]) was an American pilot who is in the Guinness Book of Records for the most flight time by a pilot: over 65,000 hours (more than seven years and four months) at the time of his death.[1][2]
He began in 1933 at the age of 17, when he took his first and only flying lesson.[1] In September 1989, he broke the previous record, 52,929 hours, set by Max Conrad in 1974.[1] According to his brother, Ed Long's job involved checking power lines, so "most of that was under 200 feet, in a Piper Cub".[1] Long's last flight was entered into his logbook June 21, 1999.[3] He died July 17, 1999, at the age of 83.
