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Belgian pilot first European to surpass the 5,000hrs mark in the F-16
March 4, 2021 (by
Lieven Dewitte) -
During a training flight on Friday, March 5, 2021, Captain Steven De Vries, a Belgian Air Force pilot based at Kleine Brogel AB, will reach the milestone of 5,000 flight hours in the F-16.
Forty-eight-year old Captain De Vries is the seventh pilot in the world and the first European to cross the 5,000-hour mark in an F-16. Only six American pilots had crossed this symbolic milestone before him.
De Vries' record is a unique achievement as he has built up the 5,000 flying hours on F-16 during operational training missions and operational deployment abroad. De Vries is 48 years old and has been a member of the Belgian Air Force since 1990, where he flies with the 31st "Tigers" squadron under the call sign "Vrieske".
Three other pilots will accompany “Vrieske” on his record flight on Friday. All four together flew more than 16,000 hours on F-16, which is also unique in the world.
The now retired Belgian pilot Cdt. Jean-Marie "Toutou" Toussaint was the first F-16 pilot in the world surpass the 3K mark. He reached this on October 21, 1992, only four years after he surpassed the 2,000 milestone.
List of the Belgian Air Force pilots.
List with the pilots who reached the 5,000-hour mark.
List of all aircraft assigned to the 31st "Tigers" Squadron
F-16AM #FA-94 as seen in May of 2017 adorning a special Tiger Meet scheme [Photo by Andrew Timmerman]
De Vries' record is a unique achievement as he has built up the 5,000 flying hours on F-16 during operational training missions and operational deployment abroad. De Vries is 48 years old and has been a member of the Belgian Air Force since 1990, where he flies with the 31st "Tigers" squadron under the call sign "Vrieske".
Three other pilots will accompany “Vrieske” on his record flight on Friday. All four together flew more than 16,000 hours on F-16, which is also unique in the world.
The now retired Belgian pilot Cdt. Jean-Marie "Toutou" Toussaint was the first F-16 pilot in the world surpass the 3K mark. He reached this on October 21, 1992, only four years after he surpassed the 2,000 milestone.
List of the Belgian Air Force pilots.
List with the pilots who reached the 5,000-hour mark.
List of all aircraft assigned to the 31st "Tigers" Squadron
Additional images:
F-16 Fighting Falcon - 5000 Flight Hours patch [unknown collection]
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- Belgian pilot passes 4000 hrs in the F-16 (2014-08-30)
- Tucson-based F-16 pilot reaches 5,000 flying hours (2011-05-13)
- Luke AFB pilot reaches 5,000 F-16 flying hours (2011-04-01)
- Nick 'Midas' Anderson joins the 5,000hr club (2006-03-08)
- F-16 Fighting Falcon news archive
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