about 20 years ago, I was lucky enough to be selected out of 800 applicants as a student pilot in the Belgian Air Force. But only 8 “seats” would be handed out in the end we were told. we were 24…since some guys were quicker students or had already flown before, I didn’t make it. I flew a bit, finally after one year of ground training, including this formation flight here below. Quite fun exercise I tell you!
I’m busy scanning my old films from Europe. Quite some memories here….
the plane is an Italian trainer, a Marchetti SF 260 M. I really loved the decoration, Flying Tigers style, that is the shark teeth, very childish I know, but what to expect from pilots huh?
getting ready for the formation take off. 260 HP roaring in a few seconds…
cruising at 160 knots (about 300 km/h). Looks fast but it is not for aircraft.
we were turning and climbing, hence the changing sky and angle behind.
Belgian flat ground below.
getting cloudy, better stay out to keep sight of each other.
wing tip tanks and the Belgian Air Force flag.
the penguin was our “squadron” mascot, by “squadron” I mean something like elementary flying school. It probably showed that we, students, were equally apt for flying as a penguin or should be reminded as such.
funny reflection through the canopy.
sleek and cute airplane, no? Lots of warnings in yellow and red painted near the pilot, but no ejection seat there. She’s a full aerobatic airplane. Notice the ‘she’ like for ships. 6 G’s is her authorised limit, which is not that bad. 6 meant that after an Immelmann figure for instance, one gets the feeling of weighing 6 times one’s weight. The blood included, so the heart has to pump a lot more to feed the brain. If not, one faints or comes close to the black veil. On top of formation flights, I got to love performing low level flights, which I practiced quite a lot in Tanzania…to the dismay of local people. More tomorrow
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