Air General Ali Öztürk, commander of the Turkish Air Force and the very first demonstration pilot of the SOLOTÜRK F-16 display team, took to the skies with the current team on 11 December–at the tender age of sixty-two! Gen. Öztürk flew with demonstration pilot Captain Joseph Wolf in a demonstration profile that had the aircraft flying at speeds between 120 knots to 600 knots, from 100 feet to 16,000 feet of altitude above ground level, and experiencing three negative Gs and nine positive Gs.
All in a day’s work when you’re a four-star in charge of the entire Turkish Air Force, right?
“Not sure this profile showcases the Viper’s niche as a high-G, max rate/min radius fighter with a lot of thrust,” says an American F-16 driver and former demonstration pilot. “That being said, it is always interesting to see other teams fly it in the slow speed, higher AOA regime. The jet does well there if flown properly-and these guys definitely do it well.”
(Featured Image ©Henk Tito–All Rights Reserved)