Press Releases 2005Polish Pilots Take Controls on F-1618 November 2005 |
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Polish pilots training with the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard in Tucson, Arizona have advanced to the point of flying F-16s on their own. Lt. Col. Rościsław Stepaniuk recently became the first Polish pilot to complete the seven-month course and become qualified in the F-16. Six more Polish pilots have just begun the training in Tucson. Colonel Carl Thomae, Director of Operations at the 162nd, stated that the Polish pilots had made “impressive progress.” The pilots are confronted not only with the Polish/English language barrier, but an entirely new array of controls and systems in the cockpits of the ultra-modern F-16s. The pilots will be ready for action when the first of Poland’s 48 new F-16s arrive in Poland next November.
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 Commander of Polish Air Force Meets with Polish Pilots Who Are Taking F-16 Training |  L-R: Lt Gen Stanislaw Targosz, Commander, Polish Air Force; U.S. Ambassador Victor Ashe; Maj Gen (retired) Roman Baszuk, F-16 Implementation Group, Polish Air Force |  Polish Pilot Returns from Training Mission in Arizona National Guard F-16 |  Lt. Col. Roscislaw Stepaniuk, the first Polish pilot to qualify as an F-16 pilot, Responds to Media Inquiry |
