Flying F16s, is it a superhuman feat?

[A-Team]

There were a couple of posters here making arguments about Afghans flying F16s, and how an impossible feat it is . As I explained in the earlier post, flying F16 or F15, or Su 27s or Mig 29 is not a super human feat, it just outside of our budget and the kind of enemy we face. We will buy and fly them should our budget and the kind of enemy we face change in the future.

So unless one of our neighbors with the exception of Russia or China, develops and F16, F18 until then buying one and flying one is not a super human feat FTW

Here is an old video of Russian jets flown by Afghan force.

 

[Kompromat]

Flying an F-16 requires a 4 layered training program in PAF. Cadets start with Super Mushak the basic trainer, then fly the K-8 advanced jet trainer, then FT-5 jet trainer., then they convert to either F-7P/PG, Mirage III/V, or JF-17 operational squadrons. Once they clock 250 flight hours on those jets, they can apply for F-16 squadrons.

Those who join the F-16 Squadrons are not rookies, yet they begin from Simulators and go through a vigorous training program to become a weapon from a pilot. They are trained in all weapon systems, tactics and doctrines before they can call themselves "Viper Drivers".

Flying the F-16 is not a super human feat, however using it as a weapon to defend the country certainly is.

 

[A-Team]

Flying an F-16 requires a 4 layered training program in PAF. Cadets start with Super Mushak the basic trainer, then fly the K-8 advanced jet trainer, then FT-5 jet trainer., then they convert to either F-7P/PG, Mirage III/V, or JF-17 operational squadrons. Once they clock 250 flight hours on those jets, they can apply for F-16 squadrons.

Those who join the F-16 Squadrons are not rookies, yet they begin from Simulators and go through a vigorous training program to become a weapon from a pilot. They are trained in all weapon systems, tactics and doctrines before they can call themselves "Viper Drivers".

Flying the F-16 is not a super human feat, however using it as a weapon to defend the country certainly is.

You are talking about about the stages of training until the get to fly the F16s which is nothing out of the ordinary. You need a regime like that in order to fly a more complicated aircraft, does it make it a super human feat? No.

My uncle an ex Mig-21 pilot in the 80s went through L-39 trainer first, then on to Mig 21, being top of his class he was trained for Mig-29s which Afghanistan was planning to procure from Soviet Union. Of course Soviet Union collapsed and the civil war ensued in the country which is a different story.

Now one can argue if flying Mig-29s is super human feat? I still think its not but making a Mig-29 is definitely close it.

On a separate note, I don't want to start Mig-29 vs F16 comparison as I will be considered an outcast here but I have always found Russian aircrafts better looking then their US counterparts. Russian Mig 29 vs F-16 or Su-27 vs F-15 or Mi-35 vs Apache.

The day Israel obtained MiG-29s and discovered they were a match for their F-15s, F-16s | global aviation report

 

[Kompromat]

Just wanted to add that the Communist Afghan Air Force was trained by Soviets, from top to bottom. Afghanistan never had an independent training infrastructure of its own. The reason why Soviets required Afghans to be dispatched to USSR for training is because they wanted complete control on airpower of its vessel states.

USSR pilot training was pathetic, as the GCS had control over the pilot's decisions. During the Soviet Afghan war the GCS was in Soviet control while they shared cockpits with Afghan pilots too.

Communist Afghan pilots who were either shot down or defected to PAF said that soviets user to fly them like 'kites', having control in their hands.

Russian machines were no match for PAF F-16s, or for American, NATO and Israeli F-16s and F-15s during the Gulf wars, Balkin wars etc

 

[GHOST RIDER]

Flying an F-16 requires a 4 layered training program in PAF. Cadets start with Super Mushak the basic trainer, then fly the K-8 advanced jet trainer, then FT-5 jet trainer., then they convert to either F-7P/PG, Mirage III/V, or JF-17 operational squadrons. Once they clock 250 flight hours on those jets, they can apply for F-16 squadrons.

Those who join the F-16 Squadrons are not rookies, yet they begin from Simulators and go through a vigorous training program to become a weapon from a pilot. They are trained in all weapon systems, tactics and doctrines before they can call themselves "Viper Drivers".

Flying the F-16 is not a super human feat, however using it as a weapon to defend the country certainly is.

We still have FT-5 ?
Wasn't it phased out ?

 

[Daneshmand]

There were a couple of posters here making arguments about Afghans flying F16s, and how an impossible feat it is . As I explained in the earlier post, flying F16 or F15, or Su 27s or Mig 29 is not a super human feat, it just outside of our budget and the kind of enemy we face. We will buy and fly them should our budget and the kind of enemy we face change in the future.

So unless one of our neighbors with the exception of Russia or China, develops and F16, F18 until then buying one and flying one is not a super human feat FTW

Here is an old video of Russian jets flown by Afghan force.

What are you talking about? F-16 is one of the easiest fighter jets to fly because of its fly by wire architecture. Pilots who flew it the first time, reported that it flies you not other way around. It is much more difficult to fly older jets like Mig-21 and other types like U-2 than F-16.

Here is a testimony by someone who actually flies it for a living: http://www.f-16.net/interviews_article26.html

"It has one of everything a really good fighter needs one of, unlike some of the tennis court sized fighters the USAF/USN think are required. It took years of experience in the F-4 to become a "lethal pilot", it takes a 2LT a few months in an F-16."