Bulgarian President, former military pilot Rumen Radev, performed a demonstration flight on an F-16 fighter jet as a co-pilot. The 40-minute flight, during which elements of aerobatics were demonstrated, was carried out at the invitation of the US Air Force command at the Bulgarian air base in Graf-Ignatievo.
“I want to thank the US Air Force for the invitation and the opportunity to fly the F-16 again. This flight took me back to 2005, when, as commander of Graf Ignatievo Air Base, I approached the US Air Force with a proposal to station a squadron of F-16s in Bulgaria to finally begin realistic combat training. In September 2005 the squadron landed here and an extremely fruitful collaboration between the US and Bulgarian Air Forces began. During the flight we performed several aerobatic maneuvers – it was great – and we inspected from the air the air base, which is undergoing a period of large-scale renovation.” — the president said at a briefing after the flight, TASS reports.
Radev stressed that the joint Bulgarian-American training made it clear that the process of training Bulgarian pilots was outdated, after which the difficult process of transformation of the Air Force began.
“I am confident that after receiving the new F-16 Block 70 aircraft, we will continue our cooperation and the skills of our pilots, who are just beginning to master the new technology, will grow rapidly,” the head of state noted.
