A Finnish Pilot Flew the F-35 for the First Time
A Finnish Air Force pilot flew the F-35 fighter jet for the first time on Wednesday. The flight was conducted from Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA, in the afternoon local time—late Wednesday evening Finnish time.
The Air Force describes the event as a significant milestone in the introduction of Finland’s F-35 capability. The F-35 Lightning II fighters are considered to be new-era, fifth-generation aircraft.
In total, about 20 Finnish pilots will receive F-35 training in the United States, but a total of 150 Finns will undergo initial training. The training will continue until early 2028.
The first F-35 pilot has extensive experience with the Hornet multi-role fighter jet. He has worked as a Hornet flight instructor, among other things. Despite his experience, the F-35 had its own element of excitement, because the plane is a single-seater and the pilot flies alone in the cockpit.
“It was great to finally get to fly the F-35 after several months of theoretical and simulator training. The aircraft’s performance was impressive right from the takeoff roll, as the afterburner accelerated the aircraft to takeoff speed at full power,” the pilot of the aircraft describes in an Air Force press release.
“The controls felt easy and intuitive in all phases of the flight. This is a good feature, because then the pilot can focus primarily on completing the task at hand instead of just flying the aircraft.”
Theory and Simulation Taught in Florida
The Air Force’s first pilot section began the theory and simulator portion of the F-35 initial training at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in February. The pilot describes the initial training as busy and intensive.
“At this stage, the training has covered not only type and emergency procedures training, but also tactical flight operations, where we have been able to delve deeper into the new capabilities that the F-35 has brought to Finnish air defense.”
Yle reported in November that the group of Finnish pilots in F-35 training is led by Lieutenant Colonel Lasse Louhela. At the time, Louhela estimated that he would have a good chance of being the first to take the controls of the F-35.
Eight fighter jets have now been delivered to the Ebbing base, with which training will continue. From the ninth fighter jet onward, the aircraft will be delivered to Rovaniemi Air Force Base in Lapland this coming autumn. In total, 64 new F-35 aircraft will arrive in Finland.
The Karelian Air Force Base in Rissala, Kuopio, will receive its first fighters in 2028.
Full operational capability with the F-35 will be achieved by the end of 2030, until which time the Air Force will operate Hornets and F-35A aircraft in parallel.
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