The Second Main Jet Base Command, the “home of pilots” of the Turkish Air Forces Command, serves as the main training center for the country’s jet pilots. “Young Eagles” as they are dubbed, prepare for their future missions in the only pilot training center of the air forces in the western province of Izmir’s Çiğli district.
Basic flight training at the base prepares them for the next level: serving as either a jet pilot or manning the air forces' transportation planes.
At the 121st Fleet Command, prospective pilots hop into T-38Ms, two-seat twinjet supersonic jet trainers, for their first experience in the lengthy program. A six-month training regime follows. On the ground, they undergo academic classes, try out simulators and attend other classes. All trainees are required to pass classes involving formation flying programs, night flights and tactical maneuvers. In instrument flights, they learn how to operate aircrafts at night and in bad weather with low visibility by only relying on flight instruments. In formation flight lessons, they learn how to keep close to fellow pilots while flying at speeds up to 600 kph (372 mph). After about two years, they graduate from the training program.
An air force captain who serves as one of the trainers says only about half of the participants in the training succeed. The trainer, who did not give his name, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Friday that they seek to admit candidates who “can use technology, improve themselves and are confident and hard-working.”
The fleet’s commander says Turkey is one of the rare countries training its own fighter jet pilots and it also provides training to students from “friendly countries.”
After the training in Izmir, trainees head to another fleet command in the western province of Balıkesir, where they are trained to operate F-16 aircraft.
A female lieutenant who recently graduated from the training program and did not give her name like fellow prospective pilots, says being a fighter jet pilot is “something that makes you proud.” “It has been hard, bitter but also a pleasant experience. Being together with other trainees here at the end of the training is something that particularly makes you proud. It seems like the end of the road for us but it is actually a new beginning,” she notes.
