20190720-049 Belgian Air Component - General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon (FA-101) RAF Fairford UK.jpg #6129 Belgian Air Component - General Dynamics F-16AM (FA-101)Thumbnails#6132 Belgian Air Component - General Dynamics F-16AM (FA-57 / MN-L)
General Dynamics (SABCA) F-16AM Fighting Falcon (FA-101) from the Belgian Air Component at the RIAT 2019, RAF Fairford (United Kingdom)

The Belgian Air Component (BAC) is a great supporter of UK airshows and it will be well represented once again in both the Air Tattoo's flying display. In 2019 the Belgian Air Component continues its F-16 Demo Team headed up by Captain Stefan Darte, call sign "Vador", who will be flying the display for the next two years. The specially painted F-16MLU, known as "Dark Falcon" is apparently inspired by the international partnerships of the BAC. Vador is a highly experienced F-16 pilot with nearly 3000 hours on the type.

The Belgian Air Force (BAF) F-16 Solo Display Team for 2018-2020 is based at Florennes Air Base. The fighter jet was given the name "Dark Falcon" and together with its pilot, senior captain Stephan "Vador" Darte, they will serve as real ambassadors for Belgium for the next three airshow seasons. Senior captain Stefan "Vador" Darte is a highly trained and experienced fighter pilot at the Belgian Air Force with nearly 3000 flying hours. He has been flying the F-16 fighter jet for some 20 years and is currently a fighter weapons instructor. Vador, named after "Darth Vader" from the Star Wars movies, is also a very talented aviation and air-to-air photographer who loves using his camera while being in a 90 degrees vertical dive or climb. The designers, Johan Wolfs and Nicolas Deboeck, were inspired by the official name of the F-16 fighter jet, "Fighting Falcon", and the callsign of the pilot, "Vador". So the aircraft was to be called "Dark Falcon". For the spectacular livery of the Dark Falcon, only black, white and gray shades were used. The painting of the aircraft, serial FA-101, was performed by the team of the paint shop of the Florennes Air Base. In a bid to underline the international partnerships of the Belgian Air Force, the design team hit on a unique concept: in every country that the aircraft is to perform in, the aircraft will fly with a slightly 'different' scheme. The starboard horizontal tail will always carry a stylised Belgian flag,
but the port one will sport the flag of the host nation.

The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world's largest military air show, held annually over the third weekend in July,
usually at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust.
The show typically attracts a total of 150.000 to 160.000 spectators over the weekend.
Exif Metadata
Canon Canon EOS 7D Mark II
f/9
158 mm
1/1000 s
500
0.0 EV
no, mode: supressed
Maker
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
GPSLatitude
Array
GPSLongitude
Array
Date Time of Original
2019:07:20 10:11:29
Aperture Number
9
Exposure compensation
0.0 EV
Exposure Time
1/1000 s
Flash
no, mode: supressed
ISO
500
Focal Length
158 mm
White Balancing
manual
Exposure Mode
auto
Exposure Metering Mode
pattern
Exposure Program
aperture priority
© 2002-2023 Matthijs van Wageningen - Photos on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License
Page generated in 0.100 s (27 SQL queries in 0.031 s) - Powered by Piwigo | Contact Matthijs