F-1B : flew a legend

I've never flown in a foreign fighter and I finally did! The Mirage F-1B! The F-1 is quite legendary in the French Air Force as it's been in service since 1973. Another thing that made the flight a landmark for me is that the F-1 will be discontinued in summer of 2014...I made it! I almost didn't make it since maintenance was having problems with the hydraulics. The flight was going to be in an Alpha Jet which would have been cool, but not the same. The squadrons at Base Aérienne 118 were fantastic hosts to say the least! They really tried to get me flights and if they F-1B would have worked earlier, I would have flown twice! There are two squadrons there - one of reconnaissance (l'escadrille SAL6 with the F-1) and the other is a test squadron with the Mirage 2000, Rafale and Alpha Jet. I flew with "Do It" which is a cool callsign. And now, the pics...

Above left, a table in the test squadron bar and on the right, the helmet used for ejection seat training. I took a pic because I think it's cool they can still decorate their helmets. Old School!

Left, the morning fog hiding a Rafale. We weren't concerned about the weather - it was the same pattern all week; where the fog burned off around 10ish and there were blue skies! On the right is the landing gear of one of their Alpha Jets. I had to take a pic because I couldn't believe how clean they were. The mechanics must clean these things almost every day. Impressive.

Some pictures during ground ops.

In-flight pics.

More in-flight pics with the takeoff on the left and a good turn on the right.

Two pics to close out the day - coming up initial with number two (above) and our silhouette just after landing and exiting the runway. Cool. 

It's cool to see the squadron can still have a mascot. That doesn't happen any longer in the States. On the right is the sign in front of the same squadron with the mascot (the squadron I flew with).

The predecessor, of sorts, to the F-1 was the Mirage III and there was this cool static display of one just next to the squadron. I thought it looked great in the early morning light.

En fin, is my attestation de services aériens! Proof that I flew in the F-1B for 45 minutes! It was an awesome adventure and I would never be able to thank the squadron enough.

fin