Senator Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) said this week that ex-Viper pilots can likely get a combat job if they want one.

“If you’re a retired F-16 pilot and you’re looking to fight for freedom, they will hire you here,” Graham told reporters after a meeting with Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskyy. “They’re going to look throughout NATO nations for willing fighter pilots who retired to come help them until they can get their pilots trained. So we’re going to get these jets in the air sooner rather than later.”

Ukraine received its first few F-16s in late July, and there should be about 20 ready for combat by the end of the year, but training pilots is a slow process.

Only about 20 Ukrainian Air Force pilots will be qualified by the end of the year, and that’s about half the number needed for the available aircraft. The Vipers are expected to act as a deterrence to long-range attacks from the Russian side of the line by forcing it to release weapons from a greater distance.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post Ukraine Looking for Retired F-16 Pilots appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Only six Ukrainian air force pilots have been fully trained to fly the Vipers, and Ukraine is expected to take a conservative approach to their deployment.

According to the Washington Post, the first few F-16s will likely be used in defensive roles rather than mixing it up with Russian MiGs and Sukhois. In fact, it’s still not known what operating restrictions have been imposed by the NATO countries donating the aircraft.

At first, the F-16s will operate well out of harm’s way, shooting down drones and doing other defensive tasks. Ukraine says the training process for its pilots is an issue because it takes more than six months to get them the language and technical skills they need to operate a Western aircraft using much different systems and control doctrines than the old Soviet airframes they normally fly. And since only the best Ukrainian pilots are selected for F-16 training, their commanders are loathe to lose them because of the gaps they leave in the ranks of experienced pilots.

Despite all the problems, Ukraine is still welcoming the addition of F-16s, particularly their longer-range radars and flexibility and the fear factor they will instill in opposing Russian pilots.

Becca Wasser, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security, told the Post it makes sense for the Ukrainians to integrate the F-16s slowly.

“If you have this exquisite capability, are you going to use it immediately, knowing that there’s a greater risk of it being expended or are you going to withhold it and use it so it has broader strategic value?” Wasser said.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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As the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In opened its doors at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida, a new LSA has emerged on the U.S. market. Eagle International Aircraft announced the Viper SD4 — a proven design from Slovakia developed by Daniel Tomko Sr. of Tomark Aero CZ.

The SD4 was introduced in Europe about a decade ago and about 100 of the two-seat airplanes have been delivered there, mostly in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Germany. Extensive testing has been done to the design including flutter testing.

With a starting price of $89,000, the all-metal airplane lives up to the promise of low cost flight — one of the initial intents of LSA rule. The base model comes with a panel equipped with traditional round-gauge instrumentation. Several avionics offerings are available from Dynon, Garmin and AvMaps. There are also several fuel injected and carbureted Rotax engine options with power ranging from 80 to 115 hp. The top of the line SD4 will retail for around $160,000.

In addition to the cockpit options, the fuel capacity can be increased from 18.5 to 26.4 gallons, providing a flight time with reserve of as much as five hours.

The SD4 includes a BRS parachute system and can be equipped with a glider tow system capable of towing up to 1,653 pounds.

The SD4 is on display at the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In. One airplane is available for sale for $125,000 with a glass panel.

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