Airforces

Display pilot interview

40 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

he Belgian Air Component received its

first F-16 Fighting Falcon (the Belgian-

manufactured Block 1 F-16B FB-01)

on December 11, 1978. The following year

this small but ambitious air arm inaugurated

its F-16 ‘demo’ team – a tradition that has

continued ever since. By the time the 2017

season closed in November, a total of 17 pilots

had acted as ambassadors for the Belgian

military over the years. For the 2017 season,

the honour fell to Captain-commandant Tom

De Moortel, known as ‘Gizmo’, who ended his

time in the F-16 demo team with a final flight

on November 10. “By the time I was eight

years old my mind was set. I was always

convinced that I would be a pilot. I never

had a single thought about doing something

else,” he told AFM. Gizmo joined the Belgian

Air Component in May 1996 and completed

elementary training on the SF260M/D.

Finishing his training on the Alpha Jet, his

career got under way flying the C-130.

Having returned to Beauvechain in 2001 he

became an SF260 instructor, before moving

to Kleine Brogel at the end of 2005 to begin

his conversion onto the F-16. “I arrived

at 31 Squadron in 2006 and went through

the standard follow-on training. Over the

years I became a tactics instructor pilot,

a bomber commander and then in 2013 I

became the wing aviation safety officer for

Kleine Brogel, which I did until July 2017.”

De Moortel was an ideal instructor candidate

for the F-16 Operational Conversion Unit

(OCU), which he joined in order to help

train new ‘Viper’ students. Today, he

possesses an impressive 4,700 flight

hours of which 1,800 are in the F-16.

Roelof-Jan Gort catches up with

the Belgian Air Component’s F-16

demonstration team and finds

out what it takes to be a ‘Viper’

showman.

Main image: In its element: the Belgian Air

Component’s F-16 demonstration team jet for

2017, F-16AM serial FA-123, better known as

‘Blizzard’. Tom De Moortel was the 17th Belgian Air

Component pilot to hold the post of solo demo pilot.

All photos Jeroen van Veenendaal Right top: Captain-

commandant Tom De Moortel, callsign ‘Gizmo’,

adjusts his oxygen mask in his ‘offi ce’ for the 2017

display season. De Moortel began his F-16 career at

Kleine Brogel in late 2005 and now has 1,800 hours

on the jet. Right below: ‘Gizmo’ conducts a pre-

fl ight check on FA-123. During airshow appearances

a package of spare parts ensures that the demo

aircraft is serviceable and a back-up jet is also

available.

T