Above: ‘Gizmo’ in the cockpit of the immaculately
presented FA-123 ‘Blizzard’. Servicing the jet
while on the road – including cleaning it after
each flight – is the responsibility of one of three
travelling maintenance teams. Right: A crew chief’s
helmet rests on FA-123’s pitot boom at the end of
another day’s work. After a two-year stint, Tom De
Moortel’s time as solo demo pilot came to a close in
November 2017. Below: ‘Gizmo’ checks the weather
ahead of a European airshow trip. If the cloud base
drops to 1,000ft, the team switches to an alternative
flat (bad weather) display routine.44 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comDisplay pilot interview
what g-forces will come and it will anticipate.”
During the routine, there were some
moments where Gizmo had time to look
around. During the high-alpha slow-speed
pass, for example, he had time to check
out the crowd. “Sometimes, there are also
beautiful landscapes to fly in, like in Zeltweg
[Austria] or this year in Sion [Switzerland].”
Outside of the actual flying element, the F-16
demo team goes out of its way to interact
with the audience. As an ambassador of the
air force, a significant part of the pilot’s remit
is to inspire young people to join. “We try to
motivate young people. You’re part of the
recruitment for defence, so I try to be available
to my audience as much as possible.”
Of course, there wouldn’t be a display
without a serviceable jet. The travelling
maintenance team is responsible for ensuring
the demo aircraft is in tip-top condition,
including being clean. “We have three teams,”
said Gizmo. “Because we often combine
airshows we have two teams abroad on a lot
of weekends. Each team has a chief and two
crew chiefs. We also have weapon specialists
who take care of the ‘smokewinders’.
Those need daily maintenance, so after
each flight, the specialists will ensure that
they are kept in good order and refilled
for the next flight. They will also ensure
that there are flares in the aircraft.”Logistics are an important part of deploying
the team and both aircraft (the main demo
jet and a spare). They have a flyaway kit
with a number of spare parts – tailored to
the usual needs – plus a public relations kit
and other essentials. If Gizmo deployed on
a Friday, the support team had to be up early
to head to the show via C-130 or ERJ135/145
support aircraft. Short trips in-country or
nearby in Europe are typically driven to.
The team coaches, who are operational
pilots, will fly the spare jet, another of the
extra duties that must be picked up. Rigours
of air force life mean that sometimes a coach
isn’t available, so another squadron pilot will
step in. Gizmo said he preferred to have a
coach pilot on hand. “I have the most help
from them during a display and they can
also provide the best feedback to keep fine-
tuning the display during the season. I was
lucky that the ex-display pilots were still
here – ‘Mitch’ who had been displaying a
few years ago, and ‘Mickey’ who was also
working on base, so that was useful for me.”
Looking back at the 2017 season, he
recalled a stall in the afterburner section
during a display in Zeltweg. “That looked
very bad, but it wasn’t actually that serious,
because the engine solved that problem
very neatly. With unburned fuel in the
afterburner section, it [ignited] in the airbehind the aircraft, but I got the stall warning,
all indications were kept nicely within all
limits and I landed as a precaution. My
main goal is a safe display for everyone.”So long, ‘Blizzard’
Throughout its service career, the Belgian F-16
fleet has been steadily upgraded through the
stepped Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) programme.
“I was flying with an MLU Operational Flight
Program (OFP) M6.5 standard jet this year,”
said ‘Gizmo’. This has heralded several useful
additions for the display. “For example, for
my flares, I can write specific sequences
for the demo, which is a lot easier than
a few years ago. I do not have to count
anymore, I just let the program do its job.”
F-16AM serial FA-123, which was the primary
display jet during Gizmo’s tenure, was dubbed
‘Blizzard’ in recognition of its sharp paint-
job. He knows this ‘Viper’ like the back of
his hand and didn’t like to fly the demo in the
spare. “To go to a display with an aircraft that
you don’t know isn’t comfortable. There are
noticeable differences between each aircraft.
Each time they replace the engine in the
‘Blizzard’, I request a practice display to feel
what the new engine is like. There are indeed
performance differences between engines,
and some flight controls feel different too.”
In light of the performance characteristics,