Lt. Col. Brian Egger, an instructor pilot with the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, became only the 34th USAF pilot to amass 4,000 flight hours in the F-16, according to members of the unit. “This is very rare,” said Lt. Col Aaron Piepkorn, 480th FS director of operations. “There are thousands of F-16s and tens of thousands of F-16 pilots, but only a small number to reach that hour mark. This is a very significant achievement.” Egger achieved the milestone during a Dec. 14 sortie. He received the traditional celebratory dousing from his family and fellow airmen upon exiting his aircraft that day. “I’m very fortunate. A lot of people from mechanics to air-traffic controllers have to do a lot of work to make this happen,” said a soaked Egger. Capt. Daniel Schreiber, an 480th FS pilot, called Egger “an awesome instructor.” (Spangdahlem report by SrA. Natasha Stannard)
A newly-released Air Force plan to replace the C-5 and C-17 airlifters with a single airplane type called the Next-Generation Air Lifter (NGAL) will keep those fleets in service another 20 and 50 years, respectively. The plan will likely require a service life extension for the C-17 fleet.
