The Chilean Air Force graduated its first F-16 pilot: "The sky was never the limit"

Chile.-A true milestone was achieved by Lieutenant Francisca Caces, 29 years old, who became this Monday the first woman to graduate as a F-16 fighter pilot of the Chilean Air Force (FACh).

In a ceremony held at the Hangar of the 5th Air Brigade, the Commander of the Aviation Group No. 8, Gastón Cerda, congratulated the group of newly graduated officers, who for 15 months fulfilled "a complex process of air instruction that tested their discipline, study capacity and dedication. They were months of intense training, sacrifice and learning".

As explained by Commander Cerda in his speech, learning to pilot these aircraft first requires a rigorous theoretical phase in order to understand how the machine works, and then begin with real instruction flights. Finally, the new pilots trained in air-to-air and air-to-surface combat simulations.

"At high speeds, where margins of error are reduced to fractions of a second, these aviators must demonstrate absolute control of the aircraft," Cerda recalled.

As things stand, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Air Force, Air General Hugo Rodríguez, presented the new pilots with their respective certificates, highlighting among them Lieutenant Francisca Caces, since "in the world there are very few women who have achieved this capacity", an issue he described as a "double pride" for the institution. The brand new officer entered the Aviation School in 2015 and received her first instruction in the Chilean-made training aircraft, T-35 Pillán.

The first woman woman to pilot an F-16

According to information provided by the FACh, Lieutenant Francisca Caces entered the Aviation School in the year 2015 as a member of the Tauro Squadron, carrying out her air instruction program in the beloved training aircraft manufactured in Chile, T-35 Pillán.

In 2019, it was assigned to the IIIª Air Brigade in Puerto Montt and the following year to the Aviation Group No. 1 of the Iª Air Brigade in Iquique, completing the Tactical Combat Course in the latter. There, she received her red pin that symbolizes the preparation and effort of these pilots. In the following years, he was an operational pilot of the A-29 “Super Tucano” and last year, he completed his training on the F-16 at the Aviation Group No. 8 of the 5th Air Brigade. In a brief statement, the brand new first Chilean combat pilot said she hopes to be the first "but not the last." The sky was never the limit and the Chilean Air Force advances with those who dare more.