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 Lockheed Martin chief test pilot John Fergione became the first company test pilot to exceed 3,000 hours in the F-16 in January. Fergione joined General Dynamics in July 1981 after a Navy career, which included almost 300 carrier landings on board the USS Forrestal in the early 1970s. He was also an instructor at the Navy Test Pilot School. He accumulated most of his flying hours in the Fighting Falcon at the F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, where he is the site manager for Lockheed Martin. His total flight time is approximately 5,600 hours, most of it in single-engine, single-seat fighter/attack airplanes. “Given the choice of every other airplane in the world, if I only had one more flight in a fighter, I would want it to be in a Block 50 or 52 F-16,” said Fergione. “No second thoughts here.” |
