At the end of next year the last Belgian Air Component jet pilot students will complete their training with ETO 2/8 ‘Nice’ at Cazaux in southwest France. Stefan Degraef appraises the bi-national Advanced Jet Training School.
ETO 2/8 ‘NICE’
Operating out of BA 120 Cazaux, Belgian Alpha Jet 1B+ aircraft are used by Belgian and French instructors to train their new combat pilots.
A French instructor pilot at work. The decrease in the number of Belgian IPs assigned to ETO 2/8 will be compensated for by an influx of additional experienced Armée de l’Air pilots, mostly from the Mirage 2000C or 2000N communities.
All photos Stefan Degraef
Around the start of the new millennium, the Belgian Air Component and France’s Armée de l’Air both began to re-evaluate their jet pilot training needs and reorganise their assets.
