Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 26 seconds.
Discovery Air Defence Services (DA Defence), a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Air Inc., recently celebrated significant pilot flight hour milestones on the company’s Alpha Jet, A-4N Skyhawk, and Westwind aircraft.
Two DA Defence pilots each surpassed 3,000 flight hours on the Alpha Jet, becoming the first two pilots in North America to achieve this impressive feat, representing approximately 10 years in a full-time line pilot flying position. The individual milestones were achieved during recent deployments to Florida in support of Canada-U.S. military exercises.
In addition to 3,000 hours logged on the Alpha Jet, the two fighter pilots are also highly experienced CF-18 Fighter Weapons Instructors—Top Guns—with thousands of hours on the Hornet.
DA Defence celebrates flight hour milestones at each 1,000-hour interval, and recently commended the 12th DA Defence pilot on reaching the 2,000-hour milestone on the Alpha Jet. In Germany, the team is celebrating the recent achievement of the 2,000-hour mark in the A-4N Skyhawk.
“In 10 years, our pilots have accumulated an impressive volume of flight hours providing contracted services,” said James Manning, vice president of iCATS [interim Contracted Airborne Training Services], DA Defence. “It’s no exaggeration to say that we have some of the world’s most experienced fighter pilots, their professionalism and airmanship is acknowledged and valued greatly by our customers.”
“These are significant milestones for any fighter pilot and are indicative of the deep, deep experience within DA Defence,” said Paul Bouchard, president of DA Defence. “To put this into context, our pilots have each flown thousands more CATS hours than some entire companies in our industry. I wish to thank all of our pilots for their dedication to safely providing excellent service to our customers and congratulate all of them on these important achievements.”
DA Defence and its U.S. subsidiary, Top Aces, have the world’s largest privately-held, operating fleet of combat aircraft. The training provided supports the operational readiness of both current and future generation fighter aircraft.
