Page 4 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt – December 2024

December 2024 News www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb
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F-16
Very few people knew that I had tried out for the Thunderbirds twice and that I was familiar with photo friendly formations. For years I had kept that tidbit very close to the chest. Now I had an opportunity to use that experience to preserve Luke AFB history.
The first call was to the Air Force Audio Visual Center at Norton AFB, California. I was able to schedule an Air Force photogra- pher to fly in the rear cockpit of an F-16B for a two-day photoshoot. The second day would be a backup in case the weather cancelled the primary mission. The objective was to take pictures of the Luke flagships flying together in scenic locations around Arizona. Working with my counterpart in the 405th TTW, we scheduled the mission.
I was flying the F-16B with the photog- rapher from Norton in my back seat. My job was to choreograph the aircraft to fly in formation positions suitable for the camera. Flying in a photo shoot was very different than the normal formation positions the pilots were used to. The spacing between aircraft and the high stacking of the air- craft farthest from the camera needed to be precise to compose a balanced photograph of the four aircraft. The three dissimilar aircraft only complicated the formation as seen by the camera.
We wouldn’t see the results of the mission for nearly a month. The film was developed at Norton, and the photographer mailed me proof sheets to review. Rively and I reviewed the proofs and selected the best ones for printing. The mission had been a success. We
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1, 1991. The 58th TTW was redesignated as the 58th Fighter Wing, the 405th TTW was deactivated, and three F-15 squadrons moved to the 58th FW. All the fighter training squadrons were reassigned to the new 58th Operations Group.
Luke served as the singular F-16 training base for more than 20 years. On March 31, 2011, the Air Force announced that the F-35 would be replacing the F-16 as the primary aircraft at Luke. It was later announced that a total of 144 F-35s would be based at Luke, and F-16 training would be moved to Hollo- man AFB, New Mexico. The 311th FS was the first squadron to move to Holloman. It was ac- tivated there on March 1, 2014. The 314th FS was activated at Holloman on July 14, 2015.
The first F-35 arrived at Luke on March 10, 2014. F-16 training continued at Luke on a reduced level with the 54th OG at Holloman gradually assuming more of the training responsibility.
The 56th FW graduated its last F-16 class in September of 2024, and all U.S. Air Force F-16 student training officially ended on Oct. 31. A minimal amount of F-16 flying is scheduled to continue until March 31, 2025. A celebration honoring the F-16 era at Luke will be held on March 28, 2025.
Lt. Col. Edwin A. “Skip” Hopler passed
away on May 19, 2023. He had been an F-16
instructor at Hill. MacDill, and Luke. On
March 29, 2024, the F-16 and F-35 academic
and simulator training facility at Luke was
renamed the Skip Hopler Fighter Training
Center in remembrance of his abundant
contributions in training the world’s greatest
(from Page 1)
An early combat-coded F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft in flight.
Courtesy Photo
had captured and preserved an important part of Luke’s history.
We flew a second photo mission a few months later. Three F-16s flew in this mis- sion, and we wanted to capture not only Arizona’s scenic beauty, but also an over- flight of Sun Devil Stadium and the City of Glendale municipal building. This mission was also a success.
In early 1988, I decided to retire from the Air Force. I met with Colonel Rively and informed him of this decision. I told him I had no interest in flying for the airlines, and he quickly had a comeback employment opportunity. He told me that the Air Force was laying the groundwork for contractor in- struction in the classroom and the simulator.
Rively suggested that I go to the academic building and speak with Cass Cassaro. I learned that a company named Simuflite had been awarded the contract for instruc- tion at both Luke and MacDill. Simuflite
was looking for F-16 qualified instructor candidates.
The interview went well, and I could sense that Simuflite was very interested in offering me a job. They told me that they had already made an offer to someone on the TAC staff at Langley AFB who was retiring shortly. That offer was to be the chief instructor at Luke.
Little did I know that the person at Langley they were referring to was Lt. Col. Edwin A. “Skip” Hopler.
Skip accepted the position, and Simuflite made me an offer to join him in a similar management position.
I joined Skip as one of the “founding fathers” of contract instruction at Luke. I spent 27 more years at Luke, and it was both meaningful and personally rewarding to be a part of the continually changing F-16 era. Skip went on to become the program manager
for F-16 and F-35 training at Luke.
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