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Legendary Belgian Pilot Steven “Vrieske” De Vries does his last F-16 flight
On Apr. 24, 2025 legendary Belgian Air Component Pilot Steven “Vrieske” De Vries doing his last F-16 flight, as the photos in this post show.
Vrieske has a 35-year career in the Air Force behind him. He flew 31 years on the F-16 and he clocked 5489 flight hours on it. In fact, after training on the Siai-Marchetti SF.260 and Alpha Jet he always flew the F-16. Arriving in KeeBee in 1995, he was taken under the wing of the 23rd Devil Squadron as a young pilot.
De Vries, has been a member of the Belgian Air Component since 1990 where he flies with the 31st “Tigers” Squadron at Kleine Brogel Air Base, has built up his 5,000 flying hours record on F-16 during operational training missions and operational deployment abroad.
After forming F-16 combat pilots with the Belgian Air Component Operational Conversion Unit, in 1995 he started his operational career in the former 23 ‘Devil’ Smalpart at Kleine-Brogel. There he got his first 1000 flight hour s’ on the Viper. After the dissolution of this narrow part in 2002, “Vrieske” moved to the 31 ‘Tiger‘ Squadron, also in Kleine Brogel, where he reached the consecutive milestones of 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 Hours prior to the 5,000 flight hours milestone on the F-16.
In 2022 he also became the 19th and final F-16 demonstration pilot since 1979. During his incredible displays he flew the unique “Dream Viper,” a special painted F-16 tail number FA-87.
First non-US pilot to clock more than 5,000 hours in the Viper
Vrieske still is the first F-16 Pilot outside the US to have surpassed the 5,000 hours in the Viper.
According to F-16.net, the first F-16 pilot in the world to surpass the 3K mark was another Belgian Air Component pilot, the now retired Belgian pilot Cdt. Jean-Marie “Toutou” Toussaint. He reached this milestone on Oct. 21, 1992, only four years after he surpassed the 2,000 milestone.
The F-16 was developed by General Dynamics in the 60s and 70s. Under the Multi National Fighter Program (MNFP: Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands) concept, Belgium decided to replace the outdated F-104 “Starfighter”. The aircraft were built in Belgium and the Netherlands by SABCA and Fokker respectively. On Jan. 29 1979, the first F-16 built in Europe was delivered to the Belgian Air Force. Belgium employed a total of 160 F-16s delivered between 1979 and 1991.
In 1987, a possible replacement for the F-16 was already being considered. In budgetary terms, this proved impossible for many MNFP partners. Hence, it was decided to implement a radical modernization, called the Mid-Life Update. Belgium modernized 90 aircraft to the MLU standard. The aircraft updated to the MLU standard are designated F-16AM Since the introduction of the Mid-Life Update, various modifications have been implemented.
Belgian Air Component F-35A Lightning II
Even though the F-16AM is still being modernized, the aircraft is reaching the limit of its capabilities. To replace the mighty Viper, the Belgian Air Component chose the F-35A Lightning II.
Belgium’s program of record calls for 34 F-35As. The first Belgian F-35A arrived last year at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where international F-35 pilot and maintainer training takes place. The very first F-35As in Belgium are not expected until 2025.
As the first F-35As are delivered, the F-16s will be systematically withdrawn from circulation. The last Belgian F-16 is planned to stop flying around 2028.
The cool video in this post features Vrieske performing at Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace (French Air and Space Force) base aérienne 702 “capitaine Georges Madon” d’Avord (BA702). It was filmed by Marc Talloen of Marc’s Best Airshow Videos YouTube Channel (CLICK HERE to check it out).
Photo credit: Belgian Air Component Kleine-Brogel Air Base Facebook Page
