Major Laurens Jan Vijge became the first Dutch Air Force pilot to fly the F-35 Lightning II solo earlier today.

Vijge took off at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to meet up with his instructor who took off earlier with a Lightning II.

Vijge flew the F-001, one of the two Dutch F-35’s. The US, and Dutch Air Force are working on Eglin AFB intensively to train both pilots and ground crews.

The F-35 pilots training starts with a 2 month ground training, with many simulator hours, after this period the real thing awaits, and solo flights start, because there are no two-seaters..

Major Vijge was thrilled with the experience, he compared it with the first drive in a new car knowing that this is the one it’s going to be!

Source Dutch AF.