Francis Belinne

Preferred Name: Frank
Date of Birth: October 24, 2934
Highest Military Grade: Select
Hometown: La Louviere, Belgium

I flew the F-100A at Nellis in 1957 for transition prior to going to Etain AB in the F-100D.

I recall during an ACM training mission I experienced a compressor stall starting at 30,000 ft. Multiple attempts to clear failed. When we reached 8000 my instructor advised me to try one more time and if unsuccessful to eject. Guess it was my lucky day because the engine finally cleared and I made it back to base.

Frank also “flew the F-104 at test pilot school, class 65-A. He got to zoom one to 85,000 ft (with a pressure suit). The burner quit at 65,000 ft, the engine quit at 75,000 ft, and he coasted to 85,000 ft.

During his school, he got to do some interesting L/D approaches. Dirty L/D started at 12,000 ft, throttle idle, gear down, full flaps and speed brakes, dive at max gear speed and then pulled up in time for a greaser. Most of Frank’s time was in F-100 and F-4 (156 combat missions, Udorn, Thailand, 1969). Frank lives in Sparks NV. “(1)

(1) source: https://www.i-f-s.nl/f-104-pilot-gallery/