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: Home > Air Component > Subjects > Frank De Winne > Pagina 2 |
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| Frank De Winne |
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May the Stars be with Him
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 In 1984, Frank De Winne received a Masters Degree in telecommunications and civil engineering from the Royal Military Academy and was awarded the AIA Prize for the best thesis.
He then started his pilot training, first on Marchetti and then on Alpha Jet aircraft.
He became a fighter pilot in 1986 and took part in the Mirage V upgrade programme as a test pilot. During this period, he familiarised himself with F-16 and C-130 aircraft.
From 1990 to 1992, he studied at the Royal Defence College as well as at the Empire Test Pilots School in Boscombe Down, United Kingdom.
In 1995, he worked, as a test pilot, on the update programme of Belgian F-16 aircraft at the American Edwards Air Force Base.
Once back in Belgium, he was promoted to the rank of senior flight test pilot by the Air Force Staff.
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Semper Viper
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 During a flight in 1997, while flying a F-16 from Florennes to Leeuwarden, the engine and navigation computer broke down during a storm.
He had only two options: whether he landed the craft in the densely populated Randstad area or he ejected above the ice-cold Ijsselmeer lake.
He finally managed to restart the engine and to land safely without any navigation instrument.
This performance earned him the Joe Bill Dryden Semper Viper Award of the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed-Martin.
It was the first time that a Belgian pilot received this prize for demonstrating exceptional skills during a flight on F-16.
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 In August 1998, Frank was appointed Commander of the 349th Squadron of the 10th Tactical Wing stationed at Kleine Brogel Air Base.
In 1999 and 2000, he was Detachment Commander of the Belgian-Dutch Deployable Air Task Force during the operation Allied Force launched by NATO in the Balkans.
He was appointed "Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau" by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for this exemplary performance.
“I owe much to the Air Force”, Frank De Winne acknowledges.
“I followed my engineer training and gained operational experience within the Air Force.
I also learned discipline and teamwork in my executive as well as in my non-executive functions.
This experience is very useful to me today.
In a small group your life depends on the others.
A mutual trust should be developed.
It is a rule in space.”
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Selected
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 As far back as 1990, Frank applied to the ESA (European Space Agency) but he had to wait until 1998 to be selected. From 1998 to 2000, he worked as a test pilot in the European Space & Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, within the framework of the X-38 development, the future ISS (International Space Station) "lifeboat" (Crew Return Vehicle).
In 2000, the decision fell: Frank will take part in the journey to the ISS.
He left the ESTEC and joined the EAC (European Astronaut Centre) in Cologne, to follow the basic training.
Finally, in August 2001, Frank completed his advanced training in Star City, in Moscow, in preparation for his mission on board the ISS.
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