ST. LOUIS, Aug. 12, 1996 -- A two-seat F/A-18D Hornet from the U.S. Marine Corps will conduct flight demonstrations Aug. 16-25 in the central European countries of Hungary, The Czech Republic and Poland.
The flights are intended to demonstrate the multirole capabilities of the Hornet to selected members of these countries' governments and air forces who are considering the F/A-18 for a future procurement.
The flights will showcase the F/A-18's docile handling qualities, integrated weapons system and maneuverability.
"We are honored to have been invited by these countries to demonstrate the technical excellence and versatility of the Hornet, which have earned the F/A-18 a place as the backbone of the U.S. Navy fleet and of the air forces of eight other allied nations," said Ben Park, McDonnell Douglas Hornet program manager for central Europe.
The F/A-18D has been operating at Aviano Air Base, Italy, where U.S. Marine Corps Hornets support NATO flight operations over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Flight demonstrations will be Aug. 16-18 at the Keckskemet Air Force Base in Hungary and from Aug. 19-21 at the Pardubice Air Force Base in the Czech Republic. In addition, the Hornet will perform Aug. 22-25 at the Polish Air Show in Bydgoszcz.
The F/A-18 Hornet is a single- and two-seat, twin-engined multirole tactical aircraft. Hornet pilots have accumulated more than 2,700,000 flight hours and, in the process, have established new records for safety, reliability, maintainability and mission performance.
96-192
McDonnell Douglas
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