Col. Robert McCutchen Jr., special assistant to the commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz., reached his 5,000th flying hour in the F-16 late last month. Only two other Viper pilots have reached this milestone. “Being a pilot is not a profession that allows mediocrity. We must do it with passion and strive toward excellence,” said McCutchen, currently a Reserve individual mobilization augmentee who has served as an associate instructor at Luke for nearly a decade and a half. A graduate of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, McCutchen, began his flying career in 1982. Other than flying T-37s and T-38s during pilot training, McCutchen has flown the F-16 his entire career. “I am fortunate and blessed to have been able to fly the F-16 for 28 years,” he said. He reached the milestone on March 24. (Luke release by A1C David Owsianka)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.