This generation of Silver Wing pilots are the founding fathers of the Silver Wings Association.
After WWII, a new threat emerged to the free world, the Communist Soviet Union. This led to the creation of NATO in 1949 and Belgium like most Western European nations needed to build up military strength quickly. The USA not only provided fighter aircraft to Western Europe but also offered training in the US to the hundreds of pilots needed to fly those jets. This support was provided through the MDAP (Mutual Defence Assistance Program). Between 1951 and 1955 our country sent 731 candidate pilots to the US of which 382 returned to Belgium with Silver Wings. These young men occupied classes from 52-A till 55-Z. Although there were differences between classes, pilot training was provided mainly on the North American T6 Texan (+/- 140hrs) , North American T28 Trojan (+/- 70hrs) and Lockheed T33 (+/- 70hrs) . As of class, 52-E, the Belgian pilots stayed in the US for gunnery training before joining Belgian Squadrons. The gunnery training was provided on the T33 and F84G (80hrs total). Rmk. classes 52-F and 52-G performed the advanced part of the training on the F-51 Mustang.
This first generation of silver wing pilots did not only become a backbone of the Belgian Air Force in the following decades but many silver wing pilots that ended their military contract moved towards SABENA and became the backbone of SABENA cockpit crews transitioning into the jet era.
