First Female F-16 Pilot of the Hellenic Air Force ‘Proud’ to Defend Greece

Lieutenant Commander Chrysanthi Nikolopoulou is the first female F-16 pilot of the Greek Air Force and is proud of it.

In a job dominated by men, the 28-year-old from the town of Piges, near Kavala in northern Greece, has made her mark flying the single-seat fighter over the Aegean and participating in NATO and multinational air exercises around Europe.

“You need contemplation, and dedication to your mission because there are dangers involved,” she tells the Greek newspaper To Vima.

“Flying an F-16 fighter is a special experience in itself, as each flight gives you different emotions. Nevertheless, the environment is so demanding that you have to be dedicated and focused on what you are doing every second.”

Hard training

Before she sat in the cockpit of the F-16 and flew alone, she had to go through hard training. She studied for four years at the Hellenic Airforce Academy (Icaron Academy) and she continued her training flying older types of training aircraft such as the T-41, T-2, and T-6 before she was assigned to the F-16.

“I still remember the first time I stepped into the cockpit of the F-16 with my instructor. I was very much looking forward to experiencing the feeling of flight and also the G-force,” Nikolopoulou tells To Vima.

“I have always had a love for flying and fighters. In high school, without any stimulus, as my family environment had nothing to do with aviation, I decided to declare the Icaron Academy. Today I feel like the luckiest person to be able to do this profession.

“It is an honor and I feel very proud to be the first woman in the F-16 and I will make every effort to give my best during my aviation career because it is not just a job but a service,” she says.

Asked if she encountered any difficulty in intercepting aircraft or air combat missions, she is tight-lipped, wary of revealing something inappropriate for national security: “Each mission is a challenge for the aviator, with its peculiarities and requirements.”

Nikolopoulou reveals however that the most challenging mission is to “scramble.” To get the aircraft started, the crews aboard, in the air as fast as possible and into formation in order to defend, interdict, and intercept the enemy aircraft. This has happened several times in her career when Turkish aircraft have violated Greek airspace over the Aegean.

A female F-16 pilot in the male-dominated skies

“The presence of a woman in any working environment as a minority raises some kind of hesitancy,” the pilot says.

“Nevertheless, because in the Air Force concepts such as cooperation and camaraderie are intertwined with the operation and accomplishment of the mission, acceptance by male colleagues came almost immediately. Also, my family from the very beginning supported me in this decision and today they are very proud,” Nikolopoulou tells To Vima.

She currently serves in the 110th Fighter Wing at the heart of the Greek air defense in Larissa.