Flying experimental airplanes has always been an adventure for John Fergione. During his distinguished career, he has flown virtually all models of the F-16 for more than 26 years; most of that time spent in flight testing. Fergione joined General Dynamics, now Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, as an experimental test pilot in 1981. He spent two years as the F-16XL Project Pilot and conducted the first flights of the F-16 with the F-100-GE-100 engine, both in the F-16XL and in the F-16C. He made numerous other first flights in the pursuit of increasing the F-16’s capabilities at Lockheed in Fort Worth as well as at Edwards AFB. He was assigned to the F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB from 1985 to 2002 and was also the company’s Facility Manager for much of that time. He was the Chief Test Pilot for the F-16 (non-Block 60) programs until late 2002, when he accepted a transfer to become the F-22A experimental test pilot. Conducting many “firsts” with the F-22A, he stated, “Given the choice of every other airplane in the world, if I only had one more flight in a fighter, I would want it to be in an F-22.” A Fellow and past President of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Fergione has logged over 6,400 flight hours
