Eskil Amdal

Warbirds & more

Story

F-35 Lightning, F-16, F-104 Starfighter, Sea Fury, Eurofighter and even the MiG-15 … Eskil Amdal’s CV lists well over 150 different aircraft. No wonder the Norwegian is regarded as one of the most versatile and experienced pilots, not just in the ranks of the Flying Bulls, but the world.

As an experimental test pilot for the Royal Norwegian Air Force and later Airbus, he regularly pushed these aircraft to breaking point, and sometimes beyond. To this day, he remains motivated by an abiding passion for aviation. As part of the warbird formation, he frequently showcases his abilities at the air shows of Europe. The man who started life on a small Norwegian farm continues to push the limits at Mach 2 and above.

Interview

You fly a wide range of aeroplanes in the Flying Bulls fleet, including warbirds. What makes each of them special?

EA: If we compare them to cars, the Corsair handles like a Dodge Challenger – it’s big, brutal and fantastic in its own way, and it has a particular sound unlike any other. By contrast, the Mustang is that much faster, wilder, and snappier – it’s a BMW M3. With twin engines, the Lightning is double trouble. The workload is much higher again, since you have to monitor more parameters given its two engines. It’s not quite a fighter, but not a bomber either. That’s why it’s called the P-38: the P stands for pursuit. It’s a very fast aircraft, and you have to be careful not to overspeed it going downhill. Once you’ve mastered the machine, though, it gives you an incredible feeling. I can’t think of a car like that, it’s just indescribable.

Let’s go back to the start. Having flown more aircraft than just about anyone else, you are one of the most versatile pilots on the planet. When did you get the bug?

EA: I can tell you exactly when. I grew up on a small farm in Norway. When I was around 13 years old, I loved to fly remote control aeroplanes. My cousin was a helicopter pilot for the Air Force back then, and one day he landed on our farm on a transit flight. It blew me away, literally, and it blew my mind too. I found it very, very cool. And at that moment I forged my plan to join the Royal Norwegian Air Force as a pilot too. It was a long road, but worth it every step of the way.

What were the main milestones in your flying career? How did you go from being a pilot in the Norwegian military to an experimental test pilot?

EA: After my basic training in Norway in a SAAB Safari, I went to fly jets in Texas at the age of 22 as part of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program. For a kid from a little farm on the other side of the world, it was breath-taking. Going supersonic for the first time, air combat training... it was all incredibly exciting. After that I went to Tucson, Arizona, where I was the first Norwegian to perform the type rating for the F-16 in the US. I was 24 years old, going up in a jet three times a day, and cruising around the USA on a Harley in my spare time – something I’ll never forget. The F-16 followed for many years, mainly training but also on operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. After graduating from the US Naval Test Pilot School in 2008, I worked as a test pilot for the Royal Norwegian Air Force for around eight years, first for the F-16, and later for the F-35 Lightning. I joined Airbus as a test pilot. In 2018 and was lucky to experience the A320 to the A380 as well as the Eurofighter and the Tornado.

What is the life of a test pilot like?

EA: Every day is different, there’s a lot of variety. One day basic avionics testing might be on the agenda, the next aborting take-offs at a late stage, and the next day to intentionally put an aircraft totally out of control to assess the aircraft’s capability to recover. We subjected the F-35 to a great deal of weather testing in Alaska – certification testing for landing on ice. After this I was serving in an F-35 at Edwards Air Force Base, which for me is the birthplace of military test flying. You can genuinely sense the spirit of legends like Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover. I feel very privileged to have experienced this.

How did you end up with the Flying Bulls?

EA: In 2012, celebrations were held in Norway to mark the centennial of flight and military aviation. At the time I was the solo display pilot of the F-16, going from one air show to the next. The Flying Bulls also brought the Lightning and the DC-6 to many of these shows as part of their Scandinavian tour. We got to know each other and had a wonderful time, so we kept in occasional contact. We met up again in 2017 in Fairbanks, Alaska, where they have a DC-6 simulator. It had to be more than coincidence, and the rest is history.

You often fly in a warbird as part of a formation team. How challenging is it to fly wingtip to wingtip?

EA: When you fly alone, you can perform some incredible displays. I’m my own harshest critic, I always find fault with something, even if most others can’t see it. In a formation, it’s different – a small mistake can immediately become a big problem for your wingman. Flying manoeuvres with high G-force while less than two metres apart calls for an awful lot of trust and a great deal of practice. When it all comes together, though, you create something wonderful, and that feels great since you have achieved it as a team. Finding a team like that is not easy, so I appreciate being part of the Flying Bulls a lot.