Military

Super Hornet Pilot Surpasses 1000 Flight Hours

NAVAIR News

12/11/2002

It was not quite business as usual for Lt. Cmdr. Matthew "Ho" Tysler when he boarded a Super Hornet, and catapulted of the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Friday, November 29, 2002. It was the day that he became the first pilot to reach the 1000-hour mark in the Super Hornet. Tysler, a pilot who was involved with the aircrafts early development phase, has now flown with the aircraft into its first operational deployment.

As Tactics Officer for VFA-115, Tysler is part of the Super Hornet squadron's first deployment flying the single-seat F/A-18 "E" model. VFA-115 is embarked aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is currently deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch.

A seasoned F/A-18 pilot, he flew his first Super Hornet in August 1997 as a member of the NAVAIR Integrated Flight Test Team conducting the Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase of the jet. From NAVAIR he transferred to VFA-122 where he assisted in standing up the first Fleet Readiness Squadron for Super Hornet. In March 2001 Tysler transferred to his current squadron, VFA-115, located at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif. During his tenure with VFA-115, Tysler has served as the Safety Officer, the Operations Officer, as is currently the Tactics Officer.

Currently the F/A-18 E, F and G models have flown a total of 52,000 in flight test, training and operational flight hours.