Selection flying for candidates seeking to join the 35th and 36th classes of military pilots is currently underway at the Colonel Mirko Vukušić Barracks in Zemunik, with this year’s cycle recording the highest turnout in the past 26 years. A total of 24 candidates are competing for a place in pilot training, demonstrating their initial flying abilities on ZLIN 242 L training aircraft.

According to the Croatian Ministry of Defence, this is a crucial part of the selection process, during which instructors assess the candidates’ ability to adapt to the demands of flight, respond appropriately under time pressure and quickly acquire new theoretical and practical knowledge.

The process is being conducted jointly by the Croatian Air Force’s Rudolf Perešin Training Centre and the 392nd Aircraft Squadron of the 93rd Wing.

Of this year’s candidates, 19 have only recently completed the third or fourth year of secondary school. Before entering the cockpit for the first time, they completed theoretical training that began on June 29. During this stage of the selection process, they studied the fundamentals of aerodynamics, flight mechanics and meteorology, as well as the technical characteristics of the ZLIN 242 L aircraft.

The theoretical phase was followed by applied theory, while selection flying began on July 8. At that point, the secondary school students were joined by five candidates from the labour market, who will be trained under the programme outside the regular cadet project.

Due to the large number of participants, the candidates have been divided into two groups, alternating between flying, preparations and other parts of the selection cycle. The programme also includes preparatory flight visualisation using a simulation system, while the entire process is scheduled to conclude on August 28.

Colonel Goran Mikulec, Commander of the Pilot School at the Croatian Air Force Training Centre and a military flight instructor, said the number of candidates was the highest since 1999. According to him, the increased interest has also been driven by the Croatian Air Force’s acquisition of new Rafale fighter aircraft and UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.

Mikulec emphasised that the candidates arrive highly motivated, making it easier for instructors to transfer knowledge and quickly identify particularly talented participants.

“The candidates are full of enthusiasm and view everything in a positive light, which is exactly how it should be. Because they are so motivated, they absorb knowledge very quickly, and if someone is especially talented, that motivation becomes even more apparent,” Mikulec said.

Selection flying is not merely a test of basic aircraft handling skills. For the first time, candidates are confronted with a real flying environment, spatial orientation, weather conditions, time pressure and the need to monitor several pieces of information simultaneously.

Major Nino Perović, commander of the first group and a military flight instructor, explained that it is in the aircraft that candidates must demonstrate whether they can master what is required of them quickly enough.

“In a real situation, they must show how they react to the aircraft, space, time and a shortage of time. At the same time, this is where they discover whether the calling of a military pilot is truly right for them,” Perović said.

Among the candidates is 17-year-old Ana Surać from Murvica near Zadar, who has completed the third year of the Technical School in Zadar. She said she was inspired to apply by the military aircraft and helicopters she watched flying overhead every day.

After one of her flights, she admitted that she had expected the experience to be more difficult, but said she had felt no nervousness before her first take-off. She particularly highlighted the role of the instructors, describing them as the candidates’ main source of support throughout the process.

“I thought flying would be even more difficult. I was not nervous even before my first flight because the instructors are truly excellent and they are our main source of support,” Surać said.

A similar path led 17-year-old Ivan Antunović from Lučko near Zagreb to the selection process. Having grown up close to an airfield, he had followed aircraft and helicopters from an early age, and over time combined his love of flying with a desire to serve in the military.

“Above all, I want to fly. But when that is combined with love for my country and the desire to become part of the Croatian Armed Forces, applying for the selection process was a logical decision,” said Antunović, a student at the Rudolf Perešin Aviation Technical School in Velika Gorica.

Nineteen-year-old Jura Polinčić, who completed his education at the General Secondary School in Nova Gradiška, was looking for a profession that would bring responsibility, challenge and opportunities for further advancement. His father, a member of the Croatian Armed Forces, encouraged him to consider a military career, although aviation was not initially the only option.

Polinčić also praised the approach of the flight instructors, noting that candidates fly with several different instructors during the selection process, but that they all operate as a single, professional and well-coordinated team.

“We have the opportunity to fly with several of them. Throughout the training, they operate as a coordinated and professional team,” Polinčić said.

This year’s record level of interest comes at a time of major transformation within the Croatian Air Force. The introduction of the Rafale, the arrival of the Black Hawk and the modernisation of training and infrastructure have once again made a military flying career particularly attractive to young candidates.

However, the candidates are only at the beginning of what is one of the most demanding stages of the process. Selection flying must reveal which of them possess the necessary combination of ability, learning speed, spatial awareness, psychophysical stability and motivation required for a lengthy training programme.

For some, the flights in the ZLIN 242 L will mark the beginning of a journey towards the cockpits of Croatian military aircraft and helicopters. For others, the selection process will provide an opportunity to determine early on whether they are suited to a professional and personal path that demands far more from a pilot than simply the desire to fly.