Pioneering Hungarian Pilot Cadet Gréta Lázár Begins Training in the US

At the beginning of August, two students, including Staff Sergeant Gréta Lázár, will participate in the United States’ Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) program. After successfully completing the one-and-a-half-year course, Gréta will be the first woman in the history of the Ludovika University of Public Service’s (NKE) training program, launched in 2018, to earn her “American wings.”

Gréta is not only following her own dreams, but also continuing a family tradition: her grandfather was a helicopter pilot, while her father, Major Tibor Zoltán Lázár, works as a parachute instructor for the Hungarian Defense Forces in Szolnok (central Hungary), where he also leads the parachute training of students. Although her parents tried to dissuade her from pursuing a military career, they now fully support her commitment.

I come from a military family, but when the blonde, blue-eyed little girl announced that she was going to apply to be a pilot, there were a few raised eyebrows. But now everyone can see that this is really the right career for me,”

says Gréta.

The NKE’s aircraft pilot training program is complex and follows a rigorous selection and training system. Admission is conditional on passing a four-day thorough medical and psychological aptitude test in Kecskemét (central Hungary), which assesses, among other things, physical fitness, reaction time, memory and concentration skills, and the candidate’s state of consciousness under altitude stress. Those who meet these requirements first learn basic military skills in Budapest, then continue their flight and parachuting training in Szolnok, including at least eight attached jumps and one tandem jump.

Photo: Honvédelem.hu

Third-year students then begin practical flights with a 25-hour selection and pre-training module, which determines whether they will be assigned to combat, transport, or helicopter duties. Combat pilot training will later continue on the L-39 Skyfox jet trainer, which arrived this year and is stationed in Kecskemét, but this is conditional on successful completion of the US UPT program.

Photo: Honvédelem.hu

The training in the United States consists of three main phases, during which students learn to fly on different types of aircraft, such as the Diamond DA-20 propeller aircraft, the T-6 Texan II turboprop aircraft, and finally the legendary T38-C Talon jet aircraft with afterburners. The training consists of simulator and real test flights, as well as theoretical tests, and students generally have only one opportunity to improve their performance.

After the course, I will write my thesis and take my final exam, and then I would very much like to serve as a combat pilot in the Hungarian Defense Forces,”

said Gréta, who, with her perseverance and determination, is not only building her own path, but also setting an example for future female pilots.