Not just any Mirage

A French F-1 Mirage prepares to taxi and take off from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 4, 2013. The three French pilots and two Mirages, were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)

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Not just any Mirage

Lt. Col. Frederic Vieil, an operations officer with NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, runs through F-1 Mirage pre-flight checks with a French pilot before takeoff from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 4, 2013. The three French pilots and two Mirages, were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)

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Not just any Mirage

A French pilot runs through his pre-flight checklist for his F-1 Mirage before he takes off from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 4, 2013. The three French pilots and two Mirages, were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)

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Not just any Mirage

Manuel Cruz (center), 86th Maintenance Squadron transient alert, removes aircraft tire chalks while John Poutre (right), 86th MXS, prepares to marshal a French F-1 Mirage from Ramp 3 on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 4, 2013. The three French pilots and two Mirages, were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)

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Not just any Mirage

Two French F-1 Mirages prepare to taxi and take off from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 4, 2013. The three French pilots and two Mirages, were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)

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Not just any Mirage

John Poutre, 86th Maintenance Squadron transient alert, prepares to marshal a French F-1 Mirage from Ramp 3 on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 4, 2013. The three French pilots and two Mirages, were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)

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Not just any Mirage

Published April 8, 2013
By Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- When most people hear mirage they think of a person being stranded in a desert, someone who has been walking for days and is now hallucinating from lack of water and food. They pray they are walking toward some distant paradise that will save them from the heat.

Well, the mirage I'm referring to is the Dassault Mirage, a French air-superiority fighter and attack aircraft.

Two French F-1 Mirages along with three pilots were here to conduct a familiarization flight and attend a planning and preparation conference at NATO's Headquarters, Allied Air Command, related to the French air force four-month Baltic Air Policing deployment starting in May. (U.S. Air Force photos/Tech. Sgt. Chad Thompson)