Crown Prince Christian’s ‘dream came true’ with F-16 training flight

Crown Prince Christian took to the skies on Monday afternoon in a F-16 training flight at the Skrydstrup military base.

In an unannounced visit, the future king of Denmark travelled to Vojens to join in a symbolic flight aboard a F-16. As Crown Prince Christian said himself: “I had the opportunity to get on one of the last training flights in an F-16 aircraft – and wow, it was crazy.”

The future king even took a selfie from the passenger seat, snapping a picture of the Kronborg castle complex—made famous by William Shakespeare as the seat of Hamlet, Elsinore—and captioned it—“from a completely new angle.”

The F-16s will be phased out of use by the Danish Air Forces at the end of the year and replaced with modern fighter jets, the F-35As.

After touching back down on the ground, Crown Prince Christian spoke with reporters about the experience, and told Billed Bladet that he was impressed at what the F-16s can do and expressed his gratitude to the military for allowing him the chance to fly.

He also teased that the flight may have changed his military training plans. The future king is in lieutenancy training until August 2027 and said that, prior to his flight, “I actually thought I was too tall to fly an F-16, but I’ve since realized that I’m not.”

With a smile, Crown Prince Christian said that “time will tell” about whether or not he joins the Danish Air Force.

Over on social media, the future king penned a personal message, calling the training flight “a boy’s dream came true.”

He added that “I already had great respect for the pilots who fly our fighter jets, and after today, it has only gotten bigger.”

The future king was also joined by his father, King Frederik, who “stopped by” after his son’s flight. The pair were photographed together after Crown Prince Christian was back on the ground.