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F-16 - 42 years and counting


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Well, if you look at the rate it put on weight in those 42 years... ;)/>

Undoubtably she's a classic.

Cheers,

Andre

Amazing....It seems like just a few years ago we were taking deliveries of the first one at Nellis :woot.gif:

Cheers, Christian

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Amazing....It seems like just a few years ago we were taking deliveries of the first one at Nellis :woot.gif:/>

Indeed, I still vividly recall similar delivieres to Leeuwarden AB for 322 /323 Squadrons of the Dutch AF....

Cheers,

Andre

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Amazing....It seems like just a few years ago we were taking deliveries of the first one at Nellis :woot.gif:/>

Indeed, I still vividly recall similar delivieres to Leeuwarden AB for 322 /323 Squadrons of the Dutch AF....

Cheers,

Andre

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Yep, it's just about my favorite modern aircraft. In contrast to what Chuck Yeager said in an interview when promoting the F-20, I think the F-16 had several ground-breaking features for its time: Fly-By-Wire controls (probably the most significant, because it allowed other things to be incorporated), LERX, blended fuselage and wings, mach-2 performance without complex air intakes, side-stick control, and probably a few I forgot. I think all that has contributed to its long life.

Plus, it's just a nice looking jet. :)/>

Edited by Ken Cartwright
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Which other aircraft have this feature? By complex do you mean moving?

Yes, moving to adjust for the shockwave and slow the air down to subsonic speeds, like the F-4, F-15, etc. The F-16 intake was place at a location relative to nose that somehow accomplishes the same thing, as far as I understand it.

Edited by Ken Cartwright
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I believe the technical term is "fixed" vs "variable" inlet design, as in variable inlet ramps seen in the F-4, F-14 & F-15 just to name a few. The F/A-18 inlet(s) would also fall under "fixed".

My understanding of the F-16 inlet position design was to provide an unobstructed/undisturbed airflow path at high angles of attack.

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What about the F-20?

I wasn't able to find any info on the F-20 intake design (if that's what you were asking about), probably because it wasn't produced in any numbers. But even if it was a fixed intake design, its first flight was 8 years after the F-16, so the F-16 would have still been a predecessor for that (similar to fly-by-wire, which just about every combat fighter had after the F-16, etc.).

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TBH I'm not sure which parts of the intakes move on which planes. I think, if the F-20 had fixed intakes, it's in a grey area because those intakes seem to be from the F-5, only the bigger engine of the F-20 made it mach 2 capable. This is all at a glace, but yeah I see what you mean about many others following the falcon.

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I wasn't able to find any info on the F-20 intake design (if that's what you were asking about), probably because it wasn't produced in any numbers. But even if it was a fixed intake design, its first flight was 8 years after the F-16, so the F-16 would have still been a predecessor for that (similar to fly-by-wire, which just about every combat fighter had after the F-16, etc.).

The F-20 had a fixed geometry inlet as well.

The first Mach 2 production aircraft, the F-104, also had a fixed geometry inlet design. A full 18 years before the F-16 first flew so one could say the Starfighter was the predecessor to both the F-16 and F-20 as far as a fixed inlet design is concerned.

Back to the subject! I am totally impressed with how a small single engine fighter that was originally designed as an air superiority fighter has evolved into a Jack-of-All-Trades multi-role fighter.

Cheers,

John

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TBH I'm not sure which parts of the intakes move on which planes. I think, if the F-20 had fixed intakes, it's in a grey area because those intakes seem to be from the F-5, only the bigger engine of the F-20 made it mach 2 capable. This is all at a glace, but yeah I see what you mean about many others following the falcon.

Yeah, I'm not an expert, it's just stuff I've read. I think it's different for different aircraft. Here's a description of the F-15E's inlets: http://www.f-15e.info/joomla/en/technology/engines/100-air-inlets

Thanks CF104, I didn't know it had fixed inlets - interesting!

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Yep, it's just about my favorite modern aircraft. In contrast to what Chuck Yeager said in an interview when promoting the F-20, I think the F-16 had several ground-breaking features for its time: Fly-By-Wire controls (probably the most significant, because it allowed other things to be incorporated), LERX, blended fuselage and wings, mach-2 performance without complex air intakes, side-stick control, and probably a few I forgot. I think all that has contributed to its long life.

Plus, it's just a nice looking jet. :)/>/>

Chuck was well bought and said as much.

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Yep, it's just about my favorite modern aircraft. In contrast to what Chuck Yeager said in an interview when promoting the F-20, I think the F-16 had several ground-breaking features for its time: Fly-By-Wire controls (probably the most significant, because it allowed other things to be incorporated), LERX, blended fuselage and wings, mach-2 performance without complex air intakes, side-stick control, and probably a few I forgot. I think all that has contributed to its long life.

Plus, it's just a nice looking jet. :)/>/>

Dont forget the reclining position of the pilot to tolerate high G forces and the bubble canopy.

My favorite aircraft hands down. The most number of kits I have of one aircraft is this one.

A beautiful design with great capability.

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What I find surprising- assuming I have my facts straight (never a sure thing!)- is that the most advanced F-16's in the world today are all owned by foreign countries, many of which are in the Middle East, like Bahrain, Jordan, Israel (of course), Oman, UAE and recently Iraq.

Example: United Arab Emirates

From the 'net: "As of mid-2014 the UAE Air Force & Air Defence (UAE AF & AD) fielded a total of 79 F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcons, the majority of which were to be upgraded to Block 61 standard. In addition, it had requested the sale of a further 30 Block 61 aircraft, although a contract had yet to be signed."

The obvious question is, how does an American F-16 fare against one of these export Vipers if a good guy today, turns into a bad guy tomorrow? My guess is that the US will just send in F-22's instead and not worry about it. ;)

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What I find surprising- assuming I have my facts straight (never a sure thing!)- is that the most advanced F-16's in the world today are all owned by foreign countries, many of which are in the Middle East, like Bahrain, Jordan, Israel (of course), Oman, UAE and recently Iraq.

Example: United Arab Emirates

From the 'net: "As of mid-2014 the UAE Air Force & Air Defence (UAE AF & AD) fielded a total of 79 F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcons, the majority of which were to be upgraded to Block 61 standard. In addition, it had requested the sale of a further 30 Block 61 aircraft, although a contract had yet to be signed."

The obvious question is, how does an American F-16 fare against one of these export Vipers if a good guy today, turns into a bad guy tomorrow? My guess is that the US will just send in F-22's instead and not worry about it. ;)/>

Highly upgraded teens have been consolation prizes for countries that can't have 5th gen

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