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F16

If you’re an F-16 fighter pilot wannabe consider checking this equipment

by Till Daisd April 6, 2023

“We have done our jobs right if when they have to eject out of the aircraft because a mission went south, and our equipment worked, we saved their life,” Staff Sgt. Faitha Brookins, 35th Operations Support Squadron

Delivering sorties requires more work than simply donning a flight suit and taking off, and those who work with flights on a regular basis are aware of how crucial each step is for successful mission completion.

Pilots get ready in the flight equipment room before boarding the aircraft, where they were greeted by aircrew flight equipment (AFE) specialists who had prepared everything they would need for the day.

“The AFE personnel are imperative to the mission,” said Col. Travis Rex, the 35th Fighter Wing vice commander at Misawa Air Base (AB). “The amount of gear qualifications and items they maintain on a daily basis is massive. By keeping track of the pilot gear and the egress system, along with other items, they ensure we can safely get back home if anything were to happen during the flight.”

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Dominic Cicci, a 35th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technician, verifies a compass’s magnetic pull is pointing north at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 8, 2017. Along with water, flares, and fire starters, a pilot’s survival vest contains different components to sustain them if they become stranded and need to be rescued.

Although there may appear to be only a few pieces of equipment inside from the outside, AFE experts are aware that there is more than what is immediately apparent.

The life preserver survival vest, parachute harness, a Joint Mounted Cueing System Helmet (JHMCS), display unit, MBU 20/P oxygen mask, and anti-G-LOC suit are all given to the pilots by the technicians, who also check them for functionality before and after each flight.

For an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilot to be able to observe and lock on targets during air-to-air combat, necessities like the helmet system must be available at all times, according to Staff Sgt. Faitha Brookins, 35th Operations Support Squadron (OSS) AFE NCO in charge.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Dominic Cicci, right, and Senior Airman Coty Buckley, left, both 35th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technicians, perform pre-flight and post-flight inspections at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 8, 2017. The AFE shop oversees pilots’ item serviceability and restocks their uniforms with supplies like water and food if needed.

“Fitting one pilot’s display mask to their face takes approximately four hours for us,” Brookins said. “We have to measure all sides of their face and account for large or small jawlines and then shave off the plastic slowly. This [ensures] the display mask is made to fit them perfectly while they are flying and prevents it from being too loose and moving around while they’re in combat.”

The egress system, which consists of the ejection seat and parachuting gear in the cockpit of the aircraft, is added to the list of essential items of flight equipment. To make sure it won’t malfunction when deployed, the egress system is put through a rigorous inspection process.

The system examination, which entails disassembling each component, inspecting the F-16 seating system, making any necessary repairs, and reassembling it, can take one to two days.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Faitha Brookins, the 35th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment NCO in charge, cleans a joint-mounted cueing system helmet at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 8, 2017. Every day the AFE shop maintains the cleanliness and functionality of the pilot’s equipment while performing thorough routine checks during their shift.

An experienced, high-level chute rigger does this check at least once a year, whether or not the system will be used that year.

“We take a long time during this inspection because we are not allowed any margin of error,” said Staff Sgt. Travis Tillman, 35th OSS AFE technician. “If pilots have to use the system in an emergency situation, it has to deploy without a problem in order to save their life. That is why this system, as well as the inspections we perform, are so important.”

In addition to the parachute system, daily inspections are performed on all flying equipment.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Richard Smeeding, the 35th Fighter Wing Pacific Air Force F-16 Demonstration Team pilot, puts on his boot at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 8, 2017. The aircrew flight equipment personnel fits each pilot’s G-suit to their size and ensures all equipment is serviceable before their departure.

“When we do a preflight inspection we make sure everything in their locker is ready for use,” Brookins said. “We want to make sure it’s 100 percent reliable because if anything happens with the aircrew members once they leave through those doors, we are held responsible since our names are on those pieces of equipment.”

Even disused components are frequently inspected, giving pilots more safety protection.

“Some of the crew members don’t fly daily so they don’t receive a pre-flight and post-flight inspection,” Brookins said. “So we want to make sure every 30 days we get eyes on that equipment for a thorough inspection to make sure nothing is compromised in the pilot’s equipment.”

Brookins outlined how they disassemble each component for inspection during this period. They can then determine whether a piece of equipment needs to be changed if there is a probability that it will malfunction.

U.S. Air Force Col. Travis Rex, the 35th Fighter Wing vice commander, left, receives a pre-flight inspection by Staff Sgt. Faitha Brookings, right, the 35th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment NCO in charge, at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 8, 2017. After donning flight equipment, AFE personnel jolt and tug their suits ensuring survival amenities are secured and no tears or holes formed in their uniform.

“Everything we inspect and touch is life-saving equipment,” Brookins said. “When these pilots perform the mission, they have a sense of security knowing they received functioning gear.”

The 35th OSS aircrew flight equipment shop is in charge of providing the pilots with all the tools they need for a safe flight from takeoff to landing.

“We have done our jobs right if when they have to eject out of the aircraft because a mission went south, and our equipment worked, we saved their life,” Brookins said. “That means the pilot comes home to their family and flies another day.”

U.S. Air Force Capt. Jason Markzon, a 13th Fighter Squadron pilot, tests his MBU 20/P breathing mask at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 8, 2017. Before take-off, a preflight check is performed by aircrew flight equipment Airmen, ensuring all equipment functions properly.

Story by Airman 1st Class Sadie Colbert, 35th Fighter Wing; Photo by Cory W. Bush and Airman 1st Class Sadie Colbert / U.S. Air Force

April 6, 2023 0 comment

Military

The U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon maintainer who became fighter pilot

by Till Daisd March 12, 2023

written by Till Daisd

My dream has always been to be a pilot; it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do; I just went about it in a different way than other people

When Capt. David was a kid, his father would take him out to the flightline at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, and put him in the cockpit of an F-111 Aardvark, as told by Staff Sgt. Katherine Spessa, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs in the article Maintainer-turned-fighter pilot puts new skills to the test.

David looked up at his father and said, “One day, I’m going to be a pilot.”

“I guess I kept my word,” he remarked as an F-16 Fighting Falcon jet pilot with the 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

David’s journey began when he entered in the United States Air Force (USAF) in 2004. He became an F-16 avionics specialist, following in his father’s footsteps.

Capt. David, 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pilot, walks out to an F-16 Fighting Falcon before a night mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. David enlisted in the Air Force in 2004 as an F-16 avionics specialist and now flies the same airframe he used to maintain.

“It’s always been my dream to be a pilot, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” David said. “I just took a different route than most people do.”

That path includes going to school while working as a maintainer, a deployment to Balad Airfield in Iraq, and temporary assignments that required him to be gone three weeks out of every month.

“I have the best wife in the world,” he said. “She was stubborn for me when I didn’t want to do it, she was always there pushing me, telling me that I could, telling me it’s going to be worth it. ‘All the hard work, the sweat the tears, one day it will all pay off and you’re going to be where you want to be.’”

When David was accepted into officer training school and afterward selected for pilot training and the F-16 slot, he accomplished his aim. He now pilots the same plane for which he used to work as a mechanic.

“There’s always a giant support system behind anyone who gets to this point,” David said. He gives the credit to his wife, children, and supervisors throughout his Air Force career, along with a little timing, luck, and a lot of hard work.

Capt. David, 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pilot, and Staff Sgt. Daniel Lasal, 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron dedicated crew chief, prepares an F-16 Fighting Falcon for a night mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. David served as an aircraft maintainer for eight years before commissioning as a pilot in 2012.

David was sent to his first operational duty as a pilot after years of training, and he returned to the flightline as a pilot rather than a maintainer.

“Having that maintenance and operations background provides that extra piece make the cogs fit a little bit better,” said David. “They’re not really all that different, to be honest. We all want the same thing, we all want to do the same thing, we’re all fighting in the same direction.”

Capt. David’s talents as a mechanic have helped him gain a reputation as a pilot.

“The guy’s knowledge of the airplane, is beyond some of our more seasoned pilots because he’s had his hands in some places we don’t even know exist inside an F-16,” said Maj. Joseph, 79th EFS director of operations.

David’s first deployment as a pilot will be at Bagram Airfield.

Capt. David, 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pilot, taxis an F-16 Fighting Falcon before a night mission at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. To become a pilot, David went to school while working as a maintainer, through a deployment to Balad Airfield, Iraq, and temporary duties where he was often gone for three weeks out of every month.

“I always wanted to be the tip-of-the-spear kind of guy, the last link in the chain before taking care of bad guys,” he said. “The most rewarding part has been coming out here and being effective.”

When he isn’t on duty, David follows in his father’s footsteps by taking his children to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.

“Seeing that pure joy and pride in their faces when I have them come out to the jet and I taxi up and hop out…. There is no better feeling in the world than seeing my kids’ faces light up,” David said.

Since the Civil War, every generation of David’s family has served in the military. He’s the first member of his family to be appointed to the commission.

“I’ll probably be in the Air Force until they tell me to stop coming to work, whether I’m flying jets or not. It’s where I want to be,” David said.

Capt. David, 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pilot, takes off in an F-16 Fighting Falcon for a night mission on Jan. 13, 2017, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

Photo by Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo and Staff Sgt. Katherine Spessa / U.S. Air Force

March 12, 2023 0 comment

History

Giora Even-Epstein, the eldest Israeli pilot to fly an F-16

by Till Daisd February 8, 2023

written by Till Daisd

“I flew the F-16 for nine years. Grandpa fighter pilot. Older than the parents of most of the young pilots at the base. I would soon be turning 59, an age where my pilot instincts would begin to decline,” Giora Even-Epstein.

Giora Even-Epstein served as a fighter pilot with the Israel Air Force (IAF) for more than thirty years, becoming known as a highly-skilled military aviator and the highest-scoring jet-mounted ace with the most confirmed wins (17) in the French Mirage. After overcoming several obstacles merely to learn to fly, he went on to amass an Arab MiG and Sukhoi kill total that surpassed that of all other combat aviators in the globe.

In his gripping book “Hawkeye,” he vividly describes his experiences, particularly during the brutal wars of 1967’s Six Day War and 1973’s Yom Kippur War.

He started flying for El Al after his final combat, rose to the position of commander of the First Jet Squadron, 117, served in the 1982 Lebanon War with the reservist squadron 254 Midland Squadron, and eventually became the oldest IAF F-16 pilot.

“I found the F-16 to be an incredible plane with amazing capabilities. It was best of its kind around, like the Mirage, in its time, it had far exceeded enemy aircraft in its capabilities,” Epstein says in Hawkeye. ‘The F-16’s capabilities were far beyond those of the Mirage, but our enemies had also been busy upgrading their air forces over the years. They, too, had more advanced aircraft, with more advanced technological systems. As always, the key factor was the pilot. The result of the dogfight depended on him.

Did you know that the highest-scoring jet-mounted ace Giora Even-Epstein had also been the eldest Israeli pilot to fly an F-16? — Giora Even-Epstein

“Flying an F-16 was different than any other plane I’d ever flown. It felt like it was the computer more than the pilot that was flying the plane. Naturally, I made many comparisons to the Mirage on which I’d flown so many hours. The stick was on the pilot’s side and barely moved. Pilots complained that it wasn’t comfortable for them. You pulled to the left as hard as you could and the plane would turn in accordance with the parameters — velocity, altitude, temperature — but it is impossible to exceed 9 G. The computer would not allow it. The Mirage easily passed the 7 G limit. On the F-16, exceeding the G limit would damage the plane.

“But the more I got to know the new plane, called the `Hawk’ — the Americans called it the `Fighting Falcon’ — the more I came to admire its capabilities. In dogfights, even with a Mirage behind it, it could down the rival plane within 20 seconds — though, again, it all depended on the pilot. In the past, I’d had dogfights where I flew a Mirage and was able to down a Kfir or an F-16. Despite the new plane’s extraordinary capabilities, I still felt that the experience of flying the Mirage was more powerful.

“In January 1991, when the first Gulf War started, I was in the Golden Eagle Squadron at the Ramon base. I was at the base when the first Scud missile attack on Israel occurred. When those first missiles fell, pilots who were with me there readied to take off for Iraq. Everyone was on standby. Suited up and were ready to go as soon as the order came, so I calmed them down. Most of them are young, they hadn’t tasted war before and they were keen to head out. I explained to them that it was nighttime. If they didn’t go to sleep now, they wouldn’t have energy in the morning, if and when they were needed.”

Epstein was given the promotion to colonel after the war, and his family began to ask him about leaving the IAF.

“Most fighter pilots stop flying at age 40-45. Yosef Tzuk – who was my close friend and who made air force history by being the first pilot to down a MiG during the 1956 Sinai Campaign — had stopped flying in 1988, at age 50, but he was definitely the exception,” he remembers.

“I flew the F-16 for nine years. Grandpa fighter pilot. Older than the parents of most of the young pilots at the base. I would soon be turning 59, an age where my pilot instincts would begin to decline. I barely felt it, but I did start to sense the reactions of the other pilots, that maybe it was time for me to start thinking of retiring from active combat flying. ‘It’s a shame, but maybe…’ some hinted.

Giora Even-Epstein onboard the F-16 he flew during his last sortie in the IAF. Seventeen roundels were painted on the plane, symbolizing his kills of enemy aircraft.

“The squadron commander was much blunter.

“‘Giora, maybe the time has come for you to stop flying,” he said to me one day.

“I was almost 59. He was 39.

“I realized that my time as a fighter pilot was nearing an end.

“It was time to give someone else a chance to break some of my records. I said goodbye to the IAF when I was 59, but not to flying. I kept flying for El Al for another six years after I left the military. In El Al, too, I flew until the maximum possible age according to aviation regulations, which was 65. For a time, my son Guy and daughter Dana were flight attendants with El Al, and we would head to Ben Gurion Airport together.”

Epstein concludes;

“The long dry spell at El Al during which no new pilots were hired finally ended, and new pilot training courses were opened, which attracted many air force veterans. Often, the first officer sitting beside me was one of the ‘kids’ who’d been one of my cadets or a young pilot who’d flown with me in the combat squadrons. A heavy hint that the time for retirement was nearing.”

Hawkeye is published by Grub Street Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Israeli Air Force

February 8, 2023 0 comment

History

Red Tail Angels, the Tuskegee Airmen documentary series produced by USAF

by Till Daisd February 5, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The documentary series “The Red Tailed Angels” depicts the challenges, battles, and ultimately victories of the Tuskegee Airmen

The US Air Force (USAF) video production team created a video series to commemorate the Tuskegee Airmen and their influence on the war and society as a whole in honor of the 75th anniversary of World War II.

The Tuskegee Airmen’s challenges, failures, and eventual accomplishments are shown in the documentary series “The Red Tailed Angels” (you can view the trailer here).

“The Tuskegee Airmen represent a part of American history, which for far too many years languished in obscurity after WWII,” said Anthony Young, Air Force Television senior producer, in the article Air Force releases “Red Tailed Angels” docuseries, written by Staff Sgt. Jeremy L. Mosier, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs. “This documentary is an attempt to tell their story through the words of those who lived it, highlighting not only the obstacles they faced but the perseverance they exhibited in overcoming it. Though they have been revered for their exploits during the war, I think their legacy is evident not only throughout the U.S. armed forces, but within society as a whole, given the many doors their success has led to the opening.”

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military aviators in the US Army Air Corps, a precursor of the US Air Force. Pilots, navigators, maintainers, bombardiers, instructors, and support staff all trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. The Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties during World War II in Europe and North Africa.

The US Army Air Corps, which was the forerunner of the US Air Force, used the Tuskegee Airmen as its first black military aviators. The Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama served as a training ground for pilots, navigators, maintainers, bombardiers, instructors, and support personnel. During World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen flew almost 15,000 missions over Europe and North Africa.

The Tuskegee Airmen applied a red-tailed paint scheme to their Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, and North American P-51 Mustangs.

Today, pilots from the Alabama Air National Guard regularly fly their F-16 Fighting Falcons while sharpening their abilities in routine training flights, leaving flashes of red in the skies above lower Alabama. The members of Dannelly Field’s 100th Fighter Squadron Red Tails are aware of their history and the importance of the red paint on their jets’ tails. The Tuskegee Airmen are also the direct descendants of the 301st Fighter Squadron. Currently, the unit flies the F-22 Raptor.

You may see the first of the three parts of the series here on the Air Force Blue Tube Channel. Soon after will be the second and third segments.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

February 5, 2023 0 comment

History

The F-16 mission that signaled the first combat use of the GBU-38 JDAM

by Till Daisd October 8, 2022

written by Till Daisd

“The two guys on the wanted list step out from the overhang of the building and you could see them in the FLIR picture. One guy took a drag off of a cigarette and you could see the heat from it. As he took it out of his mouth the GBU-38 impacted and the war ended for him. We went home to got chow,” Maj Brian Wolf, 160th EFS / 187th FW F-16 driver

For more than ten years, the F-16, also known as Viper by her pilots, has been the most productive fighter in American and Coalition operations in the Middle East. It has been the workhorse of U.N.-sanctioned operations in the area since the 1991 Gulf War, performing in “Wild Weasel,” “ground attack,” and “air superiority” roles.

Operations For more than ten years, Southern Watch and Northern Watch required daily and ongoing combat patrols over Iraqi land. This duty was made easier by the abundance of F-16s in use by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the fact that the aircraft has always been capable of performing a variety of tasks. The F-16CJ was the second aircraft to enter enemy airspace when U.S. President George W. Bush ordered his forces into Iraq in March 2003 (the first was the F-117A). It swept the sky for electrons in an effort to discover, identify, and destroy Iraq’s extensive air defense system. After the operation was completed, swarms of additional Coalition fighters, including F-16CGs, followed. These aircraft were successfully employed to strike a variety of targets.

The Viper did, however, play a significant part in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) even after the shooting war was over, as described by Steve Davies and Doug Dildy in their book F-16 Fighting Falcon Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

There had been considerable suspicion that the most recent JDAM, the GBU-38, may soon enter the theater, as recounted by Maj Brian Wolf, an F-16 pilot with the 160th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) / 187th Fighter Wing (FW) at the time, in September 2004. The Mk 82 500-lb dumb bomb was quickly transformed into the GBU-38, a weapon perfectly suited for the Urban Close Air Support (CAS) mission. It employed strap-on guidance and control systems identical to those used by the 2000-lb GBU-31, but it was far safer to operate in the confined spaces of Iraqi cities and villages, the insurgents’ native country.

It is perhaps more than a little ironic that Wolf’s story serves as the launching point for what would later develop into the battle for Falluja, a significant effort to clear the city of any insurgents hiding there, and that it also marks the first-ever GBU-38 drop in combat, in a setting for which it was created.

The unknown story of the F-16 mission that marked the first combat use of GBU-38 JDAM and the beginning of the battle for Falluja — USAF F-16C block 30 #87-0336 at Al Udeid AB, Qatar during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Wolf recalls: “We got in-country and the loadout we were carrying was GBU-38 and slant loads of GBU-12s. We also had two AMRAAMs, 500 rounds of 20mm, and the AT Litening II pod. We were running oil pipeline routes looking for sabotage or leaks, and running ‘Crown Jewels’, which were the power lines that people were wrecking to steal and sell the copper contacts.”

‘Crown Jewels’ and the pipeline patrols were ongoing at that time, and Wolf recalled that there was a constant flow of saboteurs: “That night my wingman and I were on a three-hour vul, and late into the sortie. At about daybreak, we got a call to contact the controlling agency, which we did. They asked us to go to secure radios and they then passed us coordinates, telling us, ‘we’re going to need a TOT, run in heading and read back of coordinates’. We put the coordinates into the jet and determined a good run-in heading based on winds. We were looking at the target complex with our Litening II pods – the FLIR was really good, and we could see the target from more than 20 miles away. We didn’t want them to know we were inbound, so we stayed north of the target, which was in Falluja.”

The softening up of the city was just beginning, and a major drive to kill insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, was underway: “By whatever means (I truly don’t know), the troops on the ground had determined that there were Zarqawi operatives in this particular section of Falluja. In our targeting packs, there were these DMPIs (Desired Mean Point of Impacts) with commensurate coordinates on all of the safe houses and buildings in the area. They asked us if we had this specific DMPI in our packs, and we replied that we had because our Intel brief had covered them. They told us ‘look at the following DMPIs because they are potentially very high-value targets’, and they verified the coordinates. That was the critical thing to do with JDAM, even though we had DMPIs in our racks.

“When you’re dropping JDAM we call it ‘O6 bombing’, because even the colonels can hit the target. There are a few things to do before we drop – I have to cursor-zero my system to make sure there are no slews or errors in the navigation system, and I make sure I’ve got a GPS ‘High-High’ guidance system because all that data is going to the JDAM.”

Wolf and his wingman held north of the target until they were satisfied with their plan, then they called their controlling agency and advised them they were inbound to the target: “By now they had taken their Predator UAV and moved it away from the immediate area, but not too far away because they wanted to film and get BDA in real-time back to the CAOC. We rolled in on-airspeed, on-heading, and on-attack axis, and we reached the release parameters and hit the pickle button. There was a little dip in the wing as cartridges fired, and I was now 500 lbs lighter on station 7 on the right wing. I checked left and put the pod in a good position to film some BDA, waiting approximately 35 seconds until the bomb impacts. The building just shacked – two bombs put onto the same DMPI where they had assessed that there were Zarqawi operatives. At this point, the sun was just starting to come up, and I put away the NVGs. It was a distinct and exact impact, and the bombs had hit within a second of each other.”

Wolf and his wingman, ‘Rocky’, went off-target and circled around for BDA. “We picked up in our orbit in case they need more help, and as we were spinning, I got the distinct impression that it was ‘Shark Week’ on The Discovery Channel! There was a F/A-18 circling above us, two more were below us and not too far away were a pair of F-16s. Word had obviously gotten out because it was like sharks converging for the kill.”

Still unaware that they were the first to drop the GBU-38 in combat, Wolf and his wingman were cleared to return to Al Udeid Air Base: “When we got home, the most surreal thing was debriefing – watching our tapes on huge black and white screens versus our small MFD. The GBU-38 had only taken out the target building, leaving the walls of the building on either side completely untouched.”

Moving to the chow hall at Al Udeid, the two sat down to omelet, hash browns, and bacon in front of one of the giant TV screens: “We heard Fox News talking about Coalition forces attacking Falluja early in the morning, and they showed the building reduced to rubble. We look at each other and smiled. ‘Hey dude, that was us!’.

“We watched our tapes one more time on the big screen, and you could see just seconds before impact the two guys on the wanted list step out from the overhang of the building. They came walking out and you could see them in the FLIR picture. One guy took a drag off of a cigarette and you could see the heat from it. As he took it out of his mouth the bomb impacted and the war ended for him. We went home to get chow.”

Photo by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army

October 8, 2022 0 comment

History

When an F-16 Sead mission covered a ‘mysterious’ air asset over Iraq

by Till Daisd October 5, 2022

written by Till Daisd

“I came out of the AOR, contacted the appropriate agency, and said, ‘Copy. You’re going to support ‘Ram 01′.’ That’s all I got. Who’s ‘Ram 01!?’,” Capt Paul Carlton 55th FS F-16 pilot

Over a decade-long period, Operations Southern Watch and Northern Watch necessitated daily and ongoing combat patrols over Iraqi territory; this work was made easier by the abundance of F-16s available in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) service, as well as the jet’s historical capacity for a variety of functions and applications.

The following narrative, which is from the book F-16 Fighting Falcon Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom by Steve Davies and Doug Dildy, tells what happened when the U.S. in an effort to locate, identify and destroy Iraq’s extensive air defense system, President George W. Bush sent his forces into Iraq in March 2003. The F-16CJ was the second aircraft to enter enemy airspace during this operation.

“On 19/20 March we were flying on-call SEAD and had HARMs on board the airplane. I was a night guy, flying only at night, and it was early in the morning. I had one more vul to cover before I went home. We were covering six-hour vul times (vulnerability periods), where we’d come away to get gas when we needed it and then go back in again. I came out of the AOR (Area of Responsibility), contacted the appropriate agency, and said, ‘Copy. You’re going to support ‘Ram 01′.’ That’s all I got. Who’s ‘Ram 01!?’ “

A skilled F-16 pilot with more than 1500 hours of Block 30/50 flight time under his belt, Capt. Paul Carlton. Only a few weeks earlier, he had been transferred from Shaw Air Force Base’s 55th Fighter Squadron (FS) to the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) to add Night Vision Goggles (NVG) experience. At the time he received this cryptic message, he was commanding a two-ship of F-16CJs on the last position of their assigned vulnerability time.

“I had no idea what was going on. I asked, ‘Can you tell me who ‘Ram 01′ is, what their time-over-target (TOT) is, and where they’re going?’ I got nothing back. Silence. The RoE was that we couldn’t shoot or drop anything unless we were given permission to do so. That morning we were briefed that we were not to shoot any weapons unless were we told we could. So, I sent ‘Two’ (Carlton’s wingman) off to get permission to fire our weapons if needed, and at the same time, I started looking for ‘Ram 01’ on the radio. I had no idea what he was or what was going on.”

Carlton was completely unaware of the upcoming assignment to support this mysterious mission, but he assumed that ‘Ram 01’ was presumably a conventional asset, such as a Block 40 Viper or similar. He had no idea that the aircraft posing as “Ram 01” was actually an F-117 on a time-sensitive mission to strike a bunker where Saddam Hussein was allegedly hiding.

“‘Ram 01’ came up on the radio and told me roughly where he was and the coordinates of where he was going. He also gave me the coordinates of his IP (Initial Point) and his target, which I plugged into my jet to figure out where he was going and what his target was. His target plot fell into the little map of Baghdad. That clued me into what he was about to do, and I knew that things were about to get much more exciting.

“Having learned the TOT and seen where he was going, I knew all I needed to know. I knew what threats he was up against and now I was thinking about how best I could support him. I had just four HARMs to work with (two per F-16), which is not a whole lot to cover the entirety of Baghdad. Having devised a basic strategy, I flew back into the AOR but chose not to go up near his target, even though we were now allowed to cross the No-Fly Zone. The F-16 is a radar-significant target, and I didn’t want to simulate the air defenses before they needed to be. I never heard anything else from ‘Ram 01’, which thinking about it now makes sense to me as the pilot always ‘cleans up’ when they go to war (the F-117 retracts its communication antennas when entering hostile territory).”

Carlton kept his composure but was still unsure of who he was rooting for. For around an hour, he observed the SuperMEZ (super missile engagement zone), “then I hit Bingo fuel. I had not seen anything happen to ‘Ram 01’, so I told the controlling agency, ‘I’m bingo and have to go home’. I got handed off to different agencies and headed back to the tanker down south to get gas for the trip home.

“We were on the tanker when ‘Ram 01’ came over the radio and said, ”Ram 01”, ‘tanker 51′, behind you and checking in for gas’. As I came off the tanker with my wingman, I looked behind me and there was this ‘Stinkbug’ taxiing up. That was the first clue that I had that we’d just helped started the war.”

Although “Ram 01” was successful in hitting the bunker, Saddam Hussein would later show up on television still alive. The mission was supported by a large number of Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) strikes, which caused Coalition pilots to watch in silence from their cockpits as the cruise missiles moved along the TLAM corridors to their targets while their heat signatures were visible on NVGs.

The last-minute SEAD escort for “Ram 01” was around 48 hours before the war’s scheduled start date, according to the original briefing. Although “Shock and Awe” may have been a little less frightening and not nearly as awe-inspiring as many had expected it would be, Capt Carlton was more than satisfied with his performance on March 19, 2003. The subsequent “Armageddon” that the public had been taught to expect never quite materialized. He had just executed a textbook demonstration of the skill for which he had spent nine years receiving training in the Air Force.

“Most of our peacetime training centers on us learning rules-of-thumb and doing the calculations in flight so that when this kind of tasking comes during wartime, we don’t need to do detailed planning there in the jet in order to get the mission done.”

Then, Operation Iraqi Freedom was in progress.

Photo by Senior Airman Kevin Tanenbaum and Tech. Sgt. Gregory Brook / U.S. Air Force

October 5, 2022 0 comment

History

The F-16 Fighting Falcon: America’s workhorse aircraft

by Till Daisd May 13, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Prior to the production of America’s world-famous F-16 fighter jet, a prototype was designed by General Dynamics and built-in 1974, called the YF-16. This initial prototype was flown as part of the Air Force’s lightweight fighter program, which aimed to develop a new combat aircraft that could be used for air superiority. The design of the YF-16 proved promising when it was tested against other competing prototypes.

The F-16 and the F-15 were specifically designed to complement each other, not replace one another. The F-16 was meant to be a lighter, more maneuverable aircraft. This is why it’s still in use today: miscellaneous tasks that don’t require the heavy firepower of an F-15 can be easily accomplished by an F-16. This allows the Air Force to use the fuel and ammo for their bigger fighter jet when it’s needed most.

The Air Force had been keeping an eye on how the Vietnam War was progressing (the war began in 1956) and felt that there was a need for a lighter fighter jet with less of a reliance on missiles than previous models. So, rather than using heavier engines from existing aircraft, they opted for a new engine design built by Pratt & Whitney called the General Electric J79 engine (which would later be used for some versions of the F-101 Voodoo).

Good airplanes are designed with a good pilot in mind. They must be able to take hits, take evasive maneuvers, and get the pilot home safely. Some planes have been known to kill their pilots through the stress of combat. The F-16 is not one of these planes—it was built to fly under those circumstances. The pilot is the heart of the F-16. Everything else is just hardware.
The pilot sits at the front of the plane and controls it directly: steering by turning a stick with his hand, controlling speed and altitude with foot pedals, adjusting pitch and roll (up/down and side-to-side) with his arms on mechanical links that tilt the wings accordingly. There are one or two engines behind him pushing him forward at tremendous speeds; there are weapons loaded onto hardpoints on wingtips for blowing things up, but none of that matters if he can’t control it all from his seat in the cockpit—a space designed for comfort as well as functionality because a comfortable pilot makes better decisions faster than an uncomfortable one does in those harried moments when seconds count.

The F-16’s ease of flight is the result of its lightweight, aerodynamic design, and powerful engine. The aircraft has a larger wing area than other fighters and a high thrust-to-weight ratio. All these factors allow for greater maneuverability in the air.
One pilot recounted his first solo flight in an F-16: “I was five miles from the runway, vertical at 35,000 feet. I pulled the stick back, rolled it to inverted, and went straight up into a loop. It was dead calm in there… You see this earth looping down below you, and your body falling straight down behind it.”

For those who have flown other aircraft, the F-16 is quite a different animal. The engine is at the center of the aircraft, and everything from avionics to fuel tanks is arranged in relation to it. In fact, everything about the plane is built around that one component. As Air Force pilots put it, “the engine is the heart and soul” of the plane.
In short: the engine is what makes or breaks the plane—it’s both its most important feature and its most expensive.

The F-16’s airframe is made of several different materials. The primary material is an aluminum alloy that has been reinforced with titanium in high-stress areas. Steel is also used in certain parts of the structure, but due to its weight, it is only used where absolutely necessary for strength reasons. An increasing amount of graphite-epoxy composites are being added to the airframe as well, reducing even further the amount of metal needed. A foam core epoxy sandwich construction method (similar to what’s used on modern sailboats and other high-performance vehicles) makes up most of the non-metal portions of the aircraft, such as much of the wings and fuselage.

If you want to turn a plane, then you need to use some control surfaces. These are the moving parts of an aircraft that help it change direction. On the wings, there are flaps, on the tail, there’s a rudder and elevator. An F-16 uses a hydraulic system to move these control surfaces and direct the aircraft. What’s a hydraulic system? It’s an oil-based system that’s powered by a pump and typically used for things like braking systems in vehicles and lifting heavy loads in industrial settings.

Why does the F-16 use hydraulics instead of electronics?

Hydraulics are simple and reliable, which is important when you’re flying at hundreds or thousands of miles per hour! The only downside is that they can be heavy (but it’s worth it).

The F-16 has a gun, bombs, missiles, and rockets. It can carry a maximum of 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of weapons. The aircraft’s primary weapon is the 25mm GAU-12/U Equalizer eight-barrel Gatling gun with 500 rounds of ammunition. For targeting enemy aircraft or ground targets, the F-16 can carry air-to-air missiles, such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile and the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM). Additionally, the aircraft can carry a variety of air-to-surface missiles such as AGM/GBU Maverick missiles for attacking tanks and armored vehicles and AGM/GBU anti-ship weapons for attacking ships. If necessary, an F16 can also be equipped with nuclear bombs.

Every F-16 carries a 20mm rotary cannon, with 500 rounds of ammunition, generally used in combat against enemy aircraft. Besides that, the F-16 has bays for carrying missiles, bombs, and rockets. If your mission requires stealth, those weapons can be stored internally. The bays rotate into the body of the plane during a flight to make the craft as aerodynamic as possible. For missions that don’t require stealth, such as attacking ground targets or supporting other aircraft in a dogfight scenario (such as fending off enemy fighters while other planes execute their respective missions), you can carry additional weapons externally at all times by mounting them to pylons under the wings and fuselage.

The cockpit has three multi-function displays, which the pilot uses to communicate with the aircraft’s systems and weapons, navigate, and see what’s happening outside of the cockpit through video cameras mounted on the exterior of the plane. It also has a large head-up display (HUD) projected in front of it that shows critical information without forcing pilots to take their eyes off of what they’re doing or looking down at the controls. This is important since there are often so many things happening that a pilot does not want to take his eyes off his target for more than a second.

In conclusion, the F-16 has proven itself to be a workhorse aircraft for many nations other than just the United States. If there is one thing we can learn from its history, it’s that the design has successfully adapted to the needs of its operators, and it has made each nation more effective in its operations. In light of this revelation, we should look forward to seeing how this aircraft will continue to adapt to changes in military aviation and foreign policy around the globe.

May 13, 2022 0 comment

History

Scott O’Grady describes how his F-16 was shot down over Bosnia

by Till Daisd September 30, 2021

written by Till Daisd

“The missile had blindsided me, coming up through cloud cover be-low. It had struck the plane’s underbelly, hitting one of the fuel tanks and cutting my F-16 in two,” Capt. Scott O’Grady

To maintain peace in Bosnia, USAF F-16 pilot Scott O’Grady (callsign Basher Five-Two) and Bob “Wilbur” Wright (callsign Basher Five-One) were flying a regular “two-ship” formation on June 2, 1995.

From Aviano Air Base (AB), in northeastern Italy, both pilots were assigned to the 555th Fighter Squadron (FS), also known as the “Triple Nickel,” of the 31st Fighter Wing (FW).

They were conducting yet another conventional combat air patrol over northwest Bosnia while flying an oval pattern. There were known fixed missile positions throughout much of the path, as Capt. O’Grady himself explains this in his book Basher Five-Two: The True Story of F-16 Fighter Pilot Captain Scott O’Grady. “We knew to stay far away from the Bosnian Serb’s SAM rings to the north and to the east. SAMs—surface-to-air missiles—were a definite threat to an F-16, even with our high-tech defense systems.”

F-16 down: Scott O'Grady explains how he was shot down over Bosnia — F-16C of the 555th Fighter Squadron based at Aviano Air Base, Italy

But there was a mobile site that the intelligence units had missed.

O’Grady recalls: “‘Basher Five-One, mud six, bearing zero-nine-zero,’ Wilbur radioed to me on our open frequency. He wanted me to know there was possibly a threat radar to the east. ‘Basher Five-Two naked,’ I shot back. That told him my threat warning system hadn’t picked up anything. On the same open radio frequency, I listened for Magic, NATO’s nearby airborne command center. Equipped with special Intel electronics, the airborne center served to help pilots as an early warning system. In touch with spy satellites and U-2 spy planes, Magic could tell Wilbur and me if there was active radar from the SAM rings to the north and to the east as well as in any other location. If the radar was coming from the north and the east, we didn’t have to worry because we were out of their missiles’ range. The blip on Wilbur’s threat warning system would have been a false alarm. It took Magic only seconds to get back to us. ‘Basher Five One,’ a calm voice called over our radios, ‘your mud six reports is uncorrelated.’

“Magic was saying that they couldn’t really confirm where the radar was coming from. Cautiously, Wilbur and I continued to fly our ovals. At exactly 3:03 P.M., Aviano time, my threat warning system showed a bright blip. I stared at my console in disbelief. At the same time, an alarm shrilled over my headset. I had been spiked by threat radar. Forget any threat from the north. This was coming from due east, just like the one Wilbur had picked up. Could it really be a second false alarm? My stomach did a flip. ‘Basher Five-Two, mud six, bearing zero-nine-zero,’ I said into my radio. ‘Basher Five-One naked,’ Wilbur reported back. Our roles had been reversed. It was now my turn to be hunted. I knew I had to prepare myself for the worst.”

Without the aid of radar, the mobile SAM launcher 2K12 Kub (NATO reporting name SA-6 Gainful) fired two missiles (so the Serbs could avoid being detected). When the missiles were within seconds away from O’Grady and Wright’s jets, the Serbs activated the radar.

O’Grady continues: “Through my canopy, I scanned the skies for any evidence of a missile. The actual rocket that fires a SAM leaves a trail of white smoke. That smoke is a pilot’s only chance to make a visual identification. Once the rocket turns off, the smoke stops. Then the missile sails on toward its target, silent and deadly, at a speed almost twice as fast as my F-16. Seeing nothing in the sky, my eyes swam back to the video display on my threat warning system. The bright blip had not gone away, which meant I was still being spiked. A moment later, a second alarm blared over my headset. My glance jumped back to my screen. A new warning was there, brighter than the one before. This was all happening in seconds. Split seconds. But it was long enough for me to understand I had just been locked up by a target-tracking radar. This was the type that guided a missile to its target. While I didn’t know it, Magic had received information from a spy satellite that there were missiles right below Wilbur and me, but because of garbled radio communication, we never got the message. It hardly mattered. My instrument panel had already delivered the bad news. I was in somebody’s deadly sight. As I thought out the meaning of those words, I realized a missile might already have been launched. I was angry that we had all been outsmarted by the enemy, but I tried to stay calm. This was what our years of training had prepared us for, and I was ready. A programmed voice from the plane’s computer system rang out over my headset. ‘Counter, counter.’ A second later, a brilliant red flash lit up the sky between Wilbur and me. A missile had passed between us, just missing us both. My heart sped up. I knew that SAMs were usually launched in packages of two. The chances were likely that another missile was already in the air, coming straight at me.

“As the adrenaline pumped through my veins, my thumb traveled down to the button that would release my chaff and flares. At the same time, I thought about pushing my aircraft into a series of steep climbs and dives to avoid the missile. I had time to do neither. What happened in the next tick of a second, I’m not sure. Wilbur would later tell me that he had screamed over the radio, ‘Missiles in the air!’ I never heard him. What I did hear was a thunderous roar that almost shattered my eardrums. Then came a blow like nothing I had ever felt. It was like getting rear-ended by an 18-wheeler with a rocket tied to its front grill. The missile had found its mark. A burst of flames and intense heat spread through my cockpit. I began to pitch and roll wildly. It felt as if a giant hand had reached down, grabbed me with brute force, and shaken me in a frenzy. What was left of my plane was like a straw in the wind, totally out of control. For all its space-age electronics, its supersonic speed, and its defensive powers, the F-16 is not perfect. In the blink of an eye, it can be turned from the prince of the skies into a burning scrap heap of wire and twisted metal. The missile had blindsided me, coming up through the cloud cover below. It had struck the plane’s underbelly, hitting one of the fuel tanks and cutting my F-16 in two. It took me another moment to understand. The nose and cockpit had broken away—and I was now in a free fall to Earth. As I spun out of control, I worried about blacking out from the sudden and unexpected G forces.

“I watched my console break and twist apart before me. My mind was outracing my ability to react. Flames from the exploding gas tank had found a crack between my oxygen mask and visor. They had also reached the back of my neck. Part of me was waiting for the cockpit to explode. Somehow, the heat and the pain, and the insanity of the moment focused my thoughts. Dear God, I prayed, please don’t let me die now—don’t let me die from this. I gazed down, through the flames, and saw a fat yellow handle attached to my seat. The handle pushed up between my legs, bigger than life, staring at me like the miracle I took it to be. The beautiful words stamped across the top were impossible to miss, even in the fire and smoke: PULL TO EJECT. I had no idea how much time had passed since the missile had struck. In reality, it had been only seconds. It felt like an eternity. I knew I wasn’t waiting much longer. For another microsecond, I worried that my damaged canopy wouldn’t open, or if it did, that the seat wouldn’t eject. But I really didn’t have time to worry. My left hand dropped down to the handle, and I pulled with all my might.”

His white, brown, green, and orange chute would be a trackable target since it would take him more than 25 minutes to descend into a clearing just south of a highway, according to CNN. O’Grady could see paramilitary forces pursuing as he plummeted. Fortunately, no one was firing at him, since he was unable to steer his chute.

His face and neck were injured by the blast, exacerbating his predicament. O’Grady fell to the ground as the soldiers pressed in, pulled off his chute, gathered some of his survival supplies, and ran for the woods.

He avoided the Serbian paramilitary soldiers that were out to kill him for almost a week.

The enemy was frequently nearby. He could clearly see the faces of the Serbian pilots during the first two days since the helicopter was so close. Men standing on the ground were firing at moving targets.

He moved at night, periodically trying to call for assistance on his radio. He struggled against hunger, thirst, and the gloomy weather. Until the water in his emergency pack ran out on the fourth day, he survived on ants, plants, and water from his emergency pack. The rain increased the amount of water but also saturated him. He was in the cold water for so long that he got trench foot.

Using the call sign Basher Five-Two, he communicated with Capt. T. O. Hanford, a squadron member who was flying with severely low fuel, on the sixth night, and within minutes, four U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) helicopters were flying more than 80 miles into a hostile area. A total of 40 more aircraft kept vigil nearby in case the Serbs learned about the rescue effort.

On the morning of June 8, 1995, they discovered him running out of the woods and into a small opening while holding a 9mm pistol in case of enemy fire.

He was protected by a group of Marines as he boarded one of the two CH-53E Super Stallions. In case enemy fire on the way out became a problem, two AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter gunships flew close by.

The heroes were those Marines, O’Grady said. “I was just doing my job,” he concluded.

Photo by SRA TANA R. HAMILTON, Master Sgt. John E. Lasky / U.S. Air Force and Srđan Popović via Wikipedia

September 30, 2021 0 comment

History

F-16 vs. MiG-29: the first time in dogfighting

by Till Daisd September 28, 2021

written by Till Daisd

For the American pilots, the Fulcrum’s low-speed maneuverability and helmet-mounted sight system were its most striking performance characteristics

The MiG-29 was a severe threat to Western pilots since it was made in reaction to a new generation of American fighters, such as the F-15 and F-16.

East Germany was one of the nations that purchased the Fulcrum. After German unification, Luftwaffe (German Air Force) MiG-29s remained in service and were employed not only for national Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) service but also as enemy aircraft during NATO air drills, demonstrating the MiG-29’s incredible air-to-air capabilities.

The 510th Fighter Squadron (“Buzzards”) of the 31st Fighter Wing (FW) from Aviano Air Base in northern Italy, which flew against Luftwaffe Jagdgeschwader 73 (JG 73) MiG-29s in May 1995 during a German Fulcrum deployment to Decimomannu Air Base, was the first western fighter unit to have the opportunity to face the Fulcrum in mock air combats. According to David Sarvai’s in-depth article “Schlemming with the Fulcrum” for Code One Magazine, which was also posted on www.510fs.org, the location was on the southern edge of Sardinia.

F-16 Vs MiG-29: when the mighty Viper dogfighted with the Fulcrum for the first time

Although the helmet-mounted sight system might prove to be a severe threat, McCoy argued that it was not an insurmountable one. “In a low-speed fight, fighting the Fulcrum is similar to fighting an F-18 Hornet, but the Fulcrum has a thrust advantage over the Hornet. An F-18 can really crank its nose around if you get into a slow-speed fight, but it has to lose altitude to regain the energy, which allows us to get on top of it. The MiG has about the same nose authority at slow speeds, but it can regain energy much faster. Plus, the MiG pilots have that 45-degree cone in front of them into which they can fire an Archer and eat you up.”

But as McCoy explained, even if the helmet-mounted sight system proved to be a formidable threat, it was not an insurmountable one. “Some of their capabilities were more wicked than we originally thought; we had to respect the helmet-mounted sight, which made our decisions to anchor more difficult. In other words, when I got close in, I had to consider that helmet-mounted sight. Every time I got near a Fulcrum’s nose, I was releasing flares to defeat an Archer coming off his rail.” An impression was also confirmed by Lt. Col. Gary West, another Viper pilot and back then Commander of the 510th. “Before coming here, some of our pilots may have thought of the MiG’s helmet-mounted sight as an end-all to a BFM fight. We have found that it is not as lethal as we had expected. We encountered some positions—particularly in an across-the-circle shot or a high-low shot and in a slow-speed fight—where a Fulcrum pilot can look up 45 degrees and take a shot while his nose is still off. That capability has changed some of the pilots’ ideas on how they should approach a MiG-29 in a neutral fight. Below 200 knots, the MiG-29 has incredible nose-pointing capability down to below 100 knots. The F-16, however, enjoys an advantage in the 200-knot-plus regime. At higher speeds, we can power above them to go vertical. And our turn rate is significantly better. By being patient and by keeping airspeed up around 325 knots, an F-16 can bring the MiG-29 to its nose. But the pilot must still be careful of the across-the-circle shot with that helmet-mounted display.”

McCoy and the other two USAF pilots had the chance to fly in German Fulcrums, and they explained some of the several limitations of the MiG-29. “Their visibility is not that good; their disadvantage is a real advantage for us. F-16 pilots sit high in the cockpit. All the MiG-29 pilots who sat in our cockpit wanted to look around with the canopy closed. They were impressed that they could turn around, look at the tail, and even see the engine. Besides visibility, I expected better turning performance; the MiG-29 is not a continuous nine-g machine like the F-16.”

A claim that was backed up by Capt. Michael Raubbach, who was the JG 73’s Fulcrum pilot at the time. “Our visibility is not as good as an F-16 or even an F-15. We can’t see directly behind us. We have to look out the side slightly to see behind us, which doesn’t allow us to maintain visual contact and an optimum lift vector at the same time. This shortcoming can be a real problem, especially when flying against an aircraft as small as the F-16.”

Instead, Capt. Oliver Prunk, then-JG 73 operations officer, said that the Fulcrum’s inability to sustain nine g was related to the nature of the specification that gave rise to the MiG-29. “The aircraft was not built for close-in dogfighting, though it is aerodynamically capable of it, the East Germans flew it as a point defense interceptor, like a MiG-21. They were not allowed to max perform the airplane, explore its capabilities, or their own capabilities. Sorties lasted about thirty minutes. The airplane was designed to scramble, jettison the tank, go supersonic, shoot its missiles, and go home.”

Other restrictions were the fighter’s inability to fly supersonically with the tank connected, a situation that also restricted the MiG-29 to four g’s when the tank had fuel left, and the centerline fuel tank was carried by aircraft.

According to McCoy, the Fulcrum was nonetheless a strong foe to face off against despite these flaws. “The experience confirmed what I knew about the MiG-29’s ability to turn and fight in the phone booth. It is an awesome airplane in this regime. The awe, though, fades away after that first turn-in. The biggest adrenaline rush was getting to that point. After that, I started evaluating it as a weapon.” McCoy was echoed by West who said that the glamour of the Fulcrum could distract the pilots when they saw the MiG-29 for the first time. “When Western pilots merge with a MiG for the first time, they tend to stare at it in awe, instead of flying their jets and fighting, they are enamored by this Soviet-built aircraft that they have spent their lives learning about. Pilots lose this sense of wonder after a first encounter. It is no longer a potential distraction. They are going to know what type of fight to fight and exactly where they may be in trouble. No one can learn these things by reading reports. Air-to-air fighting is a perishable skill. But the lessons we learned here won’t be forgotten. These pilots will know at the merge exactly what they are up against. They will have more confidence. And they know they are flying an aircraft that is superior in maneuverability, power, and avionics.”

West concludes: “When our pilots first arrived here, they almost tripped over themselves because their eyes were glued to the ramp and those MiG-29s. After a few days, though, those MiGs became just like any other aircraft. And that’s the way it should be.”

Photo by SrA Tana R. Hamilton / U.S. Air Force

September 28, 2021 0 comment

History

The F-16 test program and USAF’s choice to purchase the Lightweight Fighter

by Till Daisd September 2, 2021

written by Till Daisd

Like every operation to demonstrate a new aircraft, the YF-16 test program had its share of thrilling events

The U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program sought an air superiority day fighter that was compact, light, affordable, and easy to maintain. The LWF was conceived because many people in the fighter community thought that expensive and bulky aircraft like the F-15 Eagle were unsuitable for numerous combat roles.

The General Dynamics YF-16 and the Northrop YF-17 were the two aircraft in competition for the LFW program.

A quick look at the YF-16 test program and at the USAF decision to buy the lightweight fighter — The first flight of the YF-17 occurred on Jun. 6, 1974, at Edwards AFB, California. The second YF-17 flew on Aug. 21, 1974. While never flown head-to-head, the YF-16 and YF-17 went through the same highly structured evaluation process during the competition.

For the LWF competition, two single-seat YF-16 prototypes were created. The first YF-16 was unveiled in Fort Worth on December 13, 1973. It made its maiden flight unintentionally on January 24, 1974, and then on February 2, 1974, as intended. March 9, 1974, saw the first flight of the second prototype. On January 13, 1975, the F-16, now known as the Air Combat Fighter (ACF) program because the LWF program had been renamed, won the fly-off against the Northrop YF-17 prototypes.

As Lou Drendel explains in his book F-16 Fighting Falcon In Action, the YF-16 test program had its share of thrilling events, just like every effort to prove a new aircraft. In two different cases, impurities in the fuel control units drove the F-100 engine to idle thrust, forcing the test pilots to perform dead-stick landings.

“One landing was made from 15,000 feet, on the USAF pilot’s first flight in an F-16, and the other from 1,500 feet, shortly after take-off,” says Drendel. “In neither case was the aircraft damaged. As the program progressed, it became increasingly evident that the YF-16 was going to rewrite the book on air combat maneuvering. It was possible to pull so many Gs, so fast, that the normal G-suit pressure regulator could not keep up, and a newer, faster-acting regulator that could inflate the G-suits at a rate that could keep up with the airplane’s capabilities had to be installed.”

The two YF-16s gained altitude in air battle against one another (most dogfights progress to lower altitudes as the fight occurs). “Starting at 15,000 feet, test pilots generally managed to work the fight up to 30,000 feet. Test pilot Phil Oestricher demonstrated consecutive Immelmann turns, beginning at 5,000 feet and leveling off at 25,000 feet. He indicated that a third Immelmann would have been possible,” continues Drendel. “No fighter then in operational service could have performed such a maneuver.”

A very high rate of test flights was kept up during the whole test program. Six flights were made in a single day within a period of 47 flights in 31 days. Drendel: “This was only possible because of the high degree of reliability of the YF-16’s systems. That reliability was made possible by the fact that many of the systems came from operational aircraft, which also enabled General Dynamics to hold down costs. YF-16s used an environmental control system from the A-7, control actuators from the F-111, the nose wheel from the F-4, main gear wheels and tires from the B-58, an air starter from the C-5, and the ejection seat, air data computer, generator drive and engine from the F-15.”

The USAF chose the F-16 because of these aspects, as well as the F-100 engine’s proven reliability and employment in the F-15, as well as its shown performance superiority in acceleration and overall in the transonic drag regime. After deliberating, the Navy decided to use the F/A-18, a YF-17 variant.

“Much of the resistance to an Air Force buy of the lightweight fighter had centered around the theory that it would only be an American MiG-21… small, with good acceleration and turning capability, but short on range and severely limited in diversity. When the performance of the prototypes indicated that the F-16 would exceed the MiG-21 in all categories, with none of its performance shortcomings, the Air Force did a 180 degree and began to look forward to adding the F-16 to its inventory,” concludes Drendel.

Photo by Lockheed Martin

September 2, 2021 0 comment

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