I had a pretty cool tiedown neighbor today

That is too cool for words...so thanks for the photo. I love the lines of the F-16.
 
BillTIZ said:
Not fallen over. Laid down so as to not get blown into the aircraft and cause damage.
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That's probably the more plausible explanation. I just laughed a bit when we know how OCD they are about every small detail about their operation :)
 
I didn't know they don't have any lights apart from the nosewheel taxilight on their planes. They said they had to haul a** to get to Vegas before dark. They also don't have any "real" navigation equipment on those planes.
 
mtuomi said:
...They also don't have any "real" navigation equipment on those planes.
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Isn't that cockpit a bit tight to be unfolding a sectional? :rolleyes:
 
mtuomi said:
They also don't have any "real" navigation equipment on those planes.
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Oh really?

Navigation and communications
The F-16 was the first operational US aircraft to receive a global positioning system (GPS). The aircraft has an inertial navigation system and either a Northrop Grumman (Litton) LN-39, LN-93 ring laser gyroscope or Honeywell H-423.

"The F-16 Fighting Falcon carries the Lockheed Martin LANTIRN infrared navigation and targeting system."

Other navigation equipment includes a BAE Systems Terprom digital terrain navigation system, Gould AN/APN-232 radar altimeter, a Rockwell Collins AN/ARN-118 tactical air navigation system (TACAN) and Rockwell Collins AN/ARN-108 instrument landing system.

The communications systems include the Raytheon UHF AN/ARC-164 receiver / transmitter and Rockwell Collins VHF AM/FM AN/ARC-186 together with AN/APX101 identification friend or foe (IFF) and encryption / secure communications systems. The AN/APX-101 is being upgraded with BAE Systems AN/APX-113.
 
mscard88 said:
Oh really?

Navigation and communications
The F-16 was the first operational US aircraft to receive a global positioning system (GPS). The aircraft has an inertial navigation system and either a Northrop Grumman (Litton) LN-39, LN-93 ring laser gyroscope or Honeywell H-423.

"The F-16 Fighting Falcon carries the Lockheed Martin LANTIRN infrared navigation and targeting system."

Other navigation equipment includes a BAE Systems Terprom digital terrain navigation system, Gould AN/APN-232 radar altimeter, a Rockwell Collins AN/ARN-118 tactical air navigation system (TACAN) and Rockwell Collins AN/ARN-108 instrument landing system.

The communications systems include the Raytheon UHF AN/ARC-164 receiver / transmitter and Rockwell Collins VHF AM/FM AN/ARC-186 together with AN/APX101 identification friend or foe (IFF) and encryption / secure communications systems. The AN/APX-101 is being upgraded with BAE Systems AN/APX-113.
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I'm only relaying what their pilots told me. Equipmentwise, they are pretty far from operational F16's actually in use.
 
F-16 is for kids. The f-16 is like that cheap plastic lawnmower you buy your kids to push around the yard while you push the real lawn mower(the F-15). True story and backed up by facts that were checked and double checked by CNN and MSNBC.
 
mtuomi said:
I'm only relaying what their pilots told me. Equipmentwise, they are pretty far from operational F16's actually in use.
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I can understand a bare bones NAV / COM for what they do, but no lights??? I know slot has a waiver for no tail anticollsion but I would think the position lights and anti collision worked on the rest. Like the Blues, their formation lights would probably be painted over though.
 
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All the lights are installed on the bird and work. I believe that SOP for a single Tbird is day vfr only.

About the only big change to the airframe when it gets converted to a Tbird is removal of the gun and a smoke oil system addition. Alledged time to convert back to combat capability is around 36 hours, depending on the crew.
 
mtuomi said:
I'm only relaying what their pilots told me. Equipmentwise, they are pretty far from operational F16's actually in use.
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True, both the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are strip of unnecessary equipment for what they do. Both teams planes can be converted back fairly quickly if a war broke out that would be serious enough that we needed all our fighters available to be combat ready. The pilots themselves are already experienced fighter pilots and I'm not 100% sure, but they wouldn't need much to get back up to speed.
 
I always liked the F-117 display at Davis-Monthan
14340260954_299ecde494_b.jpg
 
Most fighters don't even have ADS-B out.....
 
X3 Skier said:
We used to call the F-16 a Lawn Dart.

Cheers
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Yup. I was at Eglin and we had one crash on the range. Up in the Control Tower we always had an F-15 pilot up there (SOF) and that's what they called them, lawn dart. The first year they were operational something like a dozen, +/- a few, crashed. I think most were related from pulling more Gs than a human can withstand, and when they came to it was too late. I've heard they have software now that keeps the jet upright until the pilot regains consciousness and gets the jet under control.
 
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Most of the F-16 early losses were engine related. The F100 wasn't to reliable back then.

The GLOC system has made a number of saves and the F110 (and F100) engines are much more reliable now.

It's still a lawn dart to me.

Cheers
 
interesting to me that he's solo ... I thought they always traveled in pairs ...
 
gkainz said:
interesting to me that he's solo ... I thought they always traveled in pairs ...
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Believe it's the Narrator who travels ahead of the rest of the team coordinating and performing advance arrangements.
 
BillTIZ said:
Not fallen over. Laid down so as to not get blown into the aircraft and cause damage.
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Another thing on an Air Force base is the refueling truck is always parked in front of and at a right angle from the jet, not in a position to roll into the jet.
 
Pilawt said:
And he would fly it at Mach 2 ...
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Chuck Norris doesn't use a plane. Chuck Norris punches the air until he achieves lift. Chuck Norris doesn't need an engine. Chuck Norris can change his momentum just by thinking about it. Chuck Norris IS a fighter aircraft.

Chuck Norris is very disappoint in POA.
 
BigBadLou said:
How about an F-14? Those twins are awesome and I just love the tail articulation. (hard-on coming up :D )
Though they are prone to flat spins once you fly through Ice's jet wash. ;)
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The AWG-9 and Phoenix were an awesome weapon but the TF30 engines were a real problem. Again, after the F110 (and eventually the TF30) reliability improvement you could actually use the throttles without worrying about the engine. At the end of its career, it was a hell of a bomb truck.

Cheers
 
What model F-16 are the Blues flying these days? And I'm pretty sure they strip out the radar and much other equipment as they can for the show birds.
 
JimNtexas said:
What model F-16 are the Blues flying these days? And I'm pretty sure they strip out the radar and much other equipment as they can for the show birds.
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Last I was there, these are combat ready birds. Just change the paint and go.
 
Haven't looked up the numbers, but they are either Block 40 or 52 airframes. The only thing removed for the Tbirds are the guns. The ammo drum area is used for the smoke oil tank. To fly with the radar removed would require a significant effort to install ballast, deadhead wiring and may possibly require some custom software. We had test birds that flew without radar, but they were built specifically that way. Haven't crewed a 16 in that last several years, some some of this info may be outdated.
 
gkainz said:
interesting to me that he's solo ... I thought they always traveled in pairs ...
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The whole team was there. I think there were 9 of them. This one was parked in the "GA" ramp at Lubbock Aero, the rest were around the corner.
 
Is the reliability or vulnerability of a single engine jet considered when mission planning, or are F18 and F16 assets considered similar from that perspective?
 
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