Come Inside an F-16 Cockpit and Witness Amazingness
Story by Peter Suciu • Yesterday 5:37 PM
Over the past four decades, the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon has established itself as the most successful western fighter in its class, and even forty years since it entered service, it remains operational with 28 nations around the world. Production of the aircraft continues, and more than 4,600 have been built to date. With upgrades and enhancements, this warbird will remain operational for decades to come.
The Fighting Falcon was hatched under the United States Air Force's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program in the 1970s, which had the aim of proving that a fighter could be smaller and cheaper than the F-15, and be just as agile and deadly to America's adversaries. Initially, a General Dynamics project, the company flew its first YF-16 demonstrator in February 1974.
After a competitive fly-off against the Northrop YF-17, the General Dynamics prototype was seen as the superior aircraft and was subject to further development. It grew into the larger and more capable F-16A Fighting Falcon. The United States Air Force initially ordered 650, but that number was later increased to 1,388 – while NATO members including Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway also adopted the F-16. Thus began an export odyssey that continues to this day.
Successive variants have progressively added more weight, avionics, and capabilities, yet all Fighting Falcons retain the salient features of the original production model. That includes control-configured vehicle (CCV) technology, and fly-by-wire flight controls, as well as a generous thrust-to-weight ratio that utilizes a single engine fed by a fixed vertical intake.
The result is a multirole tactical fighter that offers exceptional agility, roll rate, climb, and acceleration.
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