F 16 The Myth of the Sky Warriors

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft. It is highly manoeuvrable and has proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack.

Genesis of the successful F-16 fighter/attack aircraft lies in reaction to severe deficiencies in US fighter design revealed by the Vietnam War.

Following the success of the small, highly manoeuvrable F-86 day fighter in the Korean War, US fighter design changed to emphasize maximum speed, altitude, and radar capability at the expense of manoeuvrability, pilot vision, and other attributes needed for close combat. This trend reached its extremity in the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, which was the principal fighter for both the US Air Force and Navy during the latter part of the Vietnam War.

There were two YF-16 prototypes aircraft built to compete against Northrop's YF-17 in the Light Weight Fighter (LWF) competition in the mid-1970s. These two aircraft, serial numbers 72-01567 and 72-01568, preceded the award of a production contract so they are only identified by their serial numbers. Both airframes were powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100 engines.

The first prototype was later fitted with movable canards on the intake to conduct testing of unconventional methods of flight control. It was then known as the YF-16/CCV.

The F-16 has been, by any standard, a success. USAF has used it heavily and successfully for air-to-ground in the 1991 Gulf war and all subsequent conflicts. The Israeli Air Force has also had great success with it.

Probably the F-16's greatest asset during development was its unpopularity with the USAF establishment. Knowing that their airplane was in constant threat of cancellation, the General Dynamics designers were inspired to do everything possible and then some to maintain performance and prevent cost growth. For example, while the F-15 was about 25% titanium, titanium in the F-16 was limited to 2%. As another example, a fixed engine inlet was used to hold down cost, even though a variable inlet would have given better performance above Mach 1.5.

Most of us know are single-seat and two-seat versions of the F-16. Many of us know the early single-seat planes are called F-16A and the early two-seat planes are called F-16B, and the later single-seat planes are called F-16C and the later two-seat planes are called F-16D. Some of us know that within the A/B/C/D suffix there are are "blocks" e.g. a Block 40. But even this is just the tip of the iceberg