Two of the 301st Fighter Wing’s Vipers with one making a spirited break to the right showing off the platform nicely. The AIM-120 medium range missiles are on the wingtip rails (Stations 1 and 9) and the AIM-9 Sidewinders are the outer underwing stations (Stations 2 and 8). Note that the left Sidewinder is the new AIM-9X and the right Sidewinder is a captive training load- usually that’s for balance, but there are times the training round can be fitted with instrumentation for a variety of purposes. Prior to the introduction of the AIM-120 missile to the F-16 fleet in January 1992, the Sidewinders were carried on the wingtip rails. It’s now standard to carry the AIM-120s on the wingtip rails- as a heavier missile (approximately 330 lbs versus 186 lbs for the Sidewinder), it acts as a mass damper on the outer wing, reducing flexing of the wings which in turn prolongs the structural life of the wing. This was something during the design phase of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet in the 1940s that was found in principle- podded engines on the outboard wings acted as mass dampers and allowed for a lighter wing structure compared to Stratojet design iterations that did not have podded engines. Such a layout was then applied to the B-52 Stratofortress and the Boeing 707/KC-135 programs as well. The first fully guided test firing of an AIM-120 missile was from an F-16 which scored a central hit on a QF-102 drone. The first combat firing of the missile was also from an F-16, in December 1992 during Operation Southern Watch over Iraq which resulted in a downed MiG-25 Foxbat. #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #airport #planespotting #Lockheed #F16 #FightingFalcon #301stFW #USAF #AirForceReserve #AIM120 #AMRAAM #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVk4GZtF2bh/?utm_medium=tumblr
