#viperdemo

The blending of the wing and fuselage in the F-16 led to several benefits.⠀ ⠀ ⠀ During the design phase of the F-16 in the 1970s, it was paramount to have a lightweight fighter but it also had to have better capability than the existing benchmark lightweight fighter design of the day, the F-5. Blending the wing allowed for weight savings- for a given fuselage volume, had the F-16 been made with a conventional fuselage-wing intersection, the fuselage would have to have been at least a foot longer. A shorter fuselage for the same volume meant less structural weight. The blending also stiffened the wing-fuselage join without need for additional structural reinforcement. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ The extension to the sharp forebody strakes (or leading edge root extensions, LERXs) created strong vortices that enhanced the F-16’s maneuverability. One of the F-16 design criteria came in the wake of experience born in the skies over Vietnam- the F-16 had to be able to top the nimble MiG-17 in a dogfight. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ The blended wing-body structure also meant greater internal fuel volume compared to a similarly-sized fighter that had a conventional fuselage-wing join. Compared to the early models of F-15 Eagle, the F-16 ended up with a better fuel fraction (weight of fuel divided by take off weight) and specific range (miles flown per pound of fuel). In some mission profiles, the F-16 has a better range on internal fuel than the F-15!⠀ ⠀ ⠀ If you look closely at this photo of the F-16 on a high speed pass, you can see the supersonic shockwave running along the top of the wings perpendicular to the long axis of the fuselage. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2019 #AllianceAirShow2019 #airport #planespotting #Lockheed #F16 #FightingFalcon #ViperDemo #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zgHpohDg3/?igshid=gpweztmxdakb

Naturally, the USAF’s F-16 Viper Demo Team was going to make full use of the pyrotechnics display during the Vietnam combat search and rescue (CSAR) demo for their own photo shoot!⁣ ⁣ Though the F-16’s official name is the Fighting Falcon, pilots and crews call the sleek jet the “Viper”. The name Fighting Falcon came from the USAF Academy’s mascot. ⁣ ⁣ Before the official name was selected, the early cadre of F-16 pilots at the jet’s first base, Hill AFB in Utah, had come up with some ideas, one of which was Viper, but the competitor to the F-16 in the Lightweight Fighter competition, the Northrop YF-17, was called the Cobra. That early group of F-16 pilots settled on the Viper name and at the time, the original Battlestar Galactica series was on TV and the space fighters on the Galactica were called Vipers.⁣ ⁣ The YF-17 Cobra was later developed further when Northrop teamed up with McDonnell Douglas to create the F/A-18 Hornet.⁣ ⁣ While the Fighting Falcon name made sense with the F-16 seen as a complement to the larger F-15 Eagle, the Viper nickname stuck. The Viper Demo Team is based at Shaw AFB in South Carolina and the pilot in my photo is the 2017-2018 demo pilot, Captain John “Rain” Waters.⁣ ⁣ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Pyrotechnics” | Day 5⁣ ⁣ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2017 #AllianceAirShow2017 #airport #planespotting #Lockheed #F16 #FightingFalcon #ViperDemo #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge https://www.instagram.com/p/B4e6PUYh9cL/?igshid=kszz7t26j64h