F-16 Aircraft Database

YF-16 Prototype

Rolled out at Fort Worth, Texas on December 13th, 1973. First flight on January 20th, 1974 which is the very first flight of an F-16. It had been moved in a C-5 galaxy 12 days prior on January 8th, 1974 and assembled for first flight.

Twin Canards

The first YF-16 (#72-1567) was rebuilt in December of 1975 to become the USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory's Control Configured Vehicle (CCV). CCV aircraft have independent or 'decoupled' flight control surfaces, which make it possible to maneuver in one plane without movement in another - for example, turning without having to bank. To achieve this, the aircraft's flight controls were modified and it was fitted with twin vertical canards underneath the air intake. First flight in the CCV role was on March 16th, 1976 and the tests lasted till July 31st, 1977. On June 24th, 1976 was damaged when the engine failed during a landing cycle. It was repaired but broken again in a hard landing in July of 1977. This cut the CCV tests short.

Navy F-16

In 1975, the US Navy had expressed interest in a low-cost alternative to the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. General Dynamics proposed a navalized YF-16, with BVR radar, which was not part of the original planning for the USAF. The aircraft was briefly painted in a two-tone blue/light-brown color scheme for naval evaluation purposes. General Dynamics refined the proposal into a single-seat F-16, based on the two-seat F-16B - with the space ordinarily occupied by the rear seat used for increased avionics or fuel. On May 2nd, 1975, the Navy announced that they had decided not to buy the navalized F-16, but opted instead for an aircraft developed from the YF-17, which was eventually to emerge as the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.

Sparrow Tester

The aircraft used to perform some tests with the AIM-7 Sparrow missile. Only with the introduction of the ADF version of the F-16, a BVR missile capacity was added to the airframe.

First General Electric powered F-16

Modified as F-16/101 with a General Electric F101 engine and first flight with this engine was on May 29th, 1981. This engine later led to the GE F110 engine installed from block 30 onwards.

From F-16A to F-16XL/B

One of the original F-16A Full-Scale Development aircraft. The aircraft crash landed on Rogers dry lake bed at Edwards AFB due to a blown nose gear tire on take off during the annual open house air show. The pilot survived unharmed but very shaken. It was shipped to General Dynamics Fort Worth in a C-5 and rebuilt into the first cranked-arrow F-16XL, flying back to Edwards one year later on December 2nd, 1981. It was later converted into a dual-seat F-16XL/B. First flight in its new configuration was on October 29th, 1982.

Dorsal Spine

In 1982 the 6th Full-Scale Development (FSD) aircraft was modified as Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) testbed, which included the canards from the YF-16 CCV and a dorsal spine. The dorsal spine would eventually make it to some production model F-16s. First program was the Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) in which a total of 108 flights were executed untill July of 1983.

Low-level Battlefield Interdiction Tests

In the late eighties, the Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 testbed (formerly the 6th FDS aircraft) was fitted with a dorsal spine, wing-root mounted Lantirn-style pods, and FLIR turrets on the nose. It was also upgraded with an F-16C block 25 wing and with block 40 F-16C features such as APG-68 radar and a LANTIRN interface. It was used as a CAS testbed in support of the proposed A-16, testing low-level battlefield interdiction techniques such as automatic target handoff-systems. This program lasted untill January of 1992.

J-79 Testbed

Modified as F-16/79 with a General Electric J-79 engine. This engine was tested as a low-cost and lower-thrust alternative for non-NATO allies. The project never materialised because the standard Pratt & Whitney F-100 engine was made available to all who could pay for it under the Reagan Administration.