Out-of-town military jets to fill Tucson skies

Arizona Daily Star ^ | Carol Ann Alaimo

[SandRat]

Tucson’s skies will be busier than usual this month and next with an influx of out-of-town military jets.

Dozens of Air National Guard F-16 pilots are escaping the chill in their home states to train here in the program known as Operation Snowbird.

Ten F-16s from New Jersey will arrive within the first two weeks of January. They’ll be followed mid-month by about a dozen F-16s from Vermont, and another dozen or so from Ohio at the end of the month and into the first week of February.

Operation Snowbird is run by the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing, which trains F-16 pilots and has about 70 of the jets in its inventory.

The program, based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, requires visiting pilots to follow D-M’s procedures for traffic and noise control, a National Guard news release said.

Out-of-town pilots typically train in the Tucson area to prepare for upcoming deployments, since the terrain offers conditions similar to those they’ll encounter overseas.

The 162nd Fighter Wing also plans to test its emergency responses on Friday and Saturday morning.

Motorists driving along Valencia Road west of the main entrance to Tucson International Airport may notice the activity, but the testing is not expected to disrupt travel in the area.

[Citizen Soldier]

Cool, I live near there and I notice the planes overhead, so will watch for more to come. 72 degrees today.

[centurion316]

Saw 4 F-16s taking off at Tucson while I was boarding my flight. The ANG shares the Tucson Intl Airport runway

[buccaneer81]

Interesting trivia:

Viper: the unofficial nickname The F-16 is often referred to as the "Viper", a nickname especially popular with people involved with the F-16. Before "Fighting Falcon" was selected as official name, pilots at Hill AFB, the first F-16 base, came up with a number of proposals, including "Viper". Lt. Col. Pat "Gums" McAdoo, USAF Ret., one of the first F-16 pilots at Hill AFB, recalls the origin of the name "F-16 Viper":

At end of runway, the F-16 did resemble a cobra or something as it approached you. However, I think Northrop had already taken that name for the YF-17.

We all voted, and Viper came in really high. Seems there was a series on TV that had 'Colonial Vipers' flying off of Battlestar Galactica (a term later used for the Eagle).

In any case, the Generals didn't want a plane 'named after some snake'!

Falcon was a good name, and it fit in with the motif that the Eagle had created. Sort of a little brother, but still a 'Bird of Prey'. In fact, GD had a great promo out in late 70's called "Bird of Prey", and it used the Falcon as the real world model.

Even when F-16 Fighting Falcon became the official name, Viper stuck around and became the unofficial nickname for the F-16. The name "Viper" is even officially used for the Joe Bill Dreyden "Semper Viper" award, which is awarded for excellent airmanship by F-16 pilots.