[scooter2]

One Viper went ahead and got eye contact with the Cessna and directed the plane where to go.

Where is the "Viper" coming from? Is this a squadron name? The F-16 is named Fighting Falcon.

[TXBSAFH]

Some of the lates block F-16 are nicknamed vipers.

[John H K]

Well, sometimes air force "official" names get supplanted by pilot nicknames.

For example, when is the last time you heard an A-10 be called a "Thunderbolt II?" It goes by Warthog, even though that isn't the "Official" name.

[SJSAMPLE]

Viper is what the pilots themselves call the F16. Also refer to themselves as "Snake Drivers". Falcon is the original General Dynamics name for the F16.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The guys in the first unit to get F-16s, the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, called it the Viper. They were not happy when the Air Force decided to name the newest front-line jet after the Air Force Academy's mascot. They might as well have painted it pink and called it the Goodship Lollipop. Those guys still refuse to call the F-16 anything but the Viper.