Lawn dart? If you want an aircraft that looked like a lawn dart, the F-104 takes that prize--the wings were so small and so thin it looked wingless.
Posted on 03/25/2005 11:19:32 AM PST by klpt
The US Air Force has received the last of 2,231 F-16 fighters manufactured for the service, the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center announced on Thursday.
The general who was the F-16 System Program Office director at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, when the contract for the aircraft was awarded delivered the Air Force's last F-16 Fighting Falcon on March 18.
While Lockheed Martin Aero, Fort Worth, will continue to produce F-16s for international coalition partners, this aircraft is the last of 2,231 F-16s produced for the Air Force, officials said. The first delivery was in 1978.
Brig. Gen. Jeff Riemer, now the director of operations at the Air Force Materiel Command headquarters here, flew the jet from the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth to Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.
"It seemed fitting for General Riemer to make this historic flight, and we were pleased that he was able to accept the invitation," said Col. Scott Jansson, Aeronautical Systems Center Fighter Attack Systems Wing's F-16 Systems Group commander.
For his part, General Riemer said that having flown the very first F-16B while stationed at Edwards AFB, Calif., he is delighted to have had the opportunity to fly the last F-16 produced for the Air Force.
"(This F-16) is not your father's F-16," said Dan Mahrer, F-16 production program manager. "Originally designed as a lightweight, daytime interceptor, the F-16 Fighting Falcon has been transformed over the last 20 years into a multi-role, all weather, air-to-air and air-to-ground attack weapon system.
"Today's F-16 has significant combat capabilities. This (version of the) jet has a new computer, multifunctional color displays, an advanced (Identification Friend or Foe) interrogator, upgraded data link system and a new helmet with an automatic target-cueing system. It has been upgraded with the latest software and cutting-edge precision weapons," Mr. Mahrer said.
"Although this is the last new F-16 expected to be produced for the (Air Force), the F-16 Systems Group continues to technically transform the existing fleet of more than 1,300 jets, enabling evolutionary weapons delivery capabilities through 2025 and making possible a smooth transition to the F-35, the world's premier multi-role fighter of the future," Col. Jansson said.
Whew! No more lawn darts!!
They've lost 900 planes over the last 25 years?
You want lawn darts?
Try these: http://www.missilesandfirecontrol.com/our_products/firesupport.html
Lost, sold and retired.
Military aircraft are expected to wear out, and there are always accidents.
Well - yeah - but I'd hate to be the guy to have to fly the functional check flight on one of those. It would take a long while to bring them back to ready status.
Wonder if I can get those on surplus??
When they came out with them, did you ever think you'd see the "last one"?
Lawn dart? If you want an aircraft that looked like a lawn dart, the F-104 takes that prize--the wings were so small and so thin it looked wingless.
Will all of those fit on a Cessna??
My vote is for the B-70 Valkyrie
Make that German lawn darts...
The XB-70 and the SR-71.
I witnessed two personally. Both were engine failures, one on takeoff, and the other in a two-seater on his downwind just prior to touchdown.
As a comm center specialist, I remember sending many crash reports, and they nearly always were result of engine failure or flameout.
They were beautiful to watch when all worked properly! I still remember the howl of the engine as they throttled up, and the eerie moaning sound they made on a slow pass over the base.
Don,
I believe the F-104 used the J-79 engine, the same engine that would later power the F-4 Phantom II.
I wonder of the unique roar you heard would have been similar hearing an F-4 (which had two J-79s--the F-104 was, of course, a single engine J-79).
Also, I wonder if many members here know that the F-104 was actually a Kelly Johnson Skunkswork project, which would go on to produce the SR-71, F-117 et al. The F-104 was the original "Black Project" Skunksworks project, probably occurring around the same time as the Skunksworks' U-2.
The original push for th F-104 dates way back to the Korean War. Although prototype testing took longer than expected and the war had ended, that would have been a major (make that quantum leap) advancement over the F-86 Sabre in the Korean War.
Damn, would that have been great to see the F-104 go up agains tthe Mig-15s.
Another interesting point--the Italians may still be flying the most advanced F-104 version, the F-104S. If not, they were retired very recently. That is one hell of a long history for any fighter.
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