F-16C Fighting Falcon `Texas ANG 111fs 90th Anniversary´
F-16C Fighting Falcon `Texas ANG 111fs 90th Anniversary´
Hasegawa 1/48
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonicmultirolefighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiorityday fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft with over 4,600 built since 1976.[4]
Although no longer purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions
are being built for export. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft
manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation,[5] which became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta.
The F-16's key features include a frameless bubble canopy for enhanced cockpit visibility, a side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, an ejection seat reclined 30 degrees from vertical to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot, and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system that helps to make it an agile aircraft. The fighter has a single turbofan engine with an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 hardpoints. Although officially named "Fighting Falcon", the aircraft is more commonly known by the nickname "Viper"
production in 1984. The first C/D version was the Block 25 with improved
cockpit avionics and radar which added all-weather capability with beyond-visual-range (BVR) AIM-7 and AIM-120 air-air missiles. Block 30/32, 40/42, and 50/52 were later C/D versions.[216] The F-16C/D had a unit cost of US$18.8 million (1998). Operational cost per flight hour has been estimated at $7,000 to $22,470 or $24,000, depending on the calculation method
