Pete Fleischmann Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Here it is. F-16C 88-0499. A block 42 with a -229 engine. A one-off jet. Super lightweight with a ridiculous engine. At the USAF Fighter Weapons School, the top WIC student from the BFM phase of training gets to dogfight random jets from Nellis in THIS jet. My AF fighter bros tell me that this jet is so powerful, so insane, so ridiculous, that it is literally the best F-16 dogfighter ever; and regularly beats the F-22 in a visual fight. I am in love- cheers P Fanes, Jack, JayBee and 17 others 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Wow, beating a thrust-vectoring F-22 is saying something for this jet. BVR may be another story though with the outcome in the Raptor's favor. I'm just glad they're BOTH on our team. Michael931080, Martinnfb and Pete Fleischmann 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 19 minutes ago, Pete Fleischmann said: Super lightweight with a ridiculous engine. Yes please! Martinnfb and Pete Fleischmann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Fleischmann Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Juggernut said: Wow, beating a thrust-vectoring F-22 is saying something for this jet. BVR may be another story though with the outcome in the Raptor's favor. I'm just glad they're BOTH on our team. Yeah- BVR…whatever- but as a dogfighter: none better. Any fighter pilot worth his salt wants to rage in a visual fight. It is the sport of kings. I heard Drago say that you have to remember to rip the throttle to idle occasionally just so you don’t pass out. He joked that this is the only Viper capable of going into space. It is a beast. P Edited June 7, 2023 by Pete Fleischmann Michael931080, Juggernut, Zola25 and 7 others 5 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easixpedro Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 I can only imagine. The embargoed Pakistani block 15s we used in Fallon were about as plain jane as a modern jet could get: TACAN only and 1 VHF 1 UHF. Those things were stupid fun to rage around in. I don't think any flight in them lasted more than 30 minutes. Pete Fleischmann and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbaldguy Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Pete Fleischmann said: Here it is. F-16C 88-0499. A block 42 with a -229 engine. A one-off jet. Super lightweight with a ridiculous engine. At the USAF Fighter Weapons School, the top WIC student from the BFM phase of training gets to dogfight random jets from Nellis in THIS jet. My AF fighter bros tell me that this jet is so powerful, so insane, so ridiculous, that it is literally the best F-16 dogfighter ever; and regularly beats the F-22 in a visual fight. I am in love- cheers P Wow. Looks immaculate. I think the F-16 is one of those airframes that will never reach its fullest potential. Compared to just about anything else, it’s not nearly as outdated as the Fighter Mafia would have us think. Why the Air Force chose to buy a brand new trainer that Boeing will never deliver per the original contract when they could just as easily have bought new two-seater F-16s tweaked as basic, advanced and follow-on trainers designed to use progressively more capable plug and play avionics, stores, weapons systems and such is beyond me. Everything needed to support the airplane already exists, it’s capabilities and operational history are well known, and it’s sturdy and maintainable with no surprises. Oh, and I think the production line is still open for FMS. But I was never in AQ, so what would I know? Bill Cross, easixpedro and Pete Fleischmann 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Wonder if that targeting pod typically flies full time on the jet? That would surely add a good amount of drag, one would think. Probably a nice thing to have fighting BVR, I don't see what it would benefit it would bring to a close-in fight though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Fleischmann Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 2 hours ago, John1 said: Wonder if that targeting pod typically flies full time on the jet? That would surely add a good amount of drag, one would think. Probably a nice thing to have fighting BVR, I don't see what it would benefit it would bring to a close-in fight though. for an ACT sortie perhaps. But no- not for a BFM ride. In fact at WIC, I think the typical BFM configuration is clean except for stations 1 & 9 P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Fleischmann Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 7 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said: Wow. Looks immaculate. I think the F-16 is one of those airframes that will never reach its fullest potential. Compared to just about anything else, it’s not nearly as outdated as the Fighter Mafia would have us think. Why the Air Force chose to buy a brand new trainer that Boeing will never deliver per the original contract when they could just as easily have bought new two-seater F-16s tweaked as basic, advanced and follow-on trainers designed to use progressively more capable plug and play avionics, stores, weapons systems and such is beyond me. Everything needed to support the airplane already exists, it’s capabilities and operational history are well known, and it’s sturdy and maintainable with no surprises. Oh, and I think the production line is still open for FMS. But I was never in AQ, so what would I know? I predict the new Boeing trainer will not actually come to IOC. You heard it here first- P thierry laurent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Curious what makes it so light? Is it striped of gear and other stuff, or is the airframe a one off with different alloys? Cheers Alan Pete Fleischmann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 6 hours ago, Pete Fleischmann said: I predict the new Boeing trainer will not actually come to IOC. You heard it here first- P LOL, Boeing seems to be a bit "challenged" these days. Sad to see what used to be a showcase of US engineering talent stumbling to executed on pretty much every program they offer, military, space and civil. I hope the T-7 makes it, if for no other reason that the T-38 is so desperately in need of replacement. Pete Fleischmann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Fleischmann Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 5 hours ago, alaninaustria said: Curious what makes it so light? Is it striped of gear and other stuff, or is the airframe a one off with different alloys? Cheers Alan Hi Alan- Great question- because the block 40/42 is not typically considered a lightweight Viper. I know that a lack of interrogator was mentioned specifically; but yes- I got from the discussion that it was a stripped down Frankenviper- P LSP_Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 18 hours ago, Pete Fleischmann said: Yeah- BVR…whatever- but as a dogfighter: none better. Any fighter pilot worth his salt wants to rage in a visual fight. It is the sport of kings. I heard Drago say that you have to remember to rip the throttle to idle occasionally just so you don’t pass out. He joked that this is the only Viper capable of going into space. It is a beast. P Which is probably why I seem to be better at air-mud and wind up a smoking hole more times than not in ACM (Dislaimer: I'm no fighter pilot [or any kind of pilot] but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...). Just as an FYI, the DCS A-10C now has the ARC-210 rendered instead of the plain-jane AM radio. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttttttttttt. Pete Fleischmann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 7 hours ago, Juggernut said: Which is probably why I seem to be better at air-mud and wind up a smoking hole more times than not in ACM (Dislaimer: I'm no fighter pilot [or any kind of pilot] but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...). Recalling my days playing air combat games, I quickly realized that if the ability to crash into barnyards, trees, power lines and mountain tops was all that was required, I would have been a great ground attack aircraft pilot. Furie, Juggernut, Pete Fleischmann and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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