F-16 “Fighting Falcon” – one of the best dog fighting aircraft ever produced. F -16 or as popularly known as the Fighting Falcon was originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air force. From a lightweight, day time Visual Flight Rules it evolved into a multirole aircraft. The F-16 is also the largest Western jet fighter program.
The U.S Air Force officially named “Fighting Falcon” on July 21st 1980 during at a ceremony on Hill AFB in Utah, the home of the first F-16 units. Although the F-16 has an official name ,those who are involved with the plane still calls it as the “Viper” . The nickname Viper was employed because they say that at the end of the runway, the F-16 resembles a cobra as it approaches you. There was even an award for excellent airmanship of the F-16 pilot called “Semper Viper”
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Primary Function: Multi– role fighter
- Length: 49 ft 5 in (14.8 m)
- Wingspan : 32 ft 8 in (9.8 m)
- Height: 16 ft (4.8 m)
- Max.Speed over Mach 2
Trivia: The common mistake of people when it comes to naming F-16 Fighting Falcon is to omit the dash in between. There is a standard notation when it comes to aircraft, it consists of: A capital letter that indicates the basic mission (e.g. “F” for fighter; “A” for attack) , a mandatory dash and the design number (e.g. 14,15,16)
U-2 “Dragon Lady” – one of the highest mission completion rates in the U.S Air Force.U-2 is a high altitude reconnaissance airplane. it provides day and night , high altitude (over 70,000 ft ), all weather surveillance of an area in direct support of U.S. The aircraft also are used for electronic sensor research and development, satellite calibration, and satellite data validation.
U-2 planes do not have an official name but it is nicknamed as the “dragon lady” due to the difficulty that pilots experience when flying U-2. There I no room for incompetence when flying U-2.
General characteristics
- Crew: One
- Primary function: high altitude reconnaissance
- Length: 63 ft (19.2 m)
- Wingspan 103 ft (31.4 m)
- Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
- Maximum Speed ( 434 knots (500 mph, 805 km/h)
Trivia: Due to U-2’s s high-altitude mission, the pilot must wear a full pressure suit. In the late 1950’2 and early 1960’s, more than half of the UFO sightings were actually flights by U-2.
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