Flying an F-16 Fighting Falcom

This falls under the heading: Boys and Our Toys.

This video clip is very similar to my ride in an F-16 Fighting Falcon (2-seater variant) with the Arizona Air National Guard in June 1991. I had to have a physical for the flight and they were pleased that I was a scuba diver because I knew about equalizing ear pressure.

I took a prescription motion-sickness pill (actually a patch behind the ear as I recall) which helped since, unlike many, I didn't throw-up in the cockpit. (They tuck a barf-bag in your flight suit just below your chin).




Most of my flight was a dog-fight exercise (training for the pilot) involving another F-16, but with my untrained eye I never did see the other guy.

Like this TV reporter, I got to fly the plane from the backseat but I will admit I was much more tentative doing the barrel rolls (and this part of the video was heavily edited because it doesn't show that there's a certain amount of instruction as to how to work the joystick).

Two things: one, the canopy bubble comes clear down below your shoulders so your field of vision is about as good as sitting on a horse and two, pulling G's is physically grueling - I was wasted the rest of the day (part of that could have been the Dramamine).

Your G-suit inflates on hard turns via a little hose you plug into the aircraft.


The front seat showing two key features of the plane: The HUD (Head Up Display), the transparent screen displaying flight data, and the "Fly By Wire" joystick on the far right that has no direct connection to the plane's control surfaces. It's all done through computers.