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5th Gen Fighters

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Airframe Details for F-16 #86-0048

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Aircraft Profile

Aircraft: : 86-0048
	LM Aero T/V	1V-1
	Plant	General Dynamics
	Local C/N
	Delivered	USAF 86048 NF-16D Block 30F
	Current	USAF 86048 NF-16D Block 30F
	Status	[act]
In 1988, a contract was awarded to General Dynamics, Fort Worth Division to develop the VISTA (Variable stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft). Calspan, a subcontractor to GD, installed a center stick and integrated the computers needed to perform variable stability flights. Wright Labs bought the aircraft in 1988 and from 1988 until 1992, the VISTA/F-16 program was being accomplished. There was no connection between thrust vectoring and VISTA/F-16.

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Aircraft History

Date

Status

Local S/N

Airforce/Unit

Version

Name

Info

23 Jul 1992

[act]

86048

NF-16D Block 30F

Modified to F-16/MATV - only flew 5 times with vector thrust engine.

Dec 1992

[sto]

86048

NF-16D Block 30F

In late 1992 the aircraft was put into flyable storage. Exact date and location still unknown.

Unknown

[act]

86048

NF-16D Block 30F

Modified to F-16/VISTA and re-equiped with a P&W F100-229 engine.

Oct 1993

[act]

86048

USAF 416 TS

NF-16D Block 30F

Feb 1996

[act]

86048

NF-16D Block 30F

Located in Buffalo, New York for testing F-22 flight controls. Testing was complete in May 1996 but the aircraft stayed in the region till atleast late 1997.

Oct 2000

[act]

86048

USAF 416 FTS

NF-16D Block 30F

Thrust-Vectoring F-16
The F-16 VISTA (Variable stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft) was designed to demonstrate the tactical utility of thrust vectoring in close-in air combat and the use of integrated control of thrust vectoring in flight. The aircraft has demonstrated a steady angle of attack of as much as 86 degrees and a transient angle of attack of up to 180 degrees. In other words, the aircraft can fly backwards for a brief time. The VISTA was later re-designated as the NF-16D, transferred to NASA and was used in the MATV and AVEN test programs.

Apr 2007

[act]

86048

USAF 416 FTS

NF-16D Block 30F

Re-equiped with a GE F110-129 engine. Mostly used to train test pilots, but occasionaly used by the Air Force Research Lab and the Air Force Institute of Technology based out of Wright-Patterson AFB.

Crew Chief Comments

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Abbreviations and symbols:

[act]	Active	[msh]	Involved in Mishap	[w/o]	Write-off
[cld]	Cancelled Order	[o/o]	On Order
[des]	Destroyed (drone)	[pre]	Preserved (museum, gateguard)	T/V	LM Aero Type/Version (Construction) number
[emb]	Embargoed	[scr]	Scrapped		Photo Available
[i/a]	Instructional Airframe	[sto]	Stored (e.g. at AMARG)

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