Fighter Jet News
F-16 Fighting Falcon News
Norwegian F-16s are cracking
February 10, 2004 (by
Anonymous) -
The Norwegian Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcons have become too old and are now subject to crack formations, according the Inspector General of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Inspector General Tomas Colin Archer highlighted the problem at a seminar in Trondheim, and he warned against waiting too long to replace the planes which were bought in 1980.
Air Chief Arild Heiestad at Ørland main air station said to Adresseavisen that problems with crack formations were discovered rather early. The wear and tear increases if weapons are attached underneath the jets wings.
According to the Air Chief, the pilots can be sure that if planes are not entirely safe, they will not be allowed to fly. Areas with crack formations are often inspected and parts are replaced.
All planes have a certain running time and for the F-16 this is 8,000 hours. The older the plane gets, the more it needs to be repaired so they have to be flown more carefully.
According to the plan, the planes will be replaced in 2015. The planes will probably hold that long, but there is a limit to how long it is profitable to repair them. After a while, it cam become more expensive to maintain the plans than to buy new ones.
Air Chief Arild Heiestad at Ørland main air station said to Adresseavisen that problems with crack formations were discovered rather early. The wear and tear increases if weapons are attached underneath the jets wings.
According to the Air Chief, the pilots can be sure that if planes are not entirely safe, they will not be allowed to fly. Areas with crack formations are often inspected and parts are replaced.
All planes have a certain running time and for the F-16 this is 8,000 hours. The older the plane gets, the more it needs to be repaired so they have to be flown more carefully.
According to the plan, the planes will be replaced in 2015. The planes will probably hold that long, but there is a limit to how long it is profitable to repair them. After a while, it cam become more expensive to maintain the plans than to buy new ones.