Forum: General

I just about couldn't believe my eyes when I saw an actual Thunderbirds' F-16 on static display at Nellis this year Very Happy

I've never seen the T-Birds or the Blues put one of their jets out in the public as it were to be closely inspected.

Yes, I made sure to take pictures Thumb

New Thunderbirds block 52 Viper on static display at Aviation Nation 2008 held at Nellis AFB on November 6th, 2008.

Gleaming in the Southern Nevada morning sun

Turkey feather detail of the new Thunderbirds block 52 Viper on static display at Aviation Nation 2008 held at Nellis AFB on November 6th, 2008.

Black carbon fiber turkey feathers and the smoke oil line

Static discharger detail of the new Thunderbirds block 52 Viper on static display at Aviation Nation 2008 held at Nellis AFB on November 6th, 2008.

Attention to detail - even the allen-head set screws are painted to match Smile

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Nice looking exhaust plug Cool

Injection system detail of the new Thunderbirds block 52 Viper on static display at Aviation Nation 2008 held at Nellis AFB on November 6th, 2008.

Here's the end of the smoke oil line. All that smoke comes out of that little opening

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Here's a picture I've wanted to get for a while - the JFS doors are missing Wink

There's a few more already uploaded in the gallery, too Very Happy

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Look at the allen set screw on the static wick on the end of the stab. It's not painted. They just paint over that crap in the paint barn. My jet had a mix and match.

Do you know what tail number it is?

MechFromHell wrote:

Do you know what tail number it is?

I believe that it's 92-3880, but I'll double check next time I'm out on the line.

That's interesting...why no JFS doors?

With the JFS doors removed, it lessens the chance of a JFS no start, and hence a ground abort. The opening of the JFS doors requires some of the energy from the accumulators used for the JFS start system. Removing the doors lets the accumulators to focus solely on spooling up and starting the JFS itself. The Thunderbirds pride themselves on not missing shows due to maintenance issues. Thumb

Cywolf, Can I ask where you got your Info From? In '05 or '06 the Tbirds were at Shaw. The night before the show hail was Forecasted and we had to help Hangar the Tbirds. I distictly remember how shinny they kept those JFS doors. Another thing that doesn't make sense is JFS doors using energy from the accumulators. Durring a Direct FLCS Power check you are suppose to disconnect 2 plugs to prevent the bottles from discharging. well in that procedure the JFS doors come open and the reason you disconnect the plugs is to prevent that electrical signal from discharging the bottles. So how do the doors take energy away from the accumulators? I am Avionics not a Engine/ JFS guy. I just know the doors open electrically. Another thing I question is the aerodynamics and the effects on the airframe and the JFS itself from having those doors removed? I am not calling BS yet, but I would like to know where you heard that from???

The JFS doors have been removed since near about the start of the team using the F-16. I believe the doors are opened by hyd pressure from the jfs bottles, all they are doing is removing as much of the starting sequence as possible to ensure a good start.. Last show I was at they had a ground abort at EOR and an air abort half way thru the show and ended with only 5 jets, very disappointing.

Specs,
The JFS Doors do not open electrically. The only plugs I have seen disconnected for a Direct FLCS is EPU related and not JFS, curious as to which cannon plugs you are talking about. From what I know Cywolf is correct. Must not be too much of an effect on the JFS and airframe, they continue to do without the doors.

specs343579 wrote:

Cywolf, Can I ask where you got your Info From? In '05 or '06 the Tbirds were at Shaw. The night before the show hail was Forecasted and we had to help Hangar the Tbirds. I distictly remember how shinny they kept those JFS doors.

Sorry, I should have said that they have chrome covers for the openings for while the jets are parked. That will be my NEXT photo quest Wink

Racer181 - Thanks for the note - I hadn't noticed the shiny static wick screw on the end Smile

Yes you do disconnect the epu vavle and you also disconnect two plugs on the JFS manifold. I know this because we use to freak new guys out. There is a step when you go to start 1 and the JFS doors open up but nothing spools up. We use to freak them out by having them watch the JFS doors. We would tell them if the doors open up run like hell. I am going to talk to my friend who is still in because It might not be a direct FlCS power ops check. I am pretty confident it is though. the plugs I am refering to are the two plugs on the JFS manifold. I know for a fact I have seen the doors open up with out the JFS spooling up. I am gonna do some JFS research and see what i can find.

Only time I have had to deal with Direct FLCS is when I have to do a run for it and we disconnect the EPU Valve.

specs343579 wrote:

Yes you do disconnect the epu vavle and you also disconnect two plugs on the JFS manifold. I know this because we use to freak new guys out. There is a step when you go to start 1 and the JFS doors open up but nothing spools up. We use to freak them out by having them watch the JFS doors. We would tell them if the doors open up run like hell. I am going to talk to my friend who is still in because It might not be a direct FlCS power ops check. I am pretty confident it is though. the plugs I am refering to are the two plugs on the JFS manifold. I know for a fact I have seen the doors open up with out the JFS spooling up. I am gonna do some JFS research and see what i can find.

They've changed it to a shorting plug that connects to the ESS Controller, rather than disconnecting those two connectors to the JFS Manifold. I guess they are interchangeable? It's a pain to put that plug on if the jet is equipped with a LANTIRN or Sniper pod though... Mad

Specs,
When I was stationed @ Luke back in the day, we had to hangar some T-Bird jets ourselves, and i also went to Nellis on TDY a few times, So I was able to get some feedback on the team and the jets. I was told that removing the doors helped eliminate the issue as discussed. I have had no starts in the past myself and had to use the T-handle in the left wheel well to pump the accumulators (around 200 pumps if I remember correctly Rolling Eyes

). And everytime I started pumping up the accumulators, you would see the JFS doors start to close back up as the pressure built up, so they can't be electrically actuated if mechanical energy is causing the doors close. If I am wrong please feel free to correct.

No JSF doors from '90 (A's & B's, Block 15's) through '93 (C's & D's, Block 32's) Covers were NOT chrome, just LOTS of elbow grease... Chrome is cheating...

Smitty

Forum: General

Thunderbirds F-16 Static Display Nellis 2008