Forum: F-16 Spotting & Photography

JetTest wrote:

It is definitely not a PW F100, so it would not be Pakistani, and the long sides of the external nozzle flaps look too straight to be a GEF110, as well. F100 flaps do not have that rolled look on the trailing edge, and don't F110 flaps have a big curve on the left side? The rear of the engine, flame holder and nozzle all look wrong. Looks like a "Falconstein" to me.

Agreed, no "known" US engine.

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One of the embedded links has some good close-ups of the nozzle, flame holder and LPT. Looks like either crashed and recovered parts from some other engine, or parts made in a highschool sheetmetal class.

habu2 wrote:

obviously Zhengdefu.... Wink

LOL

Or early Trumpeter Shocked

That is 100% model like that AH-64 we had in a museum...

Good to see more F-16 fans in China Razz

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 15, 2006 - 12:28 AM Posts: 760

After reading some of the comments from individuals giving comments from their particular fields I am having second thoughts that there might be any original F-16 parts on this aircraft. While at first glance it is a very good replica in many respects; I would question if there are any original parts at all on this “aircraft”. I think the entire thing may be a fake, whether it be an art project or a decoy or movie model/prop.

The tape adhesive markings below the cockpit made me think that some of the parts may have came from a cockpit trainer; however if it was some sort of cockpit trainer it evidently was not from a real F-16.

I now suspect it is completely fake.

JetTest wrote:

It is definitely not a PW F100, so it would not be Pakistani, and the long sides of the external nozzle flaps look too straight to be a GEF110, as well. F100 flaps do not have that rolled look on the trailing edge, and don't F110 flaps have a big curve on the left side? The rear of the engine, flame holder and nozzle all look wrong. Looks like a "Falconstein" to me.

Could it be a chinese copy of the Saturn AL-31?

I've not seen an AL-31, but have seen several other Russian engines up-close. Their sheet metal is better than what is shown in the photo's in the links. It was either badly damages and straightened out, poorly, or else not made in an aviation shop.

I agree.

Some good photos at this site/link: http://www.aeronautics.ru/news/news002/news095.htm

If you look closely at some of the nozzle pics, it looks like there are many more segments in the "fake F-16 nozzle" than US engines. (I count 20?)

Some of the other engine photos (3/4 way down the page) look as if the external segments have a sort of "pinch point" in them about 1/3 of distance from the nozzle support.
http://www.aeronautics.ru/img/img006/al-31fn_001.jpg
http://www.aeronautics.ru/img/img006/al-31fn_002.jpg
(Both are AL-31FNs for the J-10 fighter)

The page states:

Quote:

The initial delivery of Al-31FN engines to China took place in 2001-2002 and numbered some 54 non-thrust-vectoring engines. China's CEC is also believed to have successfully negotiated with Russia license production of Al-31 engines. Later models of the J-10 are likely to use the thrust-vectoring version of the Al-31FN.

I still agree with JetTest; that nozzle looks like something from a beginner's sheet metal class..

Keep 'em flyin' Thumb

TEG
(Edit - wrong link)

The nozzle segments in the pics above really do not look like the ones in the pics at the beginning of this thread, much better, actually. The "thing" at the start of this just looks ancient, and even homemade, not hardly aerospace. On a side note, I've always thought it strange that some of the Russian engines had all of the externals mounted on top of the engine. Seems like it would be very awkward for maintenance.

First, thanks to this dude.
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showth ... ost1536573

Second, the Cheng Du Ying Ming Model Development Co Ltd is a China company that specialises in models of military vehicles, from 1:1 to 1:5 to smaller. For example, if anyone wants an 1:1 F-117 or Ka-50 in the front lawn or back yard, try
http://en.ymmx.net/products_index/& ... opnav.html

Solved mystery?

It looks like a full size copy of a cheep F-16 toy. You know, those little die-cast metal planes that arn't quite the right scale or paint. (probably made in China)

] Perhaps this is from a company that fabricates full-size
] decoys made out of Styrofoam; and perhaps as a gag they
] thought they would do a mock up of an F-16 with some
] spliced in real F-16 components.

I took another look at that company site. It makes 1:1 prop vehicles for amusement parks and movies, such as tanks and trucks; and smaller scale models for museums.
One of its latest company news is, months ago, they made an 1:1 C-46 or C-47 for a movie.

It seems possible that this is a reconstructed F-16. Perhaps they were able to get their hands on some usable parts from one which had crashed. There are plenty of images and resources out there, including this site, that even an auto mechanic might be able to construct the body of an F-16, assuming the got their hands on some usable parts.

http://news.sohu.com/20091019/n267496970.shtml

F-16 cockpit flight simulator for sale in China?

Photo taken at the China International General Aviation Conference Aviation Equipment Exhibition at Xi An, on 18 October 2009.

Forum: F-16 Spotting & Photography

Weird Photos - F-16 in China?