Forum: General

Just wondering, are the USAF F-16s set up to land on USN carriers? If so, do the pilots get much training doing it?

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To answer both your questions, No.

Thanks

Elite 1K Joined: May 26, 2005 - 08:39 PM Posts: 1496

No, the Navy F-16s were aggressors used to simulate enemy aircraft in training. See http://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article22.html for more details. Even though they were called F-16Ns, as egresstroop said they still operated from land.

OleRusty wrote:

Just wondering, are the USAF F-16s set up to land on USN carriers? If so, do the pilots get much training doing it?

No, th F-16 was never designed to land on an aircraft carrier. In AW&ST January 20, 1975 issue Page 28 and issue Jan. 27, 1975 Page 17... the following article stated.

There are numerous differences between the land-based F-16 (Model #1601) and the aircraft carrier variant (Model #1600).

1) The fuselage is stretched, both forward and aft.
2) The wingspan is wider and each wing has an increase in area of 57 square feet.
3) The flaps are larger.

4) The distance between the trailing edge of the wing to the stablator is greater.
5) The area of the stablator is greater and the width is greater.
6) The fuselage area ahead of the cockpit is broader.
7) The chord of the wing is longer.
Cool

A) Model #1601 would be powered by the P&W-401 engine.
B) Model #1600 was to be powered by the P&W-F100 engine.
9) The stablators are larger in area and their span is greater.
10) The Navy version of the F-16 would be manufactured by Ling-Tempco Vought (LTV).
11) The fuselage just in front of the stablators is just a little wider. The tail and rudder do not line up either after the difference in width appears.

(Comment -For some reason the small icon appears where I had written the number eight!)

Upon close inspection of an F-16, especially when compared to its Navy/Marine contemporary, the Hornet, one will note several differences, not the least of which include a very small landing gear and tailhook.

The gear could not hold up to the stress of being slammed onto the deck of a carrier, especially repeatedly.

The Viper's tailhook is tiny compared to Navy aircraft. Navy tailhooks are big, and beefed up. They were designed to literally catch a wire while on the fly.

The Viper's tailhook was designed to catch a runway barrier on a rollout, in the event of an emergency. The barrier isn't stretched extremely tight either, especially when compared to the wires stretched across a carrier deck.

Current carrier based aircraft have automatically folding wings to help save space when parking. The Viper does not have, nor does it need this feature.

Also, the Viper lacks the equipment to interface with the CLS (Carrier Landing System) like Navy aircraft. Without that, even if it had all of the aforementioned equipment, landing on a modern carrier would be difficult, if not impossible to accomplish.

Guysmiley nailed it. The Ns, and the current Blk.15 Adversaries were designed to take off and land somewhere where the fish don't swim.

Salute!

Hell, I thot this was about the BBQ contest.

You know, run around and make all the calls for the LSO to wave you in or off.

Jump onto the greased platform and hold your legs up to grab the cable. And if you didn't make all the right calls they let you slide off the other end of the greased table into a pit of muck! BTW, "ramp strikes" were a bear. Don't leap until you can make the platform.

Then I find out we're talking about "real" carrier landings.

Sheesh,

Gums sends .....

Have you ever tried to stand up a 16 pound bowling ball on three tooth pics? that is what would happen to the gear on the F-16 upon landing full throttle on the deck. We had a student pilot at luck that flew out of the 61st back in 03 he was a former navy pilot he landed a couple of tims like the runway was a deck didnt fair so well with the speed breaks or the gear, bulkheads or any thing attached to the gear.

TC wrote:

The Viper's tailhook is tiny compared to Navy aircraft. Navy tailhooks are big, and beefed up.

I think you just publicly embarrased the F-16 TC. The Viper now feels small and inadequate and demands an apology.

It is entirely possible to land an F-16 (any block) on a carrier deck. Once.

After that, they'd be scraping the pieces up and shoving 'em over the side.

We had the first heavy-bulkheaded operational block 30 after a former Navy pilot knocked the right main off the jet. It broke the bulkhead, not the strut.

When I watched my nephew do his CARQUALS in his Rhino at Fentress a couple years ago, I was absolutely blown away by how hard they hit the deck. And the gear takes it!! And keeps on taking it!!!

Scorpion1alpha wrote:

The Viper now feels small and inadequate...

Hey, it's not the size, it's how you use it!

With that being said, remember, wars aren't won by the size of your tailhook, so to speak.

I wish I was better at creating a special effects video to visualize an F-16 carrier shot. In my mind I see the catapult tearing the nosewheel off the jet and throwing it off the front of the ship at a spectacular rate while the pilot shuts the engine down and the carrier crew scrambles to address the mess. Smile

Oh yeah, no launch bar on the Viper's nose gear, so no cat shots either.

You're right TC....In this imaginary video there would be.

Gums wrote:

Salute!

Hell, I thot this was about the BBQ contest.

You know, run around and make all the calls for the LSO to wave you in or off.

Jump onto the greased platform and hold your legs up to grab the cable. And if you didn't make all the right calls they let you slide off the other end of the greased table into a pit of muck! BTW, "ramp strikes" were a bear. Don't leap until you can make the platform.

Then I find out we're talking about "real" carrier landings.

Sheesh,

Gums sends .....

Gums, I think back to the days of cat shots at the Cubi Point "O" Club but there is hope for the new generations; I give you:

http://tailhookdaily.typepad.com/tailho ... ville.html

Complete with NATOPS - got to get the paperwork right !!!

Forum: General

Carrier landings