Forum: F-16 Spotting & Photography

Shot at MacDill recently. Not sure if these are really the T-birds as af.mil says they are or some locally done 4-ship, but no. 4 appears to have a centerline bag. I guess there's nothing that says they can't have a bag but this is the first time I've seen it. Practice session maybe? I'm thinkin' it's an arrival pass. Just kinda curious.

(U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Angela Ruiz)

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I'd reckon it is the Thunderbirds since they have smoke. Maybe 4 is in a D or had to step to a spare configured as such?

LinkF16SimDude wrote:

Shot at MacDill recently. Not sure if these are really the T-birds as af.mil says they are or some locally done 4-ship, but no. 4 appears to have a centerline bag. I guess there's nothing that says they can't have a bag but this is the first time I've seen it. Practice session maybe? I'm thinkin' it's an arrival pass. Just kinda curious.

(U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Angela Ruiz)

Not sure?? Its on an Air Force website taken by an Air Force photographer...

Anyways...I would assume it is being flown standard on the D model since they got the new jets.

One of the Thunderbird trip 23 photos from El Paso also shows the centerline tank - see http://thunderbirds.airforce.com/pixs/trip23/HTML/101017-f-0782r-012.htm.

exfltsafety wrote:

One of the Thunderbird trip 23 photos from El Paso also shows the centerline tank - see http://thunderbirds.airforce.com/pixs/trip23/HTML/101017-f-0782r-012.htm.

It's really tough to tell, but looking at the canopy it looks like it be a D model. I don't know how much fuel a standard show takes but perhaps if they fly a D the ~1300lb loss might necessitate the centerline to do the whole routine? Looks like his boards are out too!

Tough to tell?? Looking at the other canopies, this is really easy to tell that it is a D model.

LinkF16SimDude wrote:

Shot at MacDill recently. Not sure if these are really the T-birds ...

If you take a close look at the tails you can clearly see these are the T-birds.

tjodalv43 wrote:

It's really tough to tell, but looking at the canopy it looks like it be a D model.

D-model, no doubt about it.

Well it's tough enough for me to tell from an iPhone, and not a fancy new on either! Doh

It seems the RSAF F-16C demo team fly with a centerline tank as well. It actually looks pretty cool if you ask me - adds an extra bit to the visual drama, along with the smoke. It doesn't seem to hurt the display performance or detract from any maneuvering in the show, so why not... keep the burners lit that much longer!

checksixx wrote:

Not sure?? Its on an Air Force website taken by an Air Force photographer...

Yeah...but the AF website doesn't exactly have a 100% accuracy rating when it comes to their picture captions and descriptions, Mmm Kay?
But I should have indeed caught the smoke trails noted by tjodalv43. D'OY!!! Doh

I was on the team from 6/90-9/92, we never flew in this configuration, but it's easy to see a scenario where it could happen..

The Thunderbirds "typically" travel with 7 "C" models, the six primary show aircraft & 1 spare, the "D" model travels ahead of the team and makes the nessecary preperations for the team's arrival, the "D" model can then be used as a back-up spare as needed.

What may have happened was one of the primary A/C broke for something and the #7 A/C was substituted @ the last minute, then something else broke on the #4 jet, causing them to use the #8 for the show. I'm guessing that it was a last minute change, because if there had been time they would have dropped the C/L if the #8 were the primary spare.

The "solos" use more fuel than the "diamond" does during a show and the "D" model has more than enough fuel to do the show (well the the A/B & C&D (Block 32's) did anyway)... who knows maybe the Block 52's need more fuel....

Smitty

Forum: F-16 Spotting & Photography

Never seen this before...