AF-1 External Markings drawing

energo · by **energo** » 28 Apr 2009, 18:20

Official paint and markings drawing for AF-1. It includes functional, identification, safety markings as well as the flags representing the nine F-35 partner nations and Lightning II tail art in USAF Thunderbird colors.

B. Bolsøy
Oslo

SpudmanWP · by **SpudmanWP** » 28 Apr 2009, 18:39

Point to ponder...

The F-16 went IOC in 1980 and flew with the Thunderbirds in 1982.

What are the odds that the Thunderbirds get the F-35 in 2015?

Yes, I know they are long

SpudmanWP · by **SpudmanWP** » 28 Apr 2009, 18:41

Duplicate Deleted

Bigmac3 · by **Bigmac3** » 28 Apr 2009, 19:46

SpudmanWP wrote:Point to ponder...

The F-16 ... flew with the Thunderbirds in 1982.

Wasn't the T-38 crash in 1982 with no T-Birds for 1983 and the F-16 use starting in 1984?

Frank

SpudmanWP · by **SpudmanWP** » 28 Apr 2009, 19:55

From the TBird Wiki

In 1982 the team switched to the F-16A Fighting Falcon; this transition had been under consideration before the "Diamond Crash" during training season in January. The team sat out the 1982 airshow season and spent that year retraining and transiting over into the new aircraft to ready themselves for the 1983 season.

I checked the TBird site, but it has no info after the F-4 conversion.

From the Air Force Fact Sheet

Early in 1983, the Thunderbirds reinstituted their traditional role of demonstrating the Air Force's front-line fighter capabilities. Transition to the F-16A allowed the team to retain manpower and fuel efficiency while demonstrating to spectators the latest in fighter technology.

Bigmac3 · by **Bigmac3** » 28 Apr 2009, 20:04

Thanks, CRS has got me down.

Frank

bandit66 · by **bandit66** » 28 Apr 2009, 20:08

Seein as all the f-35's have been painted in that dark grey, do you thin the services will be painting them like this? That tail looks sweet!!!