
Looks more like a test to see if you can fit in a Viper in a pressure suit...maybe for some potential future test. The airplane is an A-model, you can tell from the HUD and looks rather beat up. Also does not seem to be any hose connections to the pressure suit (unless modified the F-16 has no such capability). That being said I have been to 52,000 in a clean Blk 15 at Mil Power...took a while to get there and I didn't stay long as we are not supposed to be there w/o pressure suit and the ECS decided to quit right about then causing a slow decrease in cabin pressure. Got so quiet I thought the engine had quit...quick glance at RPM and I was breathing again and quickly got down lower to get ECS back. But it still had a little up VVI at that point so I think it could have gone higher. That was an F100-PW200, never tried with a PW220 and on my last flight in 2005 I was in a Blk 30D and tried to see how high it would go but again the ECS decided to quit around 50K so I gave up. Maybe a design conspiracy in the ECS to keep us from breaking the rules? A good thread for all the quacks on here!!! Evil brass designs in limit on ECS to keep wayward LTs from breaking altitude rule...
Zooming is a whole different story. Can-get-to altitude is different than service ceiling by the way....not a test pilot so I don't know the definition of service ceiling by heart but you can get a jet above its service ceiling...ask Chuck Yeager about the service ceiling of an F-105...
JB