When asked if the block 52 variant F-16s
will be receiving the same enhancements
such as modular computer upgrades and
agile beam radars, Lieutenant Colonel Jason Hurd the commander and leading
pilot of the air demonstration team said, yeah pretty much we would get the last
out of the F-16s to receive those
upgrades, but we are scheduled. Military.com sat down to interview
pilots here at the base and took a ride
up in the F-16D two-seater on april 21st. The Thunderbirds are sometimes a good
test bed for some basic structural
upgrades.
Right now we are the first F-16s to be
doing the service life extension program
or slept, Heard said the first to do the bulkhead required
inspections. Heard said the Thunderbirds
are the first to get the slep upgrades
because we apply a severity factor to
our aircraft use that is higher than
most F-16s, the aircraft which can reach speeds of
up to 1,500 miles per hour in altitudes
of more than 50,000 feet fly multiple
shows a year. In addition to routine
training, for shows the multi-role fighter will
fly roughly around 720 miles per hour. However the F-16C models which have no
external weapons have more thrust on the
jet 29,100 pounds as opposed to the
standard 27 000, which also takes its
toll.
We burn through the hours faster because
the severity of the flying the g-forces
etc. The thunderbirds G-Force limitations
vary from negative three to positive
nine and a few tenths of a point
incrementally thereafter. Currently one thunderbird is going
through slept at their depot facilities
at hill air force base, captain Eric Speedy Gonsalves does a
quick backseat check with Military.com
reporter Orianna Pollock before takeoff.
The thunderbirds will normally fly six
jets during a show but could fly eight. they have two spares per show either C or D models but have three backup jets
total bringing their fleet to eleven
jets. In march we only possessed six to seven
aircraft, Heard said because of ongoing
maintenance, modification or paint jobs
happening to the remaining jets. Heard added to do a mission where you're
flying six aircraft total twice a day
our utilization rate was 30 which means
our airframe flew over 30 times each in
a month, that's unheard of most airplanes may fly
10 to 12 times in a month.
