DesertRat
Perpetual Newbie
After spending most the day doing ejection seat (egress) training, parachute training, learning the Parachute Landing Fall, learning the proper use of the survival gear in the plane, high altitude awareness and considerations and visiting the flight surgeon for a final physical; I boarded an F-16D and took off at 3:30pm PST this afternoon and boy what a take-off!
As soon as the landing gear was stowed we went to full afterburner, pulled the nose straight up at the sky and did an unrestricted vertical climb to 50,000 feet! At the top we went inverted and did a split S before punching the AB on again and heading supersonic out over the desert where we attained a speed in excess of 1.5 mach. We then brought the throttles back to idle and descended rapidly, dropping all the way to the deck leveling off at 100 feet above ground level where we commenced to scream through valleys and canyons and over the desert floor at 500 knots.
After the low level stuff we rapidly climbed to 25,000 ft and pulled in behind a KC-135 tanker and got plugged in to receive more fuel. That was the most amazing thing. Flying at 335 knots 30 feet behind what is basically a 737 aircraft while the boomer in the back plugged the boom into the refueling port about 3 feet behind my head.
After breaking free from the tanker, the pilot gave control of the aircraft to me for a good 45 minutes and I had a blast buzzing the Honda and Hyundai test tracks, the big US Borax mine and several wayward off-roaders at about 500' and 400 knots.
I did a few rolls, banks and tight, high-G turns (we reached 6 g's) before we reached bingo fuel and had to return to base and land.
The F16 made the T38 I flew in two years ago seem like a rickety bucket of bolts. This plane was all high tech and had such a smooth ride that comparing it to a T38 would be like comparing a Maybach Benz to a Yugo. Such a beautiful plane and so responsive that flying it was almost second nature!
I had a blast and I am now totally and completely exhausted!
Here is a GPS track of the flight http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19885085
As soon as the landing gear was stowed we went to full afterburner, pulled the nose straight up at the sky and did an unrestricted vertical climb to 50,000 feet! At the top we went inverted and did a split S before punching the AB on again and heading supersonic out over the desert where we attained a speed in excess of 1.5 mach. We then brought the throttles back to idle and descended rapidly, dropping all the way to the deck leveling off at 100 feet above ground level where we commenced to scream through valleys and canyons and over the desert floor at 500 knots.
After the low level stuff we rapidly climbed to 25,000 ft and pulled in behind a KC-135 tanker and got plugged in to receive more fuel. That was the most amazing thing. Flying at 335 knots 30 feet behind what is basically a 737 aircraft while the boomer in the back plugged the boom into the refueling port about 3 feet behind my head.
After breaking free from the tanker, the pilot gave control of the aircraft to me for a good 45 minutes and I had a blast buzzing the Honda and Hyundai test tracks, the big US Borax mine and several wayward off-roaders at about 500' and 400 knots.
I did a few rolls, banks and tight, high-G turns (we reached 6 g's) before we reached bingo fuel and had to return to base and land.
The F16 made the T38 I flew in two years ago seem like a rickety bucket of bolts. This plane was all high tech and had such a smooth ride that comparing it to a T38 would be like comparing a Maybach Benz to a Yugo. Such a beautiful plane and so responsive that flying it was almost second nature!
I had a blast and I am now totally and completely exhausted!
Here is a GPS track of the flight http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19885085
Glad you had a good, make that kick ass, time!
