[saturn_656]

uwish uwish:

I just like the fact that a jet parked for over a decade could be put back into service...not sure what the time line would be on the overhaul however; it's still pretty impressive considering how quickly jets deteriorate when left in the elements...parked!

They prep them prior to storage so they can be re activated. Shrink wrap, fresh oil in tanks, etc. Plus the air out in the boneyard is hot and dry, not conductive to corrosion.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Regina Regina:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Regina Regina:

It actually doesn't say it will be used as a drone at all. It is the first time a F-16 has used this technology and it will be used to train fighter pilots to fight.
Someone with an agenda called it a drone.

Uh, no. It's an unmanned aircraft which these days is commonly called a drone. No agenda there at all. It's like calling a cell phone a cell phone even if it's an iPhone. It is what it is.

The story never mentioned it being a "drone". That statement came from the agenda pushing fringer at the end of it. It is also not the first fighter aircraft that has been converted for remote flying.

Hell no, they were trying it during WW2 albeit with bombers.

Regina Regina:

Clearly these people have no clue the capabilities this aircraft possesses vs. other current military inventory better suited for the roll of a "drone" in the current Obama definition. The F-16 is one of the best, if not the best single engine dog fighter in the world.

Absolutely. I believe it is STILL the only fighter with a 2:1 thrust to weight ratio.

[BartSimpson]

uwish uwish:

I just like the fact that a jet parked for over a decade could be put back into service...not sure what the time line would be on the overhaul however; it's still pretty impressive considering how quickly jets deteriorate when left in the elements...parked!

You'd be utterly fascinated with the process of mothballing an aircraft that gets performed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. For the F-16's they spray on an easily removed urethane coating in multiple layers - ending with a white layer to reduce the temperature inside the aircraft by as much as 10° over what it would be without the coating. And they do so much more that most of these aircraft can be taken out of storage after a decade or more and put back in service as fast as just a week later.

It's also fun to look at the base on Google maps and see the hundreds of aircraft that are parked there. The ones closest to the runway are in storage and the ones across the highway are in the boneyard to be scrapped.