On Jan. 10, the Royal Norwegian Air Force celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the YF-16, the first prototype of the Fighting Falcon. General Dynamics test pilot Phil Oestricher, decided to continue the take off, flew the plane for about six minutes and eventually safely landed it back six minutes later. The celebratory cockpit video was taken from a Norwegian F-16 flying at low altitude over one of Norway’s most beautiful regions, Lofoten (northern Norway.)
The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) (Norwegian: Luftforsvaret) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian armed forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 1,430 employees (officers, enlisted staff and civilians). 600 personnel also serve their draft period in the RNoAF. After mobilization the RNoAF would consist of approximately 5,500 personnel.
The infrastructure of the RNoAF includes seven airbases (at Andøya, Bardufoss, Bodø, Gardermoen, Rygge, Sola and Ørland), two control and reporting centres (at Sørreisa and Mågerø) and two training centres at Persaunet in Trondheim and at KNM Harald Haarfagre/Madlaleiren in Stavanger.
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are still being built for export customers. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta.
The Fighting Falcon's key features include a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, a seat reclined 30 degrees to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot, and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system which helps to make it a nimble aircraft. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons and other mission equipment. The F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", but "Viper" is commonly used by its pilots and crews, due to a perceived resemblance to a viper snake as well as the Colonial Viper starfighter on Battlestar Galactica.
In addition to active duty for U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard units, the aircraft is also used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an adversary/aggressor aircraft by the United States Navy. The F-16 has also been procured to serve in the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the second most common currently operational military aircraft in the world.
Source / More Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Norwegian_Air_Force
https://theaviationist.com/2014/01/22/rnoaf-yf-16-first-flight
More Jets & Helix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3YcAClWqrk&list=PLsWKNvuOwNpLZI1UXweNpxJywqvSGgu--
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