Edwards Gets F-16s From ‘Bone Yard’
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California; Two F-16 Fighting Falcons joined the test operations facility here recently to help
support flight test programs. The aircraft are the first of nine F-16s making their way to Edwards this year.
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The aircraft arrived from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.,
where they were originally part of a deal to sell 28 F-16s to Pakistan. The agreement broke down after Pakistan violated
the nuclear nonproliferation policy of the U.S. government and its allies, and the United States cancelled the sale. That left
the aircraft in storage at Davis-Monthan for more than a decade. After several years of modifications and rebuilding, the
aircraft made their way here.
The aircraft are late A and B models, versus the C and D models pilots routinely fly today. They were built in the late 1980s
and early 1990s and are scheduled to replace some of the older F-16s in the Edwards’ inventory, which will provide pilots
with better capability and reliability, said Lt. Col. Troy Fontaine, commander of test operations here.
With only eight and 11 total flying hours respectively, the two aircraft will be used to support the 412th Maintenance Group
shadow fleet. The aircraft will perform photo chase, high-alpha testing and test support missions for Edwards’ various test
forces. The jets will also be used to train students at the test pilot school.
According to Col. George Ka’iliwai, the school’s commandant, the new aircraft are welcome additions to the busy flying
schedule.
“These two additional F-16s will help the test pilot school graduate our students fully trained and on time,” said Ka’iliwai.
“Increasing the number of F-16s helps us ensure that these aircraft are available when we need them to meet our flying
program requirements as well as test program requirements around the base.”
Air Force officials will take 14 aircraft while the Navy will get 14 to be used as aggressor aircraft for training.
US Air Force – 16th January, 2003
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F-16s restored after years in storage
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Florida; Pilots here will be flying training, photo-chase, and test-support missions, and instructing
pilots using brand new old F-16s Fighting Falcons — four of them resurrected and regenerated from more than a decade of
storage.
The aircraft were originally part of a deal U.S. officials brokered with the Pakistani prime minister to sell 28 F-16s to that
government. The agreement broke down after Pakistan ignored the nuclear non-proliferation policy of the U.S. government
and its allies, canceling military foreign sales to that country.
That left the aircraft in limbo, and in storage, at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air
Force Base, Ariz. Air Force officials will take ownership of 14 aircraft while the Navy will get 14 to be used as aggressor
aircraft for training. Eglin’s 40th Flight Test Squadron will retire three of their older F-16s next year after receiving the four
regenerated aircraft.
The first regenerated F-16 landed here Dec. 4 after several years of negotiations, modifications, and rebuilding.
According to Eglin’s F-16 flight commander, Maj. Mike Jansen, the additional “iron on the ramp” is most welcome.
Even though the planes are the older A and B models, versus the C and D models pilots routinely fly today, these are
late-model As and Bs, built in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They are not a representative A and B model because they
were built later and have an airframe closer to a C or D model.
“The real crux,” he said, “is that the avionics are still A and B model versus the current C and D model in the Air Force inventory
and there is a very large difference between the two.”
Jansen said the planes will be used for training, photo chase, test-mission support, and new pilot instruction. Members of the
40th FTS are getting three two-seaters and one single-seat aircraft. “The airframe and avionics differences between the models
are really too great to do any other testing with them,” he said.
Jansen said Eglin officials pushed to get these aircraft because the current fleet here, with the old engines and technology, are some
of the oldest F-16s still flying, and they are toward the end of their service life.
“The new aircraft will have more current engines, which will greatly simplify our operations,” Jansen said.
He said the most difficult part of the program, logistically, was upgrading more than 10 years worth of modifications. In the last
three years, under the direction of Air Force Materiel Command logistics group experts, the aircraft were literally taken apart piece
by piece and put back together again. Experts at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., completely overhauled the engines.
Master Sgt. Joe Tangherlini, AFMC’s fighter aircraft superintendent, said F-16 system program office officials identified the aircraft
as surplus, and it took a four-year process to get approval and regenerate the aircraft.
“The biggest challenge was taking these essentially new aircraft, which sat in the desert for eight years, and make them run like
they’re new again,” Tangherlini said. “First the planes were temporarily stored, and then were eventually put into permanent storage
and maintained in a semi-serviceable condition.”
Tangherlini said his team made several trips to Arizona’s desert during the restoration process. To see the progress from static aircraft
with flat tires to being mission capable was a huge triumph.
“To bring these aircraft up to the standard to be safe to fly in accordance with all the new directives and technical orders today is an
accomplishment,” Tangherlini said. “What we have now smells and looks like a new car,” Jansen said.
Although Jensen admits these are not the newest aircraft, he acknowledges they will give pilots a much better capability and reliability.
“These planes will completely remove us from flying the older engine,” Jensen said. “Operational procedures for each engine is
completely different; now we’ll get rid of one of them, and we can concentrate on the newer versions.”
By Lois Walsh, Air Armament Center Public Affairs – 12th December, 2002 (Courtesy AFMC News Service)
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Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
p.s. AMARC photos were taken in November 1993, not long after their initial arrival.
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January 20, 2003 at 11:24 pm
