USAF Thunderbirds flying Display RIAT 2017 incl. ATC

[MUC_Spotter 203]

 

[Sartanius 399]

Poetry in motion!

[Cat_Dad 17]

Did anyone notice that the number 4 slot bird was a two seat and was flying with a center line tank? Any idea why they might be doing this? Number 4 does not do this at all shows and did not notice anything special in the dash-1 (flight manual)  http://www.avialogs.com/en/aircraft/usa/generaldynamics/f-16falcon/to-gr1f-16cj-1-flight-manual-f-16c-d-block-50.html

My guess why 4 is a two seater is that it can be used to train/critique the formation and do VIP rides . Usually number 8 is the press bird which is also a two seat but no center-line on it.

 

Any Thunderbird members or experts out there that can shed some light on this?

 

Terry

 

 

[Murmur 3,941]

6 hours ago, Cat_Dad said:

Did anyone notice that the number 4 slot bird was a two seat and was flying with a center line tank? Any idea why they might be doing this? Number 4 does not do this at all shows and did not notice anything special in the dash-1 (flight manual)  http://www.avialogs.com/en/aircraft/usa/generaldynamics/f-16falcon/to-gr1f-16cj-1-flight-manual-f-16c-d-block-50.html

My guess why 4 is a two seater is that it can be used to train/critique the formation and do VIP rides . Usually number 8 is the press bird which is also a two seat but no center-line on it.

Any Thunderbird members or experts out there that can shed some light on this?

Interesting point. The F-16D has about 20% less fuel, and it's also a little heavier and more draggy. Maybe that's the reason for the center tank? Just a supposition, although I can't imagine any other reason to carry an additional fuel tank, other than the additional fuel being needed during the flight. :-)

[Cat_Dad 17]

Then why do they fly clean (no Tank) sometimes? They do have high and low shows to work around wx but even in a D model, they should be able to fly a 20 to 30 minute show on internal fuel only.

 

Kind of hard to believe that maintenance cannot drop the tank if it had been installed to ferry the jet to the show. What about the others, did they come with or without tanks? Was this  show in England? Then they would have had tankers support across the pond.

 

Maybe it is a inside joke the team has to get people talking about why they would fly a tank? Who knows.

 

Terry

[Murmur 3,941]

10 hours ago, Cat_Dad said:

Then why do they fly clean (no Tank) sometimes? They do have high and low shows to work around wx but even in a D model, they should be able to fly a 20 to 30 minute show on internal fuel only.

Probably it depends on the conditions. The required fuel will depend on factors like temperature, the distance and winds to planned alternate, and in a minor way on other factors (high or low show, field elevation, etc.).

The actual fuel used in the display should only be a fraction of the total fuel on board, so 20% less fuel translates in more than 20% less flight time for the display. Maybe when you saw the number 8 without tanks, the conditions were more favourable and did not require an external tank to be carried. In some other cases like this instead, the required mission fuel would probably be more than the F-16D internal fuel capacity.

It's impressive how high the fuel flow is when a jet fighter is flying at low altitudes. When I do low-alt bombing training in Falcon BMS, I'm not sure it's more than 20 or 30 minutes before I'm Bingo fuel, and that's not even considering fuel to alternate, etc.

 

[Murmur 3,941]

Well, I just tried in BMS (it has a very accurate flight model, including fuel consumption figures), and the F-16D Block 52, at low altitude and mil power, runs completely out of fuel after 20 minutes. So if you consider alternate and reserve fuel, it makes sense that for certain conditions, it may need an external fuel tank even in a short airshow like this. :-)