The iconic multi-role General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon made its first flight in 1974. Therefore the type reached its 50th anniversary in 2024. This was amongst others celebrated at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, the biggest military airshow in the world. For this occasion an already withdrawn F-16AM of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) received a special colour scheme.
In the seventies of the 20th century, the US Air Force was looking for a relatively small and cheap fighter aircraft to supplement its fleet of F-15 Eagles. Two companies were selected to build their prototypes, General Dynamics with the YF-16 and Northrop with their YF-17. After a series of tests General Dynamics won the challenge, although Northrop later on got to produce their proposed fighter as the F-18 Hornet for the US Navy. Interesting detail is that although the formal maiden flight of the F-16 was made on February 2nd, 1974, the first prototype actually already flew 6 minutes on January 20th. During a high speed taxi run a wingtip touched the ground, and the test pilot decided to take off to prevent the aircraft from veering off the runway and crash!
On the tail of the jubilee aircraft a large Falcon was painted, referring to the official name of the fighter. The under wing pylon, holding a fuel tank with large “F-16 50th” titles, showed the roundels of all 29 past and present users, including latest member of the family Ukraine, plus users-to-be Bulgaria and Argentina. And the belly fuel tank finally was adorned with a Viper, depicting the unofficial nickname of the F-16.
Retirement
The Koninklijke Luchtmacht was one of four European countries that together were the first export customers for the F-16. With Belgium, Denmark and Norway, The Netherlands formed the so-called European Participation Air Forces (EPAF). Both Belgium and The Netherlands received their first F-16 in 1979, where Denmark and Norway got their first ones the next year. In September 2024, 45 years after delivery of the first Fighting Falcon, the curtain fell for the Dutch Viper fleet.
Aircraft J-197 was one of the last dozen aircraft that were operational till the end, out of 213 ordered in total. It got a special colour scheme applied for the goodbye ceremony. Next to (again) a large Falcon, all squadrons that used to fly the F-16 in Dutch service, including the training unit in Tucson (AZ), were displayed on the tail. Next to this, all conflict areas the Dutch F-16s were deployed to over the years were summed up. The Dutch roundel and a large “45 years” made up the background. And finally as a nice detail the text “Assembled by Fokker” was added to the brake chute housing. All Dutch F-16s and also many of the Danish and Norwegian F-16s and later on even an Egyptian one were built by Fokker at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport.
A good-bye flight over all airbases the type used to be based and other significant locations in The Netherlands unfortunately had to be cut short because of bad weather. This wouldn’t be the last flight of the aircraft involved though, as they would be getting another life. In the past already batches of Dutch Vipers have been sold to the air forces of Jordan and Chile, and the remaining aircraft have either been delivered to the European F-16 Training Centre (EFTC) in Romania or gifted to the Ukrainian air force.
Future
Being a so-called 4th generation fighter, lots of countries are replacing their F-16s with 5th generation aircraft. But with upgraded F-16Vs still being produced on the one hand and lots of second hand ones being transferred to South American and former Eastern Bloc countries on the other hand, the Fighting Falcon will grace the skies for some time to come!