{"id":41947,"date":"2017-10-04T00:15:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T03:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/?p=41947"},"modified":"2017-10-04T00:50:44","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T03:50:44","slug":"aviation-museum-celebrates-first-f-16-air-to-air-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/04\/aviation-museum-celebrates-first-f-16-air-to-air-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"Aviation Museum Celebrates First F-16 Air to Air Kill"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor recently rolled out<\/a> a freshly repainted F-16A with the name of retired Air Force Gen Gary \u201cNordo\u201d North on the cockpit. Gen North — then a LtCol and squadron commander of the 33FS — was flying an F-16 when he shot down a MiG-25 violating the Southern No Fly Zone over Iraq in 1992.<\/p>\n

The kill marked the first-ever<\/em> air-to-air kill by an F-16, and also the first-ever<\/em> air-to-air kill with an AIM-120 AMRAAM — much to the chagrin of the F-15 Eagles whose sole role was air combat, and who carried the AMRAAM as their exclusive active radar guided missile.<\/p>\n

There’s one issue, however. We can forgive the fact they’re using a single-seat\u00a0A-model as opposed to a single-seat\u00a0C-model, as there may not be any of the much newer C’s available to use in a museum or static display.<\/p>\n

But there was one other unique — and now infamous — attribute of Gen North’s aircraft.<\/p>\n

It was a D-model — that is, a two-seat<\/strong> F-16:<\/p>\n

\"\"The actual F-16 flown for the first air-to-air kill, star on the canopy rail.<\/em><\/p>\n

The D-model is\u00a0generally reserved for training (the instructor rides in the back) or VIP\/incentive rides. It remains a running joke even in the F-16 community that the first air-to-air kill in an F-16 occurred in “the family model” of the Viper.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

ADVERTISEMENT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n