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Dates |
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Event |
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Constructed as a YF-16. |
9 May 1974 |
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First flight. |
February 1975 |
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In 1975, the US Navy had expressed interest in a low-cost alternative to the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. General Dynamics proposed a navalized YF-16, with BVR radar, which was not part of the original planning for the USAF. The aircraft was briefly painted in a two-tone blue/light-brown color scheme for naval evaluation purposes. General Dynamics refined the proposal into a single-seat F-16, based on the two-seat F-16B - with the space ordinarily occupied by the rear seat used for increased avionics or fuel. On May 2nd, 1975, the Navy announced that they had decided not to buy the navalized F-16, but opted instead for an aircraft developed from the YF-17, which was eventually to emerge as the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. |
5 March 1975 |
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Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 72-1568. |
April 1975 |
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The aircraft was used to perform some tests with the AIM-7 Sparrow missile. Only with the introduction of the ADF version of the F-16, a BVR missile capacity was added to the airframe. |
8 May 1975 |
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Damaged.
Belly landed on a grass area next to the runway at Carswell AFB, Texas. The right main landing gear jammed due to gyroscopic forces from right max-rate roll while the gear was being retracted. The aircraft was only slightly damaged (inlet duct buckling, FS227 bulkhead cracks, etc.). It was scheduled to appear at the Paris air show but due to the mishap the first prototype was sent. |
June 1977 |
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Photographer: L.A. Rodger |
1978 |
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A precision strike system was integrated and tested in 1978. The system consisted of the ATLIS II laser targeting pod built by Martin Marietta, Paveway laser-guided bombs built by Texas Instruments, and a helmet mounted sight system built by Polhemus Navigation Sciences. The seven-month program included full integration of the system, forty-six flights, and nine bomb drops, including 1,000-pound GBU-16 and 2,000-pound GBU-10 weapons. |
3 May 1980 |
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Struck off Strength/Charge from the United States Air Force. |
By September 1980 |
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To Rome Air Development Center, Rome, NY.
Survives here upside down on a pole.
 View the Location Dossier |
25 January 2020 |
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To Fort Worth Aviation Museum, Meacham Field, Fort Worth, TX.
View the Location Dossier |
30 May 2020 |
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Photographer: Tom Tessier
Notes: Now at Fort Worth Aviation Museum. |
30 May 2020 |
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Photographer: Tom Tessier
Notes: Now at Fort Worth Aviation Museum. |
1 June 2024 |
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Photographer: Dirk Geerts
Notes: TODAY the public display of the 2nd YF-16A prototype restored by the FWAM team! |
29 November 2024 |
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Photographer: Max Sabin |
