F16 - Falcon USAF "Thunderbirds" Aircraft Model From Franklin Mint

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F16 - Falcon USAF "Thunderbirds" Aircraft Model From Franklin Mint

F16 - Falcon USAF "Thunderbirds" - Scale Model Warbird
Part Number: B11B205
Availability: Available Now
Approximately 12 5/8” (32.1 cm) in length; wingspan approximately 8 7/8” (22.5cm) Scale 1:48

F16 - Falcon USAF "Thunderbirds" - Scale Model - Description

·	Own one of the world’s most popular and fearsome fighters.

·	Superior maneuverability and combat radius made the F-16 Falcon invincible in the face of opposition.

·	This finely crafted die-cast model perfectly replicates the USAF Acrobatic Team's “Thunderbirds” version.

·	Carefully painted by hand in a red-white-and-blue color scheme with authentic markings, the F-16 carries the spirit of America on its wings for generations to come.

The Thunderbirds are the Air Demonstration Squadron of the United States Air Force. As such, they tour the United States and much of the world, performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially-marked USAF jet aircraft.

The Squadron was activated, after 6 months training in an unofficial status, on June 1, 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. They flew their debut exhibition at Luke a week later, and began public exhibitions at the 1953 Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The team had flown 26 shows by that August. The first team leader was Maj. Gen. Dick Catledge, and the first plane flown by the squadron was the F-84 Thunderjet.

The next year the Thunderbirds performed their first overseas air shows, in a tour of South America. A year later, 1955, they moved to the F-84F Thunderstreak aircraft, in which they performed 91 air shows. The aircraft of the squadron was again changed in June, 1956, this time to the F-100 Super Sabre, which gave the pilots supersonic capability. This switch was accompanied by a move of headquarters to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada on June 1 with their first show after the move being held on June 23. It also signaled a shift in their performance routine—for example, the Cuban 8 opening routine was dropped, and emphasis was placed on low, screaming flyovers and demonstrations of takeoff performance. For a time, if the show's sponsor permitted it, the pilots would create a "sonic boom" (this ended when the FAA banned supersonic flight over the continental U.S.)

In 1960 a decision was made to allow the tail vertical stabilizer of the slot plane, black from exhaust of the other planes, to remain black. (Contrary to rumor, the stabilizer has never been painted black.) In 1961, the team was compelled to discontinue the vertical bank maneuver due to an FAA regulation prohibiting aerobatics that pointed the nose of the aircraft toward the crowd. 1962 saw the introduction of dual solo routines, and the Thunderbirds went on their first European deployment in 1963, the year after the disbanding of the "Skyblazers" (see below). The team switched to the F-105 Thunderchief for a brief period, but returned to the F-100 in 1964 after only six airshows, following Capt. Gene Devlin's death resulting from structural failure of the aircraft in a high-G climbing maneuver. The F-100 was also judged to be more maneuverable for demonstration displays.

By 1967, the Thunderbirds had flown their 1,000th show. In 1969, the squadron adopted the noisy and huge F-4E Phantom, which it flew until 1973, the only time they would fly jets similar to those of the Blue Angels as it was the standard fighter in both services. A special white paint had to be developed to cover high-temperature metals, replacing the bare metal paint scheme of past planes. They would switch to the more economical but still supersonic T-38 Talon trainer, based on the F-5 Freedom Fighter, mainly due to considerations of fuel efficiency (the team had been grounded for some time during the 1973 oil crisis). Five T-38s used the same amount of fuel needed for one F-4 Phantom. The switch to the T-38 also saw an alteration of the flight routine to exhibit the aircraft's maneuverability in tight turns.

1982 saw another disaster for the Thunderbirds. On January 18, while practicing the 4-ship diamond loop the entire diamond formation impacted the ground at high speed, instantly killing all four pilots: Maj. Norm Lowry, leader, Capt. Willie Mays, Capt. Pete Peterson and Capt. Mark Melancon. The cause of the crash was officially listed by the USAF as being the result of a mechanical problem with the #1 aircraft's control stick actuator, although the accident investigative board had not uncovered any evidence to support this theory, there was however heavy pressure from the pilot(s) families and top Air Force brass to arrive at this conclusion. During formation flight the wing and slot pilots cue off (fixate) of the lead aircraft completely disregarding their aircrafts position in relationship to the ground this is the root cause of 4 aircraft impacting terrain and not just the jet with the problem. Many in the fighter community felt the cause was most likely a result of pilot error due to a simple miscalculation the equivalent of controlled flight into terrain (cfit).

In 1986, the Thunderbirds did a flyby for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, which was viewed by tens of millions. They also performed the first American military demonstration in a Communist country when they did an air show in Beijing, China in 1987. Their 3,000th air show was performed in 1990. In 1996, the team participated in the Atlanta Olympics' opening ceremonies, which were viewed by an estimated 3.5 billion people worldwide. The squadron celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 1, 2003. In June, 2005 the Thunderbirds accepted Capt. Nicole Malachowski as the squadron's first ever female pilot. In July 2005, the Thunderbirds performed at Tinker Air Force Base for the base's Fourth of July celebration, the first time the Thunderbirds had performed in Oklahoma in almost 20 years.

In 1983, the team returned to front line fighters with the General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon. It has only one of the F-15 Eagle's engines, but similar flying performance. They would change to the F-16C in 1992 which has been proven in both air-ground and air superiority competitions.

On August 20, 2005 the Thunderbirds temporarily grounded themselves pending an investigation into a minor mid-air incident during the Chicago Air and Water show. During a diamond formation slow-roll pass, the tip of the missile rail on the right wing of the slot (#4) aircraft contacted the left stabilator of the right (#3) aircraft. A four-foot section of the missile rail snapped off, while the #3 aircraft sustained damage described by one of the Thunderbirds pilots as a "medium deep scratch" to the red paint of the stabilator. Amateur video showed the missile rail falling into the "safety box" on Lake Michigan away from boaters. While there were no injuries and the aircraft remained apparently flightworthy, the demonstration was immediately terminated, all aircraft returned to the Gary International Airport, and the Thunderbirds did not return for the second day of the Chicago show. The Right Winger (#3) was Maj. D. Chris Callahan, and the Slot position (#4) was flown by Maj. Steve Horton.

In 1982 the team switched to the F-16A Fighting Falcon, this move had been under consideration even before the "Diamond Crash." The team sat out the 1982 airshow season and spent that time retraining and transitioning over into the new aircraft to ready themselves for the 1983 season.

The team still flies the F-16 today, having switched from the A model to the F-16C in 1992. These are nearly identical to current combat aircraft, with just a few modifications the F-16 is made ready for the Thunderbirds, these mods include the replacement of the 20mm cannon and ammo drum with a smoke-generating system and plumbing to create a white smoke trail, the addition of a couple of switches in the cockpit for the smoke system, the removal of the jet fuel starter exhaust door and finally the application of the Thunderbirds red, white and blue polyurethane paint scheme, all of the work being accomplished at maintenance depot Hill AFB, Utah. If necessary, the planes could be made combat-ready in less than 72 hours.

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