platform389
03-25-2005, 08:59 PM
http://ascpa.public.wpafb.af.mil/Newsreleases/2005newsreleases/Officer%20Delivers%20Last%20F-16_files/image004.jpg
Hi-Res Link:
http://ascpa.public.wpafb.af.mil/Images/News%20Photos/Last%20F16%20Delivery_1.jpg
WRIGHT-PATT OFFICER DELIVERS LAST U.S. AIR FORCE F-16
By Susan Ferns
ASC/PA
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The general who was the F-16 System Program Office director here when the contract was awarded delivered the last U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon March 18.
While Lockheed Martin Aero, Fort Worth, will continue to produce F-16s for international coalition partners, this aircraft is the last of 2,231 F-16s produced for the U.S. Air Force. The first delivery was in 1978.
Brig. Gen. Jeff Riemer, now the Director of Operations at the Air Force Materiel Command headquarters here, flew the jet from the Lockheed Martin production line in Fort Worth to Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.
“It seemed fitting for General Riemer to make this historic flight, and we were pleased that he was able to accept the invitation,” said Col. Scott Jansson, ASC’s Fighter Attack Systems Wing’s F-16 Systems Group commander.
For his part, General Riemer said that having flown the very first F-16B (production number B-1) while stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., he is delighted to have the opportunity to fly the last F-16 produced for our Air Force.
During his career, General Riemer has logged approximately 3,000 flight hours in 40 aircraft, including more than 800 hours in F-16s, starting in 1981. He has served as an F‑16 acceptance test pilot at the factory and an experimental test pilot at Edwards AFB.
He supported the F-16 program office here as the chief of the programs division in the mid-1990s, and came back in 1998 as the SPO Director. In his role as AFMC director of operations, he continues to fly F-16s at Edwards, Eglin, and Hill Air Force Bases
General Riemer has flown every type of F-16, in all blocks, up through the Block 50/52s. He saw the aircraft transition from analog to the digital controls that today’s pilots take for granted. Although he remembers testing as a disciplined, methodical process, in which the flight portion is the validation of predictions, he does recall one memorable F-16 flight when, while doing envelope expansion for an AMRAAM [missile] configuration, his aircraft “departed controlled flight.”
“The engine stagnated,” he said, “and we had to do a flameout landing to the main runway at Edwards AFB. That was an exciting mission.”
The aircraft just delivered, according to Mr. Dan Mahrer, F-16 production program manager, “is not your father’s F-16. Originally designed as a lightweight, daytime interceptor, the F-16 Fighting Falcon has been transformed over the last 20 years into a multirole, all weather, air-to-air and air-to-ground attack weapon system.
“Today’s F-16 has significant combat capabilities. This Block 50 jet has a new computer, multifunctional color displays, advanced IFF [Identification Friend or Foe] interrogator, upgraded data link system, and a new helmet with an automatic target cueing system. It has been upgraded with the latest software and cutting edge precision weapons,” Mr. Mahrer said.
“Although this is the last new F-16 expected to be produced for USAF, the F-16 Systems Group continues to technically transform the existing fleet of over 1300 jets, enabling evolutionary weapons delivery capabilities through 2025 and making possible a smooth transition to the F-35, the world’s premier multirole fighter of the future,” Col. Jansson said.
Hi-Res Link:
http://ascpa.public.wpafb.af.mil/Images/News%20Photos/Last%20F16%20Delivery_1.jpg
WRIGHT-PATT OFFICER DELIVERS LAST U.S. AIR FORCE F-16
By Susan Ferns
ASC/PA
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The general who was the F-16 System Program Office director here when the contract was awarded delivered the last U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon March 18.
While Lockheed Martin Aero, Fort Worth, will continue to produce F-16s for international coalition partners, this aircraft is the last of 2,231 F-16s produced for the U.S. Air Force. The first delivery was in 1978.
Brig. Gen. Jeff Riemer, now the Director of Operations at the Air Force Materiel Command headquarters here, flew the jet from the Lockheed Martin production line in Fort Worth to Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.
“It seemed fitting for General Riemer to make this historic flight, and we were pleased that he was able to accept the invitation,” said Col. Scott Jansson, ASC’s Fighter Attack Systems Wing’s F-16 Systems Group commander.
For his part, General Riemer said that having flown the very first F-16B (production number B-1) while stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., he is delighted to have the opportunity to fly the last F-16 produced for our Air Force.
During his career, General Riemer has logged approximately 3,000 flight hours in 40 aircraft, including more than 800 hours in F-16s, starting in 1981. He has served as an F‑16 acceptance test pilot at the factory and an experimental test pilot at Edwards AFB.
He supported the F-16 program office here as the chief of the programs division in the mid-1990s, and came back in 1998 as the SPO Director. In his role as AFMC director of operations, he continues to fly F-16s at Edwards, Eglin, and Hill Air Force Bases
General Riemer has flown every type of F-16, in all blocks, up through the Block 50/52s. He saw the aircraft transition from analog to the digital controls that today’s pilots take for granted. Although he remembers testing as a disciplined, methodical process, in which the flight portion is the validation of predictions, he does recall one memorable F-16 flight when, while doing envelope expansion for an AMRAAM [missile] configuration, his aircraft “departed controlled flight.”
“The engine stagnated,” he said, “and we had to do a flameout landing to the main runway at Edwards AFB. That was an exciting mission.”
The aircraft just delivered, according to Mr. Dan Mahrer, F-16 production program manager, “is not your father’s F-16. Originally designed as a lightweight, daytime interceptor, the F-16 Fighting Falcon has been transformed over the last 20 years into a multirole, all weather, air-to-air and air-to-ground attack weapon system.
“Today’s F-16 has significant combat capabilities. This Block 50 jet has a new computer, multifunctional color displays, advanced IFF [Identification Friend or Foe] interrogator, upgraded data link system, and a new helmet with an automatic target cueing system. It has been upgraded with the latest software and cutting edge precision weapons,” Mr. Mahrer said.
“Although this is the last new F-16 expected to be produced for USAF, the F-16 Systems Group continues to technically transform the existing fleet of over 1300 jets, enabling evolutionary weapons delivery capabilities through 2025 and making possible a smooth transition to the F-35, the world’s premier multirole fighter of the future,” Col. Jansson said.