Footage Shows F-16’s 1st Flight Gone Completely Haywire

Footage Shows F-16’s 1st Flight Gone Completely Haywire | World War Wings Videos

andrew hayes

This Was Not The OFFICIAL First Flight…

Let’s make something really clear right off the bat here. This video captured YF-16’s actual(YF was the initial, experimental version) first flight, but NOT its “official first flight.” Let us explain the subtle, yet very odd difference between them.

The official first flight of of the YF-16 took place on February 2nd, 1974. It was a 90 minute flight which tested everything about the jet that was otherwise still just on paper. The jet took of from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California and was mostly a success. Now let’s get to the video we have for you in which you’ll see the FIRST flight of the YF-16.

This “accident” took place just weeks before the flight we just described. While conducting a high-speed taxi test on January 20th, “a roll-control oscillation caused a fin of the port-side wingtip-mounted missile and then the starboard stabilator to scrape the ground, and the aircraft then began to veer off the runway.”

The seasoned test pilot took matters into his own hands and took off to avoid a crash. He looped around the airfield and landed safely. It was a tense moment for everyone, but in the end everything worked out fine.

Check out the video for the footage and also see how and why the 2nd flight was also not a complete success.

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