Which is Better? Flying the F-16 or the F/A-18?

The YouTuber and former military aviator C.W. Lemoine talks about flying both the F-16 (1000 hrs) and F/A-18 (400 hrs), which he liked flying more, and thinks is better.

Basic Differences

According to Lemoine, when you fly the F-16, everything that you need survival-wise is found on your seat kit, and all you need to wear is the G-suite and the harness and that’s it. You’ll feel comfortable.

Meanwhile, if you’re suiting up to fly the F-18, there are two parts. In the Viper, you put the harness on, you’ve got a quick-release clip for the leg straps and you can take those on and off. However, he says in the Navy and the Hornet, you need to step into the harness and swim into it, put it on, and then wear your survival vest that adds a ton of weight. It has your radio and some survival equipment. So, it’s heavier, and a little bit more uncomfortable.

Getting Into the Aircraft

Lemoine says that the Hornet has its own ladder, and for the Viper the crew chief puts it to the side. The Hornet had some space behind the seat where you could store things while the Viper had no storage whatsoever.

When it comes to flying the Hornet, Lemoine felt “like you were sitting in your living room, and it has a ton of space.” While initially, one might feel a little bit claustrophobic, as soon as the canopy closes, that all goes away. “You’ll lose that sensation of feeling cramped and suddenly you’re on top of the world,” he says.

Flying in The Air

For take-off, the F-16 had variations on when you’d use the afterburner versus the Hornet where you pretty much use the afterburner all the time. This is because the F-16 had a higher thrust-to-weight ratio in general.

Airborne, Lemoine says that the F-16 will make you feel like you’re on a magic carpet because you’re on the nose of a bullet, you don’t see your canopy rails that much and nothing obstructs the view. For the F-18, there will be canopy bows blocking the view. He says the F-18 could fly a course, it could fly a heading, and it had all kinds of better automation features.

On a Mission

Tactically, speaking, Lemoine felt that the F-16 had the PVI or the pilot vehicle interface, which he thinks was better than the F-18. Meanwhile, on the F-16, everything was hands-on throttle and stick. He says you pretty much had your hands on the throttle stick. Meanwhile, the F-18 Hornet was more hands-off. “You were up pushing buttons and you’re not spending as much time with your hands on the throttle.”

For him, the Viper was a little bit better in that. While he thinks that the Hornet was easy, he feels that the Viper was easier. “I think that the F-16 was just better. It felt that you were wearing the aircraft versus the F-18 where you were in a jet and you knew that you were in a jet.”