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of the blue. I’m by myself in the most modern single-seat, single-engine jet in the world, letting more than 25,000 pounds of thrust push me up, for the moment, faster than the Shuttle and faster than Apollo. My thrust-to-weight ratio today is almost 1:1. I’m in a vertical climb and barely decelerating. Talk about making the sun rise and set with my gloved hand. Is this fun or what!
Twist My Arm
Despite the motivational 500-sentences, this day, I’m not a test pilot; I’m the squadron FCF Pilot (Functional Check Flight Pilot). I fly with the 430th Tactical Fighter Squadron Tigers, 474th Tactical Fighter Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. This F-16A has a newly installed motor from Pratt, and it needs somebody to wring it out. Twist my arm. Fifteen seconds ago, I had pushed the single throttle forward to MIL power, checked the gauges, then rotated it slightly outboard and shoved it the rest of the way to full AB. That’s the way fighter guys say it, by the way. MIL is short for Military and pronounced “mill” as in sawmill, and A-B (said as two letters) is Afterburner. MIL is full power and AB is full power plus a bunch of raw fuel dumped into the exhaust section just after the last turbine section, then lit on fire. At night you can see a 30-foot plume, and the sound is...the sound of freedom.
The F-16 has five stages of AB and one of my jobs today is to make sure all five will light. It happens fast, so you have to know what to listen for and, more accurately, feel for. Five distinct kicks in the hind end. The only indications in the cockpit are the exhaust nozzle position going full open and the fuel flow gauge pegging off-scale high – close to 60,000 pounds per hour. At $5.00 per gallon, that’s about $12.30 per second.
Going Straight Up Over Government Property
Somewhere close to 150 knots I apply very slight back pressure on the side stick (that only moves a half-inch to- tal), and the jet’s in the air as I reach for the gear handle. I release the back pressure on the stick so little that it’s more like a thought than action. I’m level at 20 feet, gear up, accelerating above the hot desert runway; I can see the heat waves. If I let it continue, I’ll be supersonic by a half-mile off the end of the runway and out of fuel in seven minutes. Not today, though. For this takeoff my goal is to get some energy as quickly as possible in case something bad happens and keep me, my jet, and its pieces-parts on government property if it does. At 350 KIAS, I pull back on the stick again – this time to 6G’s. The back pressure on the stick to get to 6 G’s is less than five pounds. I’m going straight up over government property.
By the time I’ve watched the altimeter spin for eight seconds, it’s time to pull over onto my back at 15,000 feet then roll upright. I pull the throttle out of AB, check the engine gauges again, point my nose toward the MOA and slow my climb to 8,000 feet per minute. I’m headed for the FCF area and a working altitude of 25,000 feet. I’ll cruise out there at about 350 KIAS. So far, I’m one minute into the flight. Another five and I’ll be in the MOA at altitude. This new motor is awesome.
Now, there is something you have to know about these FCF flights. Remember the scenes from the movie “Apollo Thirteen” where they’re trying to power up the spacecraft and get it oriented for re-entry after being cold- soaked for three days? Hundreds of checklist steps all done in a precise order? That’s kind of the way the FCF profile
May 2022 / TWIN & TURBINE • 23