I have had several questions lately concerning aspects of the F-16 that I have covered in earlier Code One issues. This short article will be a potpourri of answers in an attempt to amplify some of the points I made in previous articles. With an eye to no particular order, let’s begin.
I have had several inquiries that stemmed from the information I put out in the article about landing the F-16 (Vol. 2, No. 3). Many of them concern the point I made about using the brakes. Several of you still want to tie an airspeed to the time you start using the brakes. This idea is not at all necessary. As soon as you are sure that the airplane is on the ground to stay, you can start what I described.
If you recall, it goes something like this. After I am sure I am down for good, I make certain that I am holding thirteen alpha or maybe just a little bit more (but be caarrreeeeful – the added drag of scraping the speedbrakes, tailpipe, or horizontal tail doesn’t help stopping much, but it can add a lot of notoriety that none of us needs.) Landing at normal weights, you are going to be around 100 to 120 knots at this point. But it makes no difference if I have landed heavy and still have 150 to 160 knots. I recheck that I am holding the attitude that I want and start down with brake pedals. The nose usually will try to start down within a few hundred feet. But this reaction will vary over a large range depending on the runway condition reading at the time. As the nose starts down, I smoothly start adding back pressure to hold the attitude I want. (Remember my comments about starting too soon and pulling the aircraft off the ground. This will only result in delaying the point you can effectively start this whole braking process). Depending on the conditions, I sometimes find myself with what feels like nearly full aft stick and nearly full pedal travel just before the nose comes down to the runway.
(Again, look for a wide range of reactions depending upon the present runway conditions. If you are on a nice dry runway, the nose will come down very quickly. But if it is nice and icy . . . )
As the nose approaches the runway, I make sure the speedbrakes are fully extended (Careful, not too fast. Make sure that the nose is definitely started down, certainly something less than eight to nine alpha, before you lean on the switch to override the forty-three degree limit.) while continuing to hold full back stick. At this point, interject a little of that jet-age wisdom we have been giving you credit for having. If the end of the runway is still rapidly approaching, continue with full speedbrakes, full back stick, and the pedals welded to the floor. But if I observe what appears to be a large portion of the interstate highway system extending all the way to the horizon, I come off all the inputs I am making and let the airplane coast to the end of the runway at a reasonable taxi speed.
Some of the techniques I have heard about making every stop a three-point, max antiskid braking effort are not really valid in every instance. One reason I have heard is that less heat goes into the brakes as a result. This is only true if the aircraft is pulling one way or the other because of an improperly adjusted nosewheel/nosewheel steering. If this is the case, you are going to put more BTUs through one side or the other if you make a slow leisurely stop as opposed to a max effort. Otherwise, you are better off using a combination of aero and wheel braking to get the aircraft down to a reasonable taxi speed. As I said before, this method works regardless of the present conditions and doesn’t require you to change your technique every time the weather changes. This technique also works for the F- 16s that are equipped with the drag chute. The only difference is that the drag chute compresses everything into a very short space and time.
Another item that has to do with landing the airplane is my comment about pitch and/or roll inputs in the flare (Vol. 2, No. 3). As I said in the first article, you are better off in the beginning to set thirteen alpha on short final and then control the rate of descent and the touchdown point with power. This will very nearly always result in the most consistent touchdowns. After you are sure that you do this repeatedly, then you can start making control inputs during the flare. The most important item to remember at this point is to make sure that the control inputs are small. And when I say small, I mean small. As I have said on more than one occasion, the F-16 is a very responsive airplane that does not take kindly to gross control inputs. Make your inputs when they are necessary, but keep thinking tiny.
Now having said all that, I must point out that I have found myself in heavy jet wash that required immediate and large inputs. So don’t sit there and feel that because I said small inputs that that is all there is to landing the F-16. The baseline I gave you is for consistent winds (including calm) and the absence of jet wash. Gusting winds, especially gusting crosswinds and the presence of somebody’s wake will require you to increase the frequency and magnitude of your control inputs right now. Another item that sometimes gets overlooked is the size of the required power corrections. On several occasions, I have seen people trying to row the aircraft around the pattern with the throttle. This is not the best technique either. Just as the airplane is very responsive to stick inputs, it is almost as responsive to power changes. Like the stick inputs, the power changes must be made as soon as they become necessary, but the size of them is much smaller than most other aircraft you may have been flying. Using the flight path marker, especially after you are established on final, will give you an immediate clue when the changes are necessary. And if you pay close attention, you will see you are making power changes on the order of one-half percent. So remember, on both counts timely but usually very small corrections result in the best approaches and landings.
The next item I have several questions about concerns the bite block I advocated using when you think you are going to be pulling a lot of g (Vol. 1, No. 2). This appliance is just one more thing to add to everything else that I described. It is nothing magic but adds to whatever else you are already doing. Make sure you describe the device correctly to the orthodontist when you ask for one. The device is not just a mouthpiece you may have been fitted for when you were playing football. I have heard it described two different ways. Some call it a TMJ appliance. TMJ is an abbreviation for temporomandibular joint. Others call it a MORA, which is short for mandibular orthopedic repositioning appliance.
As I said before, I saw an article describing the device in the 2 June 1980 issue of Sports Illustrated. The idea was the brainchild of a Dr. Richard Kaufman of Long Island, New York, for some of our Olympic luge team members. But I felt that it had some application to our business. I had one made and am now convinced that it works. Get the device made, snap it in your mouth, and go fly. Don’t just think about this new item to the exclusion of everything else you are doing. When added to the other things, I feel certain you will agree that it does increase your overall g tolerance. Remember, attention to details (all of them).
With the best of intentions on my part in describing the F-16 in Code One (Vol. 1, Nos. 1, 2, and 3), I still hear that some of you in the field are departing the airplane from time to time. Stop it. I made the point several times that, if you know just what the limiters do for the airplane, you should be able to take advantage of the flight control architecture to fly the airplane to the limits of the envelope without any fear of losing control of the airplane. If you smoothly approach the limiter, you will stay out of trouble.
Take note that, when I say smoothly, I don’t automatically mean slowly. The two do not necessarily have to happen together. When you are driving home in the evening, you don’t come abreast of your driveway and then rip the steering wheel a half turn or more left or right to turn into your drive. You wouldn’t expect A. J. Foyt to come roaring down the front straight at Indy and enter turn one by yanking the wheel hard left. Why do you think you can get away with it in an airplane? You can bet your buns that AJ is doing his damnedest to go faster than everybody else, and he is doing it by being smooth. I frequently use maximum roll rate commands, and I sometimes find myself against the AOA limiter. But I don’t ever try to get to these limiters instantaneously. And most certainly I do not try to get against both limiters at the same time.
A big part of your situational awareness in the middle of any kind of flying should include what you are doing with the stick. It should also be ingrained by now that the airplane behaves differently as you increase the altitude. A maneuver you can get away with impunity at 10,000 feet will sometimes result in an immediate departure at 40,000 feet. But, once again, earn the flying pay you are taking home. Situational awareness should be able to tell you your altitude plus or minus a couple of thousand feet without any conscious effort. Use your head for something other than a model for the PE guys to pour your formfit helmet over.
If you guys have any other questions, please let me know. I am always happy to try to clear up any concerns you may have about the Electric Jet. Keep the cards and letters coming.
Check Six!
