Geoff Thomas
A Lockheed Martin symposium entitled 'How to Watch an Air Show' proved an interesting diversion at Le Bourget yesterday. Somewhat surprisingly, it didn't advise attendees to stand with feet slightly apart, head tilted back and eyes wide open.
What it did do was to provide a fascinating insight into the life of a pair of display jet jockeys, as Lockheed Martin test pilots Bland Smith and Troy Pennington gave their attentive audience a run-down of display flying over the past half-century or more. Lockheed Martin aircraft - from the P-80 (which evolved into the T-33 Shooting Star), through the F-104 Starfighter, the F-111, the F-106, to today's F-16 - have all been displayed safely at Le Bourget.
Clearly, there's no hiding place for Lockheed Martin's display pilots, as each performance is recorded on video. Says Troy Pennington: "We learn from each other, usually taking it in turns to fly a display every other day."
When they're not flying displays around the world, the duo operate as Lockheed Martin F-16 test pilots, doing acceptance work and testing amendments and modifications. Bland Smith has 2,100 hours on F-16s, while Troy Pennington has 1,200 hours on the aircraft.
Prototype
Amazingly, it's now 24 years since the Lockheed YF-16 (the prototype of today's ultra-successful fighting machine) made its debut at Le Bourget.
Although it enjoyed only a fraction of the 29,000lb thrust available from the GE-F110-129 to today's display F-16 - and it had slightly smaller flying surfaces - the potential was clear.
The display being flown at Paris features a range of manoeuvres and involves pulling from -3g to +9g and a slow pass with a high angle-of-attack which is right on the maximum allowable of 260.
According to Bland Smith, the two pilots try and demonstrate the F-16's full range of capabilities, including agility, energy management, turn performance and acceleration.
"This enables us to push the throttles right forward and climb vertically, either on take-off or straight from a low-speed pass."
Speeds during the show range from 115kt to 450kt although this depends on the cloud base and whether a high or low programme is being flown.
Source: Flight Daily News
