f16 question

[cessna_driver2]

When did f-16 go from being Falcons to Vipers?

I am assume that when Vipers are talked about you guys acutally mean the F-16. I can't think of any other fighter that it might be.

Please correct if I'm wrong:
F-15 = eagles
F-117 = night hawk / Wobbly Goblin
F-16 = Falcon / viper ?
F-111 = aardvark (retired ?)
F-22 = Raptor

 

[chawbein]

It's what Fighting Falcon pilots call their airplane because they can't stand the name "Fighting Falcon".

 

[stlpilot]

I thought I heard somewhere that the "viper" is what the pilots call it and "fighting falcon" is what the media calls it. I Could be wrong though.

 

[Draginass]

F-15 Eagles, Light Greys
F-15E Mudhens, Dark Greys
B-1s BONE. That name was unofficially adopted after some knucklehead reporter printed the B-1 designation as "B-ONE." Official USAF name is "Lancer." NOBODY calls it the "Lancer," except idiot reporters." Lancer was supposidly picked after some sort of naming competition. In reality it must have been picked by some homosexual at HQ.
B-52 BUFF. Official name Stratofortress. BUFF stand for BIG UGLY FAT F****R.
F-117 Called a Cockroach by airborne controllers.
KC-135 Tank. Official name Stratotanker. Often called a "Toad" by controllers, as in . . . . . . "Panther 21, be advised that you have a Toad and 2 Cockroaches northbound on AR 21, FL 290."

 

[GumbyDarnit]

The F-16 is called a Viper by those who fly it cuz it strikes hard (STS) and fast! A falcon is a little wimpy bird that doesn't do much to strike fear in anything bigger than a mouse. I think the falcon was stuck on the Viper by the Eagle Mafia in a feeble attempt to keep a superior platform down.

In the old days we called the F-117 "the black jet". But we weren't thinking very well because we were always so F*^#@ing tired we couldn't think. Wobbly Goblin is no good, what the he77 is a Wobbly Goblin anyway. The jet flys very nice and smooth, it is not wobbly. I hear a lot of guys call it the stink bug, but I prefer cockroach cuz it is really ugly and only comes (STS) out in the dark.

Viper Drivers used to call the Eagle a Rhodan because during aerobraking it kinda reminded a person of Godzilla's nemisis Rhodan. Don't hear it very often anymore. I think that is because we just don't talk about the Eagle at all because they don't have much relavance as a combat platform having only one mission. Air-to-Air is something to be done on the way to killing bad guys by the hundreds or thousands instead of one by one. Much of this post is meant totaly as flame bait. Who's up (STS) to it.

I am Gumby Darnit

 

[JimNtexas]

About the time the F-16 came out there was a science fiction TV show called "Battlestar Galtatica". This show had space fighters they called "vipers". The TV "vipers" used an F-16 sim for a cockpit.

Between the TV show,the embarrassment of "fighting falcon", and the fact that the F-16 is really a bad-a*s airplane, the "Viper" name has stuck.

During its approximately 25 years of service the F-111 never had an official name, but everyone called it an "Aardvark" or "Vark". On it's last day of service the F-111 was officially named the "Aardvark".

The mighty EF-111 variant had the official name "Raven" and flew a few years longer than the bomber model. It was also called a "Sparkvark" or "Fat Tail".

They still fly F-111s in Australia, where they call it the "Pig".

 

[Bustamove]

alternate names

I guess we better have a Navy rep, too if there's going to be flame:

S-3 Viking: Hoover (from the woop woop of its engines)
E-2 Hawkeye: Hummer (also from its engines. Had the name before women flew them for those whose minds wander in that direction)
EA-6B Prowler: Electric because of its jamming mission
A-6 Intruder: Curiously none really stuck. Have heard Drum Stick, LUFF, Double Ugly, but nothing universal
F-14 Tomcat: Turkey from its planform with wings spread
F-4 Phantom: Rhino (same as USAF)
A-7 Corsair: Harley, at least that's what they called themselves
F/A-18 Hornet: Mostly they just call for gas. Speaking of which...
Any Tanker: Texaco, as in "Diamond 304 Texaco 10:00, 3 miles, angels 8" followed by a seat cushion being released from a sphincter.
Helos: They're too nervous from all those moving parts and broken rules of physics to make up names. Best quote I ever heard on a boat, though, was from a helo bud over midrats: "You fighter guys talk a big game but you all look the same coming up the rope. Wet, cold and scared."

 

[46Driver]

The CH-53E (73,000+ lbs) earned the name $hitter because its so big, its like sitting on your toilet and flying your whole house. My bird (CH-46) is called the Phrog on a good day and "the whistling $hitcan of death" on days when it is broken (most of them...)

 

[DaveGriffin]

OT but still F-16 related

How do you Viper drivers think the airplane will do in its new CAS role, as it replaces the A-10?

A low flying, single engine zoomer without much armor seems like a bad idea for many reasons. Didn't small arms fire bring one down in 1991?

I guess the AF will count on the precision-guided munitions to do the work and keep the airplane above 10,000 ft.

Even if they do get permission to get low, I am not sure an F-16 can fly slow enough for optimal CAS.

 

[GumbyDarnit]

Bustamove,

When the Air Force flew the A-7 it was informally called the Short Little Ugly F*&%$er (SLUF).

DaveGriffin,

What do you mean new CAS role. We've been doing CAS since we've been hauling iron which would mean the beginning. We weren't as good as the Hog drivers because we didn't spend as much time at it as them. There is some truth to being Jack of all trades, master of none. You are correct when saying the AF will probably use precision munitions and stay above 10,000 feet. About needing a slower speed for doing optimal CAS. I don't think that has anything to do with it. For instance did you know that BUFFS and BONES did a lot of very effective CAS work in Afghanistan with JDAMS and datalink info from the ground parties. Technology should allow us to think outside the container. All that being said, let us never forget that when the grunts on the ground are in trouble, there is no weapon too short for a brave man. That means we use the gun if we must.

I am Gumby Darnit

 

[cessna_driver2]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the 411.

But what is up w/ all the (STS) I know some from my father and USAF, but that one draws a blank.

 

[GumbyDarnit]

so to speak (STS). A mandatory silly lexicon for anyone that has every been stationed remote to korea. The silliness must be added to any speech that contains anything that could remotely be construed as sexual. Sex is very important to a bunch of hard-dick fighter pilots, especially if there is none to be had for a year or so. There is a 24 hour currency associated, and if you are current then the silly lexicon is "and I can say that". Examples of speech requiring (STS) or "I can say that"; come, hard, wet, go down, etc. There are two Fruedien words that can never be so to speaked, the are Cranium and Container. I can't even bring myself to write them down here now, because I'm not current. They can never be so to speaked, but whenever you are current you certainly want to announce to the world in a loud and clear voice. "I think I will go down to the head and take a leak, AND I CAN SAY THAT!"

Welcome to silly fighter pilot games of Kusan Air Base Republic of Korea.

 

[rainman_02]

B-52 BUFF. Official name Stratofortress. BUFF stand for BIG UGLY FAT F****R.

Can't forget the C-5 Galaxy. FRED (F'in Rediculous Economic Disaster).

 

[cessna_driver2]

so to speak (STS). A mandatory silly lexicon for anyone that has every been stationed remote to korea. The silliness must be added to any speech that contains anything that could remotely be construed as sexual. Sex is very important to a bunch of hard-dick fighter pilots, especially if there is none to be had for a year or so. There is a 24 hour currency associated, and if you are current then the silly lexicon is "and I can say that". Examples of speech requiring (STS) or "I can say that"; come, hard, wet, go down, etc. There are two Fruedien words that can never be so to speaked, the are Cranium and Container. I can't even bring myself to write them down here now, because I'm not current. They can never be so to speaked, but whenever you are current you certainly want to announce to the world in a loud and clear voice. "I think I will go down to the head and take a leak, AND I CAN SAY THAT!"

Welcome to silly fighter pilot games of Kusan Air Base Republic of Korea.

I'm kinda glad I was 8 when I visited Korea while stationed in Okinawa.

So anything that has a sexual nature (IF your not current) will be followed by STS. You guys are twisted.

I like.