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AvWeek editor tries F-16

  • Published
  • By Rob Sexton
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The typical visitor to Shaw is someone passing through the area who either is engaged in business on base or who needs services offered here.
So when a senior editor from "Aviation Week & Space Technology" arrived recently for an orientation flight in a 20th Fighter Wing F-16CJ Fighting Falcon, she was definitely not your ordinary visitor.

Amy Butler, senior Pentagon editor of "AvWeek," as the magazine is often called, came to gather first-hand data about the F-16 and the wing's defense suppression, or "Wild Weasel," mission.

Recently, Air Force leaders have been talking to the media about plans to upgrade many of the F-16's systems, and in some cases, the jet's physical structure. AvWeek has featured some of the conversations.

AvWeek claims to be the world's leading aerospace publication. The magazine's website says, "(with) over 1.2 million professionals in 185 countries, Aviation Week is the largest information and services provider to the global commercial, defense, maintenance/repair/overhaul, space and business aviation communities."
"The F-16 is an interesting story for AvWeek because, despite the fact that it has been in service so long, it has been progressively updated so that it's been kept current," Butler noted. "But they're at a point now where there are a lot of questions about whether or not to update again, whether or not they need structural upgrades, cockpit upgrades, radar upgrades, to keep it current.

"The question is," she went on, "How do you keep the F-16 viable against an evolving threat when your next-generation fighter is taking a bit longer than planners have foreseen? I thought this visit would be an interesting way to capture that at the operational level, and not just on PowerPoint at the Pentagon.
"I wanted to experience first-hand what the F-16 pilot experiences in the cockpit in a 'legacy' fighter, so I can be more educated in understanding how it and its avionics work . . . compared to the new generation of fighters coming in now and for the next 10 or 20 years."

Butler admitted she was excited about her first flight in an Air Force fighter. Her only previous fast jet experiences were with a Boeing test pilot in the F-18F Super Hornet and in a British Aerospace Hawk trainer. Her other military flights were in helicopters and transports.

Shaw's 79th Fighter Squadron "Tigers" hosted Butler for her flight. From her arrival, she found herself immersed in the culture and functions of the wing and the squadron.
Her pilot was Capt. Josh "Switch" Larsen, 79th FS A-flight commander. Although Larsen has flown numerous orientation flights in the wing's two-seat, D-model Falcons, this was his first media flight.

"It was humbling to have this responsibility," he said. Larsen also escorted his passenger through her pre-flight process. "I was grateful for the fantastic support received from all the other base agencies to help make the experience a success for her," he added.

Regarding her pilot, Butler said, "Captain Larsen was fun. For the confidence of a civilian like me about to take a flight in a fighter, that was first and foremost. He definitely had a calming effect on me. Also, he's an instructor pilot, so he was good at briefing me in advance before each phase of the mission. As we were doing things, he was . . . able to walk me through in real time or near-real time so I knew what was happening.

"One thing that - not surprisingly and certainly not uniquely -- struck me was how physically and mentally taxing the flights are. That is, of course, why training is so important, to both acclimate the body and train the mind to make sure the habits needed to get through flights and execute a mission are second nature," Butler commented.
Butler's first F-16 article from her Shaw visit, "In the Viper," is available here: www.aviationweek.com/blogs