Flight Training - September 2014 - 28

FLYING CARPET

By Greg Brown

PLUS View the slideshow.

U.S. AIR FORCE Capt. Austin "Code" Brown
(front right) with the Pacific Air Forces F-16
Demonstration Team, Misawa Air Force Base,
Japan.

TIP OF THE SPEAR

FLYING AEROBATICS IN A F-16 VIPER

E

xhausted, Jean and I stumbled off a Japan Airlines 737 in
Misawa, at the remote northern tip of Honshu island. We
were here to visit our son and his family. Despite three days
of airline travel, piloting was far from my mind. With very
little general aviation in Japan, I'd steeled myself to forget flying for
three weeks. But that was about to change.

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the pilot was our son. Austin began flying with us as a child, standing to steer
in cruise before he could reach the yoke
from the seat. From then through his
teen years we flew together whenever
the opportunity arose. When Jean and
I bought the Flying Carpet for family
flying adventure, who could imagine
it would lead our then-15-year-old to a
coveted fighter-pilot career?
Now, following deployments around
the world, Austin was completing training for his new role as Pacific Air Forces
F-16 demonstration pilot. In this position
he'll represent our country and armed
forces performing at airshows in friendly
nations throughout Asia, from Japan to
Korea, Singapore, Australia, and India.
Team missions are to promote bilateral

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY STAFF SGT. TONG DUONG

Our daughter-in-law, Desi, greeted us
at the terminal and drove us to the other
side of Misawa Airport, a field shared
with the U.S. Air Force 35th Fighter Wing
and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force
3rd Air Wing. Following a stop for visitor
passes, we walked directly onto the base
flight line. Moments later the airport
temporarily closed.
"Capt. Austin Brown will now demonstrate the awesome power and
maneuverability of the General Dynamics
F-16 Fighting Falcon," said an airshow
announcer who was practicing with the
ground crew around a pickup truck. With
that, the Viper (as pilots prefer to call it)
began a 14-minute solo aerobatic routine.
To say our hearts leapt into our
throats would be an understatement, for

relations, reassure allied nations, and
showcase U.S. combat capabilities. What
unbelievable luck for mom and dad that
his final practice performances would
coincide with our arrival!
Along with traditional maneuvers
such as the Cuban 8, split S, and double
Immelmann turn, Austin showcased F-16
capabilities I found particularly astonishing as a lightplane pilot. For while the
above accumulated-energy maneuvers
can be accomplished by preaccelerating
in aerobatic piston aircraft, others are
hardly possible without the phenomenal thrust-to-weight ratio of a modern
fighter jet.
One Viper maneuver, for example, calls
for accelerating from a minimum-speed
high alpha pass on the backside of the
power curve (125 knots and 23 degrees
angle of attack), directly into an ear-splitting, straight-up "muscle climb." Imagine
powering your Cessna or Diamond from
slow flight directly into a vertical climb!
Another eye-opener was Austin's
knife-edge pass down the runway. In a
90-degree bank, the aircraft's lift comes
from the vertical stabilizer and rudder.
Obviously that requires unimaginable
engine power compared to what most of
us fly. And consider controlling pitch with
your rudder and using elevators for directional control! I later asked Austin which
maneuver he finds most challenging.
"Honestly, Dad, they're all tough in
different ways. So, how about the coolest?
The max climb goes straight vertical from
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Flight Training - September 2014

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