F-16 Viper Walkaround Maj Garret Schmitz

Maj. Garret Schmitz gives a detailed Walkaround tour of the F-16 Viper Demo aircraft.

[@g412bb]

The F-16 still being produced after 40 years old is a true statement of how great of an aircraft it is. It has evolved way beyond it's original intent and still manages to be competitive. Hats off to the people who make/maintain/fly them. Don't think many other aircraft come close to this one both past and future.

[@tomast9034]

if considered that it was a widowmaker when it first came out its a very good plane nowdays.

[@g412bb]

@@tomast9034 The F-16 was never nicked as a "widowmaker" to my knowledge. The main problem in the early days was the reliability of the F100 engine which pushed the limits to hard. A few F-16 were lost due to this but nothing like the F-104 which was a much more dangerous plane and appropriately did get the name widowmaker.

[@tomast9034]

@@g412bb maybe i overdid it bit. :D there was a movie called widowmaker or something , not the K-19. some lawsuites against lockheed martin on pilots deaths in the f-16, or a different plane?.... was looong time ago and uncle google aint helping much either.

[@czoom51]

@@g412bb I think "widowmaker" operates in the same space as "lawn dart" it is a colloquial term to define the context of an aircraft's characteristics.

[@Dick_Dawson_Rad]

@@g412bb I remember an old news magazine show, 20/20 or 60 minutes, doing a segment on the F16 and its problem with controlled flight into terrain. Basically, an otherwise normal aircraft flying straight into the ground. This happened several times. There was a couple of lawsuits back then from pilots families trying to get answers as to what happened to their loved ones. A new software upgrade was developed for ground avoidance that takes over flight of the aircraft to avoid ground collision. I think that fixed the problem.

[@chevyon37s]

Gotta love a pilot who not only knows his systems well, but how they work!

[@mgn5667]

they probably all do or they wouldnt be flying

[@mindsoulbody]

Sorry to say but you don't realize...they HAD to study the entirety of the aircraft. This is true for ALL pilots. Specially fighter pilots. Those commercial pilots who fly commercial jets also KNOW a lot about hardware and software of the aircraft.

[@chevyon37s]

@@mindsoulbody absolutely they’ve had to study it. But passing a test about it and actually being able to understand them to be able to explain the systems is above your average pilot even in the USAF.

[@mindsoulbody]

@@chevyon37s you haven't seen the documentaries on how hard those tests are for being a pilot. Not just skill in education but also in physical, mental aptitude. That is true especially for usaf. In those study alone they learn everything from inside out of an aircraft. The stuff this pilot explained even a dcs simulator user can explain like it's nothing. These info nothing new. Also it's a matter of hiring a willing pilot to talk about it. Nothing else. If you think talking about what he said requires extra something... Just look at the level of tests they need to pass on aircraft know-inside-out.

[@arcanondrum6543]

@@mindsoulbody Indeed. That makes hiding MCAS even more criminal.

[@strikeeaglechase1582]

The thing he said he couldn't talk about is the RWR antennas, there are one on each wing (and likely more in different spots on the aircraft) and allow it to detect the type and direction of radar threats

[@mindsoulbody]

Yes but not the SPECIFIC of those antennas or the system that works to make RWR tick...

[@BoldUlysses]

Love the video. The most impressive thing may be the way Maj. Schmitz manages to maintain concentration over the music...

[@mattg5978]

You call that music!? 😂

[@trespire]

On our base, there was an air superiority squadron of F-16C's. This squadron was on quick reaction duty 24/7 even on Yom Kipur and holidays, the pilots just meters away from the jets. I have whitnessed first hand F-16 go from standstill to wheels off the runway at under 4 seconds, albeit with a light configuration. On a side note : Fear of hydazine was driven into us. We were told if one drop hits the floor, the whole shop had one minute to evacuate the area.

[@camf7522]

The F16, still looks modern. One of my favourite military jets.

[@opmike343]

Hard to believe it's nearly 50 years old, now. Just wow.

[@mgn5667]

it is awesome if it was just a wee bit shorter it would make the most awesome civilian jet ever.. of course thats wishing ... oh i lov this jet ..and the other jet F15 my hero > my fav sayying is send the 15's

[@LostCloudx4]

I love how these pilots seem to struggle to put things into words and describe everything. They've been flying them so much for so long everything on the aircraft becomes natural & part of them, it's almost poetic. Thanks again for these incredible videos especially filming in difficult conditions (noise, distractions etc etc)

[@buzzfightbeer8023]

This will always be my favorite aircraft. So beautiful, nimble, and powerful.

[@westernblood3732]

This was a fantastic look at the F-16 Viper! Thank you for sharing this. Informative and entertaining, even the minutiae...been a fan of this jet since I was a kid living near Luke AFB.

[@hamzeevlogs6]

Thanks for the amazing walkaround Maj.

[@johnjacobjingleheimerschmi3857]

One of sexiest Fighters ever built. Missed the Cannon but the footage of it in flight and the F-16's manuverability was fantastic. Cool to see it alongside the P-51... My grandfather worked at Packard building Merlin's during WWII.

[@mason9483]

Best looking fighter ever made in the USA!

[@triedproven9908]

Best performing aswell.

[@Brady.John87]

No way F14 Tomcat is the sexiest hands down LoL

[@rumbepack]

The F-22 as far ah I know is a fighter.......

[@trespire]

@Mason F-16 have a very distinctive shape, form follows function, a beautufull little jet. But my heart remains loyal to the F-4 Phantom, in perticular the F-4 Kurnass of IAF 69th squadron "Hammers" The US make some outstanding fighter jets, and other aircraft like the CH53 and C130, all worked hard and put to good use by the Israeli Air Force. Thank you America !

[@nathankaye1577]

Fact 👍 The F35 is the biggest heap of Lego ever built. It has 10% of the electronics its surpossed to have. The Spitfire out wins the F35 by a Million Points.

[@shreddinjoe]

Wow..30,000 lbs of thrust...testament to what a marvel jet engines have become...the fuel consumption is also astronomical...what a gorgeous sexy bird the F-16 is..just beautiful.

[@aug9676]

One half of the mighty Tomcat . GE 110

[@hercengmech]

I flew with Garret in UPT. Great pilot and even better dude!

[@davenz000]

Killer drum synth built into that plane.

[@tacoenvy]

Awesome video man! Your walkaround videos are some of the best ever.

[@snareskillz]

Toro Schmitz! What a solid dude and fantastic instagram channel!

[@cobalt2361]

Yo that bit flying alongside the P-51 was fucking dope

[@spoke1183]

F-16 and Mig 29 are my favorite aircrafts. Great video.

[@trespire]

Our barraks, which built by the RAF during the Mandatorial period, were about 100 meters off to one side of the aproach and landing path to one of the runways. I used to fall a sleap to the spooling up and down of Phantoms (Kurnass) and F-16s (Barak) comming in to land on nights where there were night flights. When at home on leave, I often woke up missing the sound of fighter jets coming in to land, only to realize I was at home and not on base.

[@ti1ion]

Very nice walkaround. Thanks for posting it.

[@claywynn9837]

The viper demo is the most aggressive air show I've ever seen. It's fangs out the whole time

[@JohnAdams-qc2ju]

Thanks for the F16 vid!

[@JayEss414]

A fantastic video , great channel !

[@rivian4139]

i sooo enjoyed this video. Pilot is excellent explaining stuff with simple and fun way. Thanks for sharing,

[@whtlightnn]

Awesome...I was TODAY years old when I found out the first two numbers were the year the aircraft was built! Whoa!

[@johnosbourn4312]

Another great video, Erik!

[@JackMyersPhotography]

F-16 Fighting Falcon is still an amazing jet.

[@kf168]

Thanks. now I’m 100% convinced to buy this jet.

[@adamluke1289]

Another awesome video!

[@eddy8828]

What a great video & what a great guy Major Garret who is so cool and brainy. US military blessed to have bright men and possibly the best flying jets in the world. 👍❤️

[@axepilot]

Awesome paint job!

[@Nexala17]

Was just about to try and sleep and THIS pops up…we will try to sleep again in 32 minutes

[@gummsingi8591]

My fave plane!!!! No more words needed.

[@SouthShine01]

great tour!

[@MisteriosGloriosos922]

*Amazing video, Well done!!!*

[@marvhill861]

F16's are the best.

[@arcanondrum6543]

"The Fighter Mafia" was the small group behind the creation of the F-16 and the A-10 Thunderbolt II (most of you know it as the Warthog). That's an impressive resumé.

[@nakotaapache4674]

great explanations around the Viper. On of my icone fighter plane.

[@jiveturkey9993]

Excellent video.

[@KowboyUSA]

Who hasn't wished they were piloting a F-16 at one time or dozens.

[@mattlance646]

Arguably the best dogfighting and airshow demo jet ever built until the F-22 Raptor! 40 years old and still kicking ass was supposed to be replaced by the F-35 but the F-16 just won't go away and retire and won't for awhile! Who wouldn't want to fly the Viper!

[@michaelchen7203]

love video like these , love f16 viper , looking foward for f15 or f14 video :)

[@philipjesse2271]

That controversial wing part still has me wondering lol good video .

[@Flight.Companion]

Super Awesome video on F-16

[@nakotaapache4674]

You live something i only dream of since my childhood. i live in germany and was born 1974. and i am proud of the planes era im living in from the early historic times till now. And the F16 and some other great developed fighters at my age. For me was games like DCS the small alternative also to experience alot of variety of planes and they differences.

[@taylorboren6105]

Thank God! An answer to the whistle!

[@aeror115]

This is so awesome!

[@MrCyp200la]

Awesome video

[@wgmskiing]

The 4500lb missile on the wingtip reduces the stress on the wing vs clean. That's one reason it was once fashionable to install tip tanks on all kinds of aircraft.

[@rogerbiggerstaff3293]

They don't hang anything weighing 4,500lbs on the wing tip. AMRAAM weighs under 400lbs.

[@LAT-qk3vj]

Freaking Awesome! Thanks!

[@josephrosenbaum3343]

the Antenna at 19:56 are one of the receivers for the ALR-56M RWR system, not really sure why he can't talk about that one lmao

[@czoom51]

Just because you can find some public information about a system doesn't mean the military permits personnel to talk about it.

[@danielhandika8767]

He don't want to accidentally giving sensitive information to the public

[@SparkySven]

Truly amazing and great informative video and airshow ending. Thank you so much in sharing. Greetings from Belgium VR MSFS2020 enthusiast

[@boggy8557]

Loving all the walkaround vids. Would be great if you could do one with an Av8b before they get phased out!

[@marekmazur2925]

I love F-16!

[@marekmazur2925]

...and still flying in DCS world ;)

[@jiveturkey9993]

That band in the background doing a sound-check sound pretty good.

[@chriscobble9597]

I want and like those patches he's wearing. 👍🐍

[@spacedreamz3820]

mint video love the guy jaming in the back hahah adds to it

[@christiankeen1644]

This guy is awesome.

[@zorankalina6100]

Prity nice looking viper🙂👍 All the best from Cr🌞atia🍀👋

[@watomb]

He’s a good sales man. For some reason when your on a base the aircraft sound different than when your at a show(less loud). Maybe it’s just me

[@directiondriller4536]

Красивая птица👍

[@Tjetz777]

♥️ the F-16

[@ray.shoesmith]

A genuine fighter aircraft

[@andrewtate7407]

Thanks!

[@JohnAdams-qc2ju]

Reminds me pre-covid. Office next to a 'small but busy' airport next to an airforce base and got to see their full line-up flying/landing on a 6th story building with nothing blocking the runways from view (maybe a mile away).

[@leftypick4854]

Painted at Shaw AFB? 363rd? Bunch of RF-4Cs, OV-2's and OV-10's over there when I was a snot. Me and my buddy Mike put a frog in the freezer at some Iris Circle's empty house. Even got to hand feed squirrels too. Three speed bike all the way out of the base to go to school. Meantime Charleston AFB had all those slick A-7's. No way. 😛

[@oisiaa]

I want to see a detailed walk around of the BAC Jet Provost. Cool little side by side British trainer.

[@Mr7826]

My two favorite USAF aircraft are the Fighting Falcon and the WartHog.., ass kicking old birds.

[@automagni]

So the first two numbers on the vertical stabilizer is the year the aircraft was manufactured, heh you learn something new everyday!

[@ArktikosAdventures]

Man! what are they teaching these pilots? (1)The ventral fins are not there to protect the tail. He should know that. They give increased lateral stability especially at high AOA where the fuselage would be blocking much of the air flow to the vertical stab. Even if they did go beyond the safe AOA on landing, the engine nozzle will still hit first as well as the speed brakes. (2)The static wicks do not protect the jet from getting hit by lightning, he is right in that they dissipate static energy but that is so the radio and navigation equipment will work properly. (3)This jet has a GE engine so the exhaust nozzle CENC is controlled by engine oil and will not make that "fweeeep" noise he is talking about. The P&W F100 sereis engines do though and are controlled by air and therefore the "Fweeeep" sound. Great vid though. Brings back some good memories turning wrenches on them. Cheers!

[@HotPasta2122]

Hit the nail on the head

[@n1msu]

this comment is really annoying me. You're making so many claims and basically insulting this pilot's intelligence. The proof you've given of being involved with this aircraft is as a tech. Where were you based? Pilots fly planes; the amount of airliner pilots who have minimum knowledge of automated systems is probably moderate. Pilots like flying, not learning how to fly and be an aircraft tech. Stick to your hunting in Norway or whatever you're doing. But don't shit on the pilot in this video, without proving your own knowledge first.

[@HotPasta2122]

@@n1msu I've worked F-16s for 10 years in the USAF and can validate that the above comment is correct. Pilots are awesome at what they do but it's very common for some of them to not have a full understanding of certain components. That's why the mechanics are the technical experts.

[@n1msu]

​@@HotPasta2122 If this is true, I'm not going to argue. I know in Civ aviation; there seems to be a lot of pilots who know very little about the aircraft because they're not expected to. I think in mil aviation it would be better to try to educate the pilots or at least give them the opportunity to learn more. Thanks for your reply and service. My Grandad was a spitfire and hurricane tech in RAF back in WWII. I'll never forget his stories and whilst we don't have the falcons in the RAF, I wish we did!

[@melvinelder3587]

I’ll agree with you on the first one, he should definitely know that. The rest is just pilot stuff, majority of pilots aren’t made to understand certain components but rather just what they are. The engine nozzle one, likely he came from a different block jet and now flying this one and still used to his primary jet. I’m not a jet guy so I really wouldn’t know. 🤷🏻‍♂️.

[@jorgesotovalenzuela848]

Awesome ¡¡ Is a Block 50 serie ?

[@shem4598]

Erik keep it up 👍 and something about soviet planes, please

[@midnightrider1100]

Liked seeing the F16 alongside the P51. I always felt the F16 was the modern version of the P51.

[@hololightful]

Don't understand why we couldn't see the cockpit when they're is so much out there already

[@koekiejam18]

28:10 if im not mistaken this is only on the block 02's (block 32/42/52) and most older (export) models. because this sound is specifically caused by the Pratt and Whitney engine that these planes have and if im again not mistaken this doesnt happen with the General Electric engines

[@ardemartini]

Correct.

[@182QKFTW]

Handcrafted in Fort Worth, Carswell (AFB) KNFW! Go 301st Spads

[@destinationlunar]

they need to make like a block 55 or whatever number we are at now with the damn litening pod built in so we can put something else on that station! they also need to wire both those station to hold a couple of the little LGB's like the 250lb bomb the drones carry!

[@fgeorge7434]

The bottom tail two fins panels (Quille s ) are put there for canceling side-slip at higher AOA not to prevent tail strike look at this video minute 8:15 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKHNhIOrfLSjm5Y

[@roachcoachhelis6387]

Okay can you please tell me the difference between a Viper and a Fighting Falcon

[@ukmarsadelaide]

Does anyone know when the canopy is clear and when it has a smoked/darker appearance. Seems to be random choice from what I can see,

[@Skydivingkittens]

Dang, now I wanna know what that 'nub' was at 19:55. I'm guessing it has something to do with RWR

[@agent_pp1736]

My dad used to do avionics on the f16 now he does avionics on a10s

[@mgn5667]

....Yes

[@johnsmith-yj2cn]

can we get that skin in dcs

[@evermar1]

When did the F-16 change from the Falcon to the Viper? still the most beautiful plane out there.

[@ginacalabrese3869]

The pilots have always referred to them as Vipers. Falcon was what the Air Force decided to call it but it never stuck with the pilots. Same sort of thing with the A-10 which is formally known as the Thunderbolt II but the pilots and pretty much everyone else calls them Warthogs.

[@blackbird4062]

20:58 They weight reduces wing flex when pulling high G. It would have more of an issue if there was no missile.

[@ppipowerclass]

I very clearly remember Chuck Yeager saying " That, to me, is a stupid instrument. It tells you what your angle of attack is. If you don't know, you shouldn't be flying! ". The 25 degree AoA reminded me of that haha

[@Inspadave]

Yeager was not the end all of all things aviation. The AOA vanes are an absolute necessity on a high performance aircraft like the Viper.

[@182QKFTW]

That's a true aviator. Not one relying automation to save his arse! (AOA is great tho!)

[@jontrout2010]

I'd make the argument that the air data computer is using the AoA data a lot more than the pilot is ;)

[@mrlt1151]

@@Inspadave I bet the Viper wouldn't be flyable without its advanced flight computers and sensors, and the dynamic instability that you need them for, is part of what makes it what it is.

[@mgn5667]

Chuck Yeager was frowned Upon bye his Superiors During WW2 a German Focke Wulf 190 Shot him down head on at his 1 o''clock...they didnt let him fly for couple yrs.. ...he told the story

[@tomast9034]

instalike :D have one in dcs but never flew it yet lol.

[@whtlightnn]

31:21 nozzle adjustment whistle he was talking about?

[@midnighttutor]

Who's flying the P-51?

[@dimitrisblane6368]

where can i hear the "woop woop" noise when landing??

[@AAa-cf1oe]

💚

[@jmkenny]

Guess they dont just let anybody fly those things LOL seriously loved this one!

[@crescentandstarglory]

He looks like Iceman from Top Gun.

[@teddyballgame4823]

The cockpit looks like you are sitting on top of the jet.

[@spacejaime]

Just ran into your channel. Great video! You may know (or not) if the conforming fuselage tanks create additional drag, enough to affect top speed? In watching a video last year, I saw a few Belgian Air Force F-16's with conforming tanks, but none of ours had them. Military doctrine? Are we just sticking with conventional drop tanks?

[@barrymccockiner6641]

I think it has more to do with the US availability of in air refueling, vs the other nations not having that native capability.

[@fonesrphunny7242]

Everything you attach to an aircraft externally will increase drag. Even something as small as a pitot tube. An F-16 without CFTs will always perform better than on without, assuming everything else is identical.

[@barrymccockiner6641]

@@fonesrphunny7242 Right, and that's why Belgium, and other nations, need to consider them when they're doing their own thing at home, and the USAF can just find another tanker instead.

[@spacejaime]

@@barrymccockiner6641 - I have to agree with you.

[@StromBugSlayer]

The Israelis make extensive use of them.

[@nelenele246]

No cockpit?

[@erikgomez3683]

Are you going to do a f22 raptor walk around video

[@ErikJohnston]

Would love to. Need to put that together

[@marcusrussell8660]

I heard the Viper was getting vectored thrust