*Pierre Sprey* : claims to have designed the F-16/15 *H.J. Hillaker* : "You're not that guy."

Pierre sprey was NOT an aviation engineer. He was a record producer, do research

The fighter maffia where not good designers They also said that these things are useless: radar, radio, advanced sensors, missiles and other things that are crucial in today’s air to air landscape

When he said fighter mafia, the laserpig inside me woke up

The Light Fighter Mafia (later rebranded itself the "Fighter Mafia" after the F-15 was a rousing success that combined high performance and heavy payload in one airframe) was far less influential than they want people to think in historical retrospect. They were right in broad strokes, but the way they were right is actually extremely trivial (and they were extremely guilty of pushing things like James Burton's horrifically flawed "Blitzfighter" concept that would have gotten every single man flying it killed - and no, Blitzfighter was not a "precursor" to the A-10 Warthog, it was an attempt to design a smaller, stripped-down, COMPLETELY VULNERABLE A-10 Warthog and it was laughed out of the room every time it was introduced). "A plane with high thrust and low weight will be a better dogfighter than a plane with moderate thrust and high weight"? NO FUCKING SHIT! The LFM wanted to take the things that made the F-16 a worthwhile fighter aircraft away from it, and leave it as a single-engine light fighter with a maximum capacity of four Sidewinders - and they didn't even really want the Sidewinders.

Pierre sprey and the fighter mafia being given any credit is a massive red flag to the validity of anything said in this video tbh They were horrible designers with wrong predictions, Sprey wasnt even a designer he was a jazz label producer who lied to gain fame with his ludicrous claims

I find it funny that Hillaker was the only member of the Fighter Mafia who was actually qualified to design a plane, and he tends to be among the lesser known members due to being one of the more reserved ones and even began to distance himself from the group in later years, wich I think speaks volumes.

Ah, the American version of the Saab 35 Draken.

The rumored F-36 Kingsnake makes use of a wing similar to the F-16XL.

Nice thing about the 16 being a cheap parts collection and modular from the start is that it can also serve as the basis for a shitload of experiments, hence why NASA loves them as a starting point.

Ahh the falcon dorito *Wizard squadron flashbacks*

AMERICAN DORITO PLANE

This is why we have LazerPig on speed dial.

The F-16XL has nothing in common with the Eurocanards. The cranked arrow wing was designed for super-cruise, not for high manoeuvrability.

Lol my man actually hyping up the Fighter Mafia

The wing design from 1955 Swedish Draken. 60 years later US engineers copied the design 😂

I have been waiting for a video on this aircraft. Thank you.

This gives me Ace Combat nostalgia

f16 in an oversized hoodie

Funny how the Fighter mafia claims to hate missiles while they claim to build aircraft with lots of missiles on them

After I got to sit in the F16 as a kid when my did flew the BudLight MicroJet in the Airshows, I was hooked on it! It's still my favorite fighter... I'm surprised those new integrated Fuel Tanks don't affect the Performance of it

Thank you for the video, I read an article about these about 1990 or so and wondered why I never saw them again. It's no wonder they were outclassed by the f-15. Another mystery solved.

Oh, to see it come back, with Conformal Fuel Tanks, DSI air intake, GE engine with thrust vectoring and bl. 70 built and avionics, hardpoints rewired for SDBs / JAGMs.... and YF-16 vertical stabilizer for good measure.

This is one of my all time favorite 'what-if' fighters! I would love to see your take on the Lockheed Martin FB22, which is the ultimate 'I wish they built it' plane IMO!

US Air force wanted F-16s.. The designers had half of DARPA funds.. just to create an F-16 based on Tejas Aircraft of India 😂😂😂

I’ve always wondered why this project couldn’t be revived and sold primarily to foreign governments. I also have thought that the F-16XL could have been paired with a revived F-20 program, the proposed upgraded F-5, as an export only, technology transfer program. Both being sold as a low cost, multi-role, air/ground/interceptor system, with overlapping technologies, interchangeable avionics and engines.

I was hoping for you to make a video about the f-16XL , thanks you very much ❤

You might wanna do your homework. The young man standing beside Hillaker in that photo is Andy Lewis, son of then General Dynamics CEO David Lewis. He's the only reason that the two XL airframes ever got built. The program was originally called SCAMP, a supersonic cruise aircraft that somehow got morphed into a bomb dump truck. The two XL aircraft had good sustained turn performance due to their low wing loading, but otherwise they were total pigs. The wings were GD's first large scale use of graphite-epoxy, and as such were VERY conservative in their design (the wing skins being over a inch thick at the root). When the first XL was rolled out of the north end of the factory for reporters, it promptly sat on it's tail once the tow bar was removed from the nose gear, it was THAT tail heavy. lol How do I know all this? I was there.

I've seen that exact F-16XL (the one at 11:07) as a static display on the apron at the 2022 Edwards AFB Airshow.

The F-16XL looks like it took the same design direction / logic with mirage F1 that was primarily ground attack aircraft and secondary a " fighter"

F-16 eXceeding the Limit

Thanks, Found & Explained. I need me some laserpig thinking.

I always liked this thing cause it's like someone needed a new truck design, so they started with their best little 2 seat sportscar design.

Still sad to see the blasphemy of Fighter Mafia being spread around, I've lost all respect for Pierre Spray. And regarding the F16XL, regarding how much of a significant improvement it was in all aspects, from weaponry, range, payload, fuel economy, etc; the air force really should've kept the F16XL. Would've opened up so many options for it today.

Yes my favorite jet from Ace Combat

Yes the F-16XL was a good plane, but so was the F-15E and that plane just fit the strike fighter needs better. Remember, this was a competition to replace the F-111 so it had big shoes to fill in speed, range and payload capacity.

i know someone who has a RC jet one of these and it uses a real jet engine,cool to know some of its history

Did.....did you just called the F-111 "The F - triple one" ???

The Thicc F 16 would have been a fine addition to the USAF. Just like the F 23 Black Widow

2:37 ND Air National Guard Happy Hooligans, my local unit hell ya.

Only if it was bit cheaper so it could compete with F-16 not F-15

Wing planform is suspiciously akin to the genius SAAB Draken.

The fact that the XL never went into production should have been a crime. :)

F-16XL was definitely one of the great what if

The F16XL is my favorite jet that never got a chance. It's a gorgeous design.

Imagine this with the 3d thrust vectoring F-16 engine built for the Vista, you’d get the F-16U, “U” standing for “ultimate”

I love your videos also can you talk about orion nuclear pulse rocket not the space battleship the manned and cargo versions please

the editing gets better with every video

Yea

6:31 I seriously love how those Alaskan F-16s are painted with the Russian liveries 😂

So apparently the Intrepid museum has been hiding an F-16?! Finally saw it when I went for the eclipse, and dang, it's adorably (and lethally) tiny.

I remember first seeing this version or something very much like it in a Chevy Chase film from 1983 called ‘Deal of the Century’ which also featured combat between it and an advanced UAV. The movie wasn’t very good but I thought those scenes were pretty rad for the time.

SCAMP was original purpose of the XL, not multirole combat. You don't supercruise and maneuver at supersonic speed when lugging bombs under the wings. The emphasis on bombing came later when the design was repurposed and entered in the Enhanced Tactical Fighter competition, was was won by the F-15E. The video omits the fact that the XL didn't really achieve supercruise until it was later given a more powerful engine by NASA. It also doesn't mention that the XL was inferior to the production F-16 in subsonic high G maneuvering due to greater energy bleed.

F-16XL is what the F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart, F-104 Starfighter and F-4 Phantom supposed to be. However, the problem with the F-16XL is the intended role has been filled by F-15C and F-15EX, also the F-16V and the Navy counterpart F/A-18E/F can do the same ground strike missions at the same time carry air to air missiles for self defense. On the other hand, how to compete against Rafale in the international market is a big question.

I love the f-16, it's a beauty

I love how many people in this comment section watched that one lazerpig video and now think they're aerospace engineering experts lol

Been waiting for this plane

2:48 What are those? Did you make a video about those things? They look super cool!

Also, the XF-17 later became the F/A-18 for the Navy and it also used a bit of the "cranked wing" design.

The USAF may use the F16 for strike missions a lot but for many export customers it is their air superiority aircraft. Hillaker got it right the first time. The second version F16XL would have been great for its intended role too.

Both of the F-16XLs are at Edwards AFB's Flight Test Museum's on base air part.

Another great video and in my opinion, the F-16XL is a fighter that should have been built. That extra range and payload capability looks really good today.

One of my all-time favorite X-planes.

If the F-16XL had been built, it would have had to replace either the base F-16, or the F-15E. The budget wasn't there to do reasonable numbers of all three. You could have replaced the base F-16, but that would result in fewer total as due to the increased cost of the XL. You could have replaced the F-15E, but that would have been buying less capable airframes for the same cost., especially maintenance costs due to it being a third separate airframe. In the end, it was just more cost-effective to use a high/low procurement of F-15Es and F-16s.

Now I'm crazy sure but what if there was a modern variant of the English Electric Lightning or MiG-21 Fishbed or F-104 Starfighter

Could the F-16XL be able to do the Cobra Maneuver?

It's a shame that we never got to see the XL in service, but hey the Strike Eagle is one helluva badass. So no complaints.

Good looking aircraft as well. 👽👍

I like the look of the F-16XL however, the viper just looks completely menacing, ready to tear other planes apart. So I’m kinda glad we (Denmark) got the F-16

i thik something important to think about for a dogfighter is energy retensions. My source is warthunder which might not be the best source but i think the wings would preduce a crap ton f drag in a turn. So i think that this dewsign is worse than the f 16. It is also bigger and would need more maintenece. Thats just what i think, based on a limited knowledge about airforces and wars(i am not some insane 5 star general or some shit like that.). Also sorry for any spelling mistakes :)

War Thunder Community: its not accurate enough here's some classified documents on the f16s wing specs to prove that I'm right

Yes! Justice for my boy!

"Strike Falcon"

Didn’t know that the F16 got a child with the J35

I recently found and obscure stealth fighter jet made by west Germany is the 1980 called the mbb Lampyridae (Latin for firefly) and I was wondering if u can make a vid on it

same profile as the Swedish J35 in the -60s. due to export regulations, the USA was not allowed to buy combat aircraft from Sweden then and tried the same profile on the F16 model.

What about a video on the MiG-21I (A-144), that had a very similar configuration, although with a different purpose

There's two Decepticons in Transformers called Needlenose and Windsweeper that transforms into one of those.

"We didn't lose. But we could have won bigger."

See Lazerpig who debunks the Fighter mafia. Its founding/head members in particular.

While I love the idea of the F-16XL, I wonder what would’ve happened to European aerospace if it was approved. Going by what happened with the F-100, F-104, and the F-4, we’ve might not’ve had such beautiful European designs.

Love the F16XL in every way, what could have been the cousin to fly next to the f16 on missions. Even though not successful the f16XL shows many similarities to what happened with the F15 and F15E, the two single greatest aircraft ever made

Can you make a video on the development and history of Marut, Tejas Mk1, Tejas Mk1A, and Tejas Mk2.

I love your channel but why u posting at 10PM (I speculate that not much people live in Australia and posting late will have positive view effects)

Found And Explained challenge for you mate design your own Ultimate fighter jet and make a video on it

Eurofighter has that title over the F-16 lol... F-16 got whooped multiple times by the Typhoon XD

Arrived at home, heated the food just in time!

Honestly, I don't know why we still use the F-16 at all. While it's cheaper than the F-15, it doesn't do anything the F-15 can't do. When all else is equal, you just pick whichever is more cost effective.

FINALLY, somebody recognizes the F-16's power.

One of the failures to be built was a fly-off against the original F16 where it's air-air abilities showed it to be compromised. Plus the newest F16 added leading edge and additional integral fuel to its wings "borrowing" some of the XL advantages. Just look at a brand new F16, it's obvious

What about F-36 Kingsnake? The supposed successor to the XL

The Air Force generals in charge are F-15 veterans. Who wanted the F-15E over the F-16XL. Had the air force ever ordered additional F-16’s the XL would likely have been produced

Will we ever get a video on the air to air missile developed by Germany in World War II? I think it would be really cool to learn about the weird stuff, they came up with when making it

Can we all just take a sec to appreciate the Nasa livery on F-16 XL!

Ok now make it carry the aerogavin

Attempt 39. The Bugatti 100P. It’s not a car, It’s a plane

I remember this aircraft in Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere

The F-16xl might get its debut in the F36 Kingsnake

When your country has air supremacy almost instantly in any conflict, you are going to need multirole fighters.

Looks like the NGAD design also