Despite being over five decades old, the F-16 Fighting Falcon is still being used by the US Air Force and Navy.
In this video, the aircraft performs many aerial stunts, including a triple-barrel roll.
The aerial stunts were performed by Major John ‘Rain’ Waters as part of the Myrtle Beach Airshow in South Carolina in 2018.
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The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics.
However, General Dynamics then sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation.
After a merger in 1995, the company has been known as Lockheed Martin.
Since then, the aircraft developer has made several iconic fighter jets, including the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor.
The company is currently believed to be working on a top-secret unmanned hypersonic aircraft, the SR-72 ‘Son of Blackbird‘ with over Mach 6 speed.
We’ll have to wait and see what emerges about that, though.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon was designed as a low-cost, lightweight fighter that could outmaneuver its rivals.
The aircraft that eventually became known as the F-16 took its first flight 50 years ago in January 1974.
Despite its old age, the aircraft boasts a modernized radar, electronic warfare upgrades, and cockpit displays.
The F-16 is a single-engine fighter jet with a max speed of Mach 2.
Watching this iconic aircraft take off with afterburners active displays power like nothing you’ve ever seen.
And the video above, posted to YouTube by The Afterburn Podcast, showcases what the aircraft can really do.
The full video shows the pilot performing several aerial stunts including a takeoff roll, Cuban eight, and several high-speed passes.
In addition to the triple roll the pilot also performed a four-point roll just above the runway.
Although, the F-16 is nicknamed ‘Fighting Falcon’, its pilots and crews often use the name ‘Viper’ instead.
It was due to the aircraft’s perceived resemblance to a viper snake and the fictional Colonial Viper starfighter from the Battlestar Galactica.
