Qf-16

[PRB]

Somebody sent me this link in an e-mail titled "F-16 drone" and commenting on the future demise of piloted airplanes. While he was thinking in terms of the ongoing "drone debate", these "QPlanes" have been around a long time. I remember seeing QF-100s in the 1980s, and hearing their single stage afterburners kick in (BOOM!) I guess this is the first time an F-16 has been converted into a Q-Bird. However, this may be the first time the Q-ships are being used for AA tactics training, rather than simply as straight and level targets. Cool video, anyway.

http://video.boeing.com/services/pla...=2684464741001

[HorusJ]

That's kind of funny to see a 16 taxi and take off without a pilot.I use to see empty F-4s flying at Point Mugu NAS in the 80s,a weird sight.

[Dev One]

Pilotless drones have been around for a long time in the UK. I worked at Llanbedr from the mid '80's until the airfield closed in 2004.
The early ones were Fairey Fireflies that had a lot of take off torque, then came Meteor U15's (converted Meteor Mk 4's), then Meteor U16's (converted Meteor Mk 8's) then at last the GAF Jindivik. Finally two Sea Vixens were converted but never flown without a pilot. Woomera used these types also as well as Lincolns & Canberras.
Sweden & the US also used Jindiviks.
Modern conversions though will probably be a bit more autonomous using satellite links & GPS & internal software, otherwise they need quite an array of ground transmitters & receivers to keep in touch with the aircraft.
If you search Flightsim you will find my rendition of the Meteor U16 where you can 'fly' it manually or as a drone. My Jindivik is also out there somewhere, but its an older model & not quite up to snuff these days, but until Britsim gets back on line not sure where to find it. Degsy et al made a special model of Llanbedr scenery too.
Keith

[JoeW]

In the 70's I worked for architects in Northwest Florida that had a number of government contracts. The comment about this being just done is in error. I saw all dayglow red F-16's at Tyndall and was told not to look at them. The officer with me was to take photo's if I needed them. I had the camera but could not take pictures, that was for him to do. They had several mobile homes that housed the computers and the desks for the pilots. Their hotshot was a paraplegic in a wheel chair. It was my understanding that this equipment was used to train Top Guns. I was NOT to talk about it to anyone. I never said anything until today. If it's on a computer, it's no longer a secret. I designed them some buildings that were more substantial than the mobile homes they were using.

[PRB]

Very interesting, Joe! In the video, they seem to be saying that the QF-16 will be used for ACM training of pilots. That might be new for the Q planes. Without being able to "look around" like you would if you were sitting in the plane, I would think the piloted planes would have a pretty good advantage. Maybe the drone pilot will be using Track IR...