That is the feeling one of the latest 3,000-hour F-16 veterans has about his aircraft. Lt. Col. Sam Shaneyfelt, commander of the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., recently became the 139th Air Force pilot to surpass 3,000 flying hours in the F-16, which he also described as “fast, lethal, and drop dead gorgeous.” He made his milestone flight out of Hill AFB, Utah. (Hill report by SSgt. Samuel King Jr.)
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.