COBI F-16 (YF-16) First Flight 1974 Set 5892

COBI's YF-16 First Flight 1974 is a 1:48 model built from 375 blocks, 31 cm long, produced under licence from Lockheed Martin in the prototype's red, white and blue scheme. The cockpit is moulded in two colours and opens for a pilot figure in a pressure suit with helmet and oxygen hose. A display stand with a plate carrying the set name, the flag, the scale and the Lockheed Martin logo is included.

The first flight was not supposed to happen

On 20 January 1974 the YF-16 was at Edwards Air Force Base for a high-speed taxi test — accelerating down the runway to check handling, not to fly.

The aircraft began to roll from side to side, the oscillation grew, and a wingtip and the tailplane struck the runway. Phil Oestricher, the test pilot, had a few seconds to decide between an aircraft about to destroy itself on the ground and an unplanned first flight in a machine nobody had ever flown.

He took off. Six minutes later he landed it safely, having flown a prototype that was not cleared to leave the ground, and saved the programme.

The official first flight took place on 2 February 1974, with a photographer present. The one that mattered was the accident.

What made the F-16 different

It was the first production aircraft built to be aerodynamically unstable and flown by computer, the first with a side-stick instead of a centre stick, and the first with the seat reclined 30 degrees so the pilot could take higher g. All three are now normal. In 1974 all three were radical.

More than 4,600 have been built and the type is in service with around two dozen air forces fifty years later.

Specifications

Pieces: 375 · Figures: 1 pilot · Scale: 1:48 · Licensed by Lockheed Martin
Model dimensions: 31 × 22 × 11 cm (12.2 × 8.7 × 4.3 in)