F-16C Fighting Falcon

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The F-16 was the first production fighter built around fly by wire. It is aerodynamically unstable by design, with computers making thousands of corrections a second, and that instability is what gives it its response. The C model arrived in 1984 with improved radar and systems. The pilot sits under a frameless bubble canopy with the seat reclined thirty degrees and controls the aircraft with a side stick, all of it arranged so the airframe can pull nine g without the pilot blacking out. More than four and a half thousand have been built. On MCS the Falcon is the all purpose fighter. It rolls faster than almost anything, accelerates well, carries a useful mix of air and ground weapons and forgives mistakes. It has one engine and less fuel than the heavy twins, so range and damage tolerance are its weak points. Recommended as the first modern fighter anyone should learn.