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F16CrewChief β I see it, but what is it?
Published: 2009-11-30 01:24:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 1005; Favourites: 16; Downloads: 26
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Description
NC-131H 53-7793 of the Air Force Flight Dynamics labratory at Buffalo NY.The aircraft can be configured to fly like any other aircraft. The test cockpit in the nose is where the aircraft configuration of the aircraft undergoing the test is flown.
The aircraft is operated by the Calspan Company.
Photgraphed at Luke AFB on 24 Nov 1984. The aircraft was just retired this year.
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Comments: 21
It was a neat airplane. Β I am glad I got a 'tour' of the airplane from the program manager when it stopped at Luke AFB.
Here is another viewΒ f16crewchief.deviantart.com/arβ¦
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It was! It is probably the most unusual acft I photographed.
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Hank Caruso drew a picture of this plane recently 
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NASA has a Gulfstream with the pilots seat configured as the Space Shuttle to practice approaches. The practice is needed as you only get one chance with the shuttle.
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Were you involved w/ the F-101 in any way? I noticed your Voodoo avatar.
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Crew Chief at Tyndall AFB 1977 to 1981. I have also worked on a few other types, F-4, F-15, C-130, etc. I have also worked on many antique, classic and warbird aircraft.
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Cool. I work for Cessna product support now.
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I work on Cessna's. I also own a 150G. It is a project that I hope I can finish this spring.
What area of product support do you work in?
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It looks like its eating another plane, like a snake. . .
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I was real happy to see this acft. I was very fond of the Convair twins!
Thanks for stopping by!
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yeah it looks like one of those C-131s they use for Navigation training. i've actually seen one in perosn. ugly things XD
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I think there was one built w/ a 707 nose. This acft was actually retired in 2009!
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looks live a convair CV-540 very modificated X3
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It was a 580 in USAF service. The C-131H was the 580.
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ahhhh =3 i see
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Training and test platform more so an in flight simulator, But originally it was a C131B just extensively modified by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory for the Air Force Right?
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Yis. The aircraft was called TIFS (Total In-Flight Simulator). The program manager speant about an hour with me when I was photographing the acft explaining what the acft does. When I saw the aircraft theye were going to program the aircraft to fly like the X-29, The X-29 was not flying at the time and they needed some test data or so forth. I have seen pics of another one of these type of civilian Convairs with a Boeing looking nose that was just a 707 simulator, but it was not this machine.
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