Crazy video from inside an unmanned F-16 during a supersonic test flight

Here’s a really interesting video.

It shows the QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target’s first flight on Sept. 19 from Tyndall Air Force base in Florida from a quite unusual perspective: a camera pointing towards an empty ejection seat.

The aircraft was remotely controlled from a Ground Control Station at Tyndall by two F-16 pilots (“QF-16 plane controllers”) with the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron who flew the plane up to 40,000 feet at supersonic speed (Mach 1.47) engaging maneuvers like a barrel roll and pulling up to 7Gs.

Noteworthy, the pilot start the engine up, performs all the flight checks and then get out of the plane before the drone is guided to take off. During the test flight, the QF-16 was chased by an F-4 and another F-16.

Related articles

• [Photo] First pilotless F-16 flies first remotely controlled mission at Tyndall Air Force Base
• Amateur video showing China’s second stealth plane’s test flight emerges
• The fighter jet that can fly as a cargo plane: the F-16 VISTA (Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft)
• [Photo] Iranian F-4 Phantom (as one of those taunted by a U.S. F-22 Raptor in a Top Gun-like encounter)
• Up close and personal with Russia’s 5th generation stealth fighter: first close-up pictures of the PAK-FA
• Is this futuristic jet the replacement for the Polish Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter?
• U.S. F-22 stealth fighter pilot taunted Iranian F-4 Phantom combat planes over the Persian Gulf

About David Cenciotti

WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.