Vipers

[batman527]

Here's a discussion I haven't found anything on so far. Why the hell are all the AF guys now referring to F-16's as "Vipers"? Do they think that they're just too cool to call "Falcons" anymore? Do they feel like they've been out classed by the "Raptor"? I mean, technically a falcon is a raptor, so what's the big friggin deal? Ridiculous.

 

[Snacks]

Hmm, get over it. Let the -16 drivers call the plane whatever they want to call it. Why does it even matter to you, are you AF? Would it make you feel better if they decided to call it Sheila instead?

 

[montellv]

F-16 guys have always called it the Viper. Don't know why or where it came from but it's been around a long time.

 

[Goober]

Dates back to the '70s when the jet came out. Big intake up front on a lawn dart looking jet looked like the Vipers from the then sci fi show Battlestar Galactica. The name stuck. Kinda like how the Carl Vinson (then the biggest warship ever built) was termed Battlestar Vinson.

Geeks of the world unite.

 

[Coota0]

Hmm, get over it. Let the -16 drivers call the plane whatever they want to call it. Why does it even matter to you, are you AF? Would it make you feel better if they decided to call it Sheila instead?

Shelia that's no name for an aircraft, I call the Piper I fly Bambi.

 

[A4sForever]

....Why the hell are all the AF guys now referring to F-16's as "Vipers"? ....

Dunno ... but back in the 80's when I was fighting them @ Luke, Willi, Nellis, Homstead, and Tyndall --- we (and they) used to refer to the F-16 derisively as .... "Lawn Darts".

 

[mules83]

Have you guys ever played with the actual, old-fashioned lawn darts? My dad had some and they were a good way to kill somebody. No wonder they stopped making them

 

[Brett327]

Have you guys ever played with the actual, old-fashioned lawn darts? My dad had some and they were a good way to kill somebody. No wonder they stopped making them

I had some as a kid and they were no more dangerous than a host of other toys. I suspect they got pulled after a particularly horrific incident - probably some idiot got nailed in the eye. Kids can and will hurt themselves with just about anything, including rocks and sticks, but I don't see a movement to ban those.

Brett

 

[montellv]

Dates back to the '70s when the jet came out. Big intake up front on a lawn dart looking jet looked like the Vipers from the then sci fi show Battlestar Galactica. The name stuck. Kinda like how the Carl Vinson (then the biggest warship ever built) was termed Battlestar Vinson.

Geeks of the world unite.

That's good to know. I have heard the lawn dart thing.

 

[gtxc2001]

From what I've been able to hunt up, viper was the name assigned to the project by General Dynamics during development. I was also under the impression from an F-16 demonstration I once saw, that Viper is the favored name within NATO but I don't know how true that is.

 

[mules83]

I had some as a kid and they were no more dangerous than a host of other toys. I suspect they got pulled after a particularly horrific incident - probably some idiot got nailed in the eye. Kids can and will hurt themselves with just about anything, including rocks and sticks, but I don't see a movement to ban those.

Brett

true, but an object that has a 5 inch (?) metal spike being thrown up in the air is a little different then most childern games i have played

 

[phrogdriver]

Have you guys ever played with the actual, old-fashioned lawn darts? My dad had some and they were a good way to kill somebody. No wonder they stopped making them

I had them as a child...I realize now that my parents were trying to kill me. They never actually said "kill." Mom just wanted a 23rd trimester abortion.

I think most jets get called "lawn darts." I've heard both F-18s and AV-8s called "Carolina lawn darts." SC and NC, respectively.

The original full name for the 16 was "Fighting Falcon," which sounds almost as lame as the F-22's proposed name,"Superstar." I can see why they changed it.

 

[HH-60H]

true, but an object that has a 5 inch (?) metal spike being thrown up in the air is a little different then most childern games i have played

Did you play with dolls?

 

[Brett327]

true, but an object that has a 5 inch (?) metal spike being thrown up in the air is a little different then most childern games i have played

I would hardly call it a spike - it was faily blunt as I recall. Ever played smear the queer with a rock/sharp stick?

Brett

 

[A4sForever]

Lawn Darts. Popular in the late '70's/early '80's. I bought some in Beeville @ the Exchange for my kids.

F-16's. They called 'em "LAWN DARTS" because that's what they looked like and that's the final flight trajectory of many of them in their early days.