EG-0035-01
NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center flew two prototype F-16XL aircraft in a variety of aeronautical research projects in the early and mid 1990s.
The two aircraft, a single-seat version with tail number 849 and a two-seat version bearing tail number 848, featured an unusual cranked-arrow double-delta wing. They were modified from F-16A and F-16B fighters by their manufacturer, General Dynamics Corp., for a U.S. Air Force strike fighter competition in the early 1980s that was one by the McDonnell Douglas F-15E. The two aircraft were loaned to NASA for aeronautical research in the late 1980s.
The single-seat F-16XL aircraft, tail number 849, arrived at the center in 1989 and supported several flight research projects during the 1990s. The aircraft was upgraded with a new Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) in 1997. The DFCS utilized an electronic flight control system coupled with a digital computer, replacing the F-16XL-1’s original analog computer. The DFCS modification was equivalent to the U.S. Air Force F-16 upgrade known as Block 40. The aircraft’s fly-by-wire flight control system remained intact…Learn more