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F-16 Fighting Falcon Seems to Hover Mid-Air in Epic USAF Photo

Research and development of military airplanes brought to light some crazy flying machines over the years, both in terms of exterior design and in terms of capabilities. Few of the resulting technologies are as impressive as the ones allowing airplanes to hover.
F-16 Fighting Falcon over U.S. Central Command area of responsibility 21 photos
Photo: USAF/Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano
F-16 Fighting Falcon over U.S. Central Command area of responsibilityF-16 Fighting Falcon over the Nevada Test and Training RangeF-16 Fighting Falcons chasing KC-135 StratotankerF-16C Fighting FalconF-16 Fighting FalconF-16C Fighting Falcon taking off from New JerseyAggressor Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon taking offRoyal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16F-16 Fighting Falcon in Operation Inherent ResolveF-16 Fighting Falcons over Niceville, Florida
A natural state of affairs for helicopters, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) airplanes were something early engineers couldn’t even dream of. Then the 1960s came along, and those Brits launched onto the market something that would become known as the Harrier.

Using a clever deployment of the plane’s jet engines, engineers made it capable of taking off and landing just like a helicopter, a sight that is as weird as it is effective when operating from the likes of aircraft carriers.

Since the first Harrier, other VTOL military machines came to be, with the most recent being the F-35B Lightning II.

Old as it is, the F-16 Fighting Falcon was never capable of operating in such a manner, but that isn’t stopping our eyes from playing tricks on us, if the conditions are right. And they seem perfect in this image here, taken by a USAF tech sergeant on the very first day of the year.

What you’re looking at is a Fighting Falcon deployed with the USAF, captured in action on January 1 over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Somalia, among others.

The plane is seen mid-flight, probably traveling at a considerable speed, yet the mostly featureless background of white clouds and the closeness of the photo kind of make it look like it's hovering mid-air. The single Pratt & Whitney (or General Electric, depending on version) engine of the plane may not be capable of having it do that, but it is more than enough to push it to a top speed of Mach 2.

The F-16 is one of the most widespread aircraft of its kind in the world. When it last reported the numbers, in September last year, USAF revealed it flies 1,017 such beasts, but many others are being used by the Air Forces of allied nations.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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