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#1569CU F-16C Fighting Falcon

F-16C Fighting Falcon
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£15.00 €18.12 $18.83
43.8 cm x 29.2 cm
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F-16C Fighting Falcon
86-0262
162 FS, 178 FW
Springfield-Beckley
US - Air Force
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Description

Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1569 - 86-0262, F-16C Fighting Falcon, 162nd Fighter Squadron, 178th Fighter Wing, Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport, Ohio.

The 162nd Tactical Fighter Squadron was constituted as the 362nd Fighter Squadron on December 1, 1942 at Hamilton Field, California. The squadron was assigned to the 357th Fighter Group and went to war flying over the skies of Europe as part of the 8th Air Force, achieving a highly successful war record. Following World War II, the 362nd was deactivated on August 20, 1946 and redesignated as the 162nd Fighter Squadron, single engine (SE) on August 21, 1946. In 1955, the 162nd moved to a permanent base at Springfield Municipal Airport and converted to jet aircraft, flying the F-84E. With the jet conversion, the squadron was redesignated the 162nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron and assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC). After converting to F-84F aircraft, the squadron designation was changed to the 162nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (Special Delivery). 1962 saw the formation of support groups for the Air National Guard fighter squadrons. The 178th Tactical Fighter Group (Conventional) was constituted on October 15 and the 162nd became part of the new group. 1968 was the first time the 162nd participated in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise. Fourteen F-84Fs took off from Springfield early in the morning of August 14 and did not land again until reaching Torrejón Air Base, Spain, departing the next day for their exercise location at Larissa Air Base, Greece.  The Thunderstreaks were changed for F-100D Super Sabre late 60’s, early 70’s. During April 1973, the squadron participated in “Gallant Hand ‘73,” a large-scale U.S. Readiness Command Joint Forces Training exercise at Fort Hood, Texas. Flying a 98 percent sortie rate. January 1976 saw the unit preparing for Operation SNOWBIRD at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ  and was designed to give pilots favorable weather locations for clear weather flying opportunities. January 1978 initiated the conversion to the Vought Corporation’s A-7D Corsair II attack aircraft. The conversion from the F-100 to the A-7 was accomplished in less than three months, the fastest ever for an Air Force or Air National Guard unit. In 1990, Operation DESERT STORM saw 93 unit members deploy to the Middle East, but the aircraft remained in Ohio. In May 1993 the 162nd hosted a farewell to the A-7D, Corsair II. The SLUF Salute was an Air Force sanctioned event to say farewell to this great aircraft that the 162nd flew from 1978 to 1993. The 162nd flew the last public demonstration of the A- 7, Corsair II in the United States. While assigned to the unit, the aircraft amassed a total of 55,357.4 hours. In 1993, the conversion was in place to convert to the F-16C Fighting Falcon. The 162nd took twelve F-16’s, 20 pilots and over 600 personnel to WINTERBASE in Gulfport, Miss. to perform flight training for the first big deployment with the new jets. In 1995, SNOWBIRD occurred in February, with the 162nd flying 223 sorties for live weapons and desert combat simulations. In August 1996, the 162nd took their F-16’s to Al Jabbar, Kuwait to support SOUTHERN WATCH and Desert Strike with the mission to enforce the southern no-fly zone imposed by the U.N. over Iraq. The 162nd deployed to COMBAT ARCHER exercise soon after, in 1997 to perform supersonic air to air combat with drones. In May 1997, the 162nd went back to the Middle East to support NORTHERN WATCH at Incerlik, AFB, Turkey. Later in 1997, the 162nd invited members to attend the 50th Anniversary Celebration at the 178 FW. Officially on March 17, 1999, the 162nd undergoes the flag change to AETC and is in the conversion process to become a premiere schoolhouse. The F16D model was added to the 162nd inventory during the conversion to provide the 2-seat version needed for training. Currently, the pilots and support personnel of the 162nd and the 178 FW stand ready to support training of student pilots, homeland defense, and any possible future contingencies.

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