By Sam Majidi
The F-16 is one of the only fighter jets that cannot “Carrier land” even with the tail hook. This is why we’re coming up with a new way to allow these spectacular F-16 jets to land in water.It can benefit the Air Force and the pilots as it will be faster and more efficient for the F-16 jets to take off and land. The landing and take off would be similar to the F-35B vertical take off and landing.
How it works:
The F-35B flight is made possible by the proprietary Rolls-Royce shaft-driven LiftFan propulsion system and an engine capable of tilting 90 degrees in short takeoff / vertical landing mode.
On the F135 engine, Rolls-Royce is subcontracted with Pratt & Whitney to provide the Lightning II Lift System.The 3BSM provides the bulk of the remaining vertical thrust at the rear of the aircraft.
The 3BSM can channel up to 18,000 pounds of heated thrust from the engine exhaust, with the ability to swivel ninety-five degrees downwards in just two and a half seconds.There are also two roller posts under the wings for stabilization and control which provide approximately 10 percent (up to 2,000 pounds each) of the downward thrust from the flow of engine air. Most importantly, in the roll axis, the two roll posts are used to control the attitude of the aircraft, or its orientation towards the earth. The exhaust areas of the two roll posts can be varied by themselves.Therefore, the posts control roll by expelling varying quantities of thrust between the two sides of the aircraft.
How will it land in water:
The F-16 jets would land in water with the help of floats or pontoons which are going to be mounted underneath the fuselage to act as a landing gear. The F-16 jets would have retractable landing gear, which would permit the aircraft to operate on both hard surface runways and on water.
These retractable landing gears would be attached to the floats or pontoons so it would be used when it is needed.
While the jet is flying the floats and the retractable landing gear would be held inside the fighter jet for better aerodynamics and it would be brought down once the jet is set to land.
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