Lockheed F-16AM Fighting Falcon – The Orange Lion, RNLAF Demo Team, Volkel AB, Netherlands, 2009

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA3885: Lockheed F-16AM Fighting Falcon serial  J-015 The Orange Lion, RNLAF Demo Team, Volkel AB, Netherlands, 2009. Production run of 700 models.

Length 8.25    Wingspan 5.25 inches

In the summer of 1979 the RNLAF received their first F-16 wearing standard operational colors and displayed it to the public on September 15th. In 1983 the first special paint scheme was added to a 322 Squadron F-16. In 2009 J-015 replaced J-055 as the Demo aircraft and was adorned with the “Orange Lion” scheme representing the Coat of Arms of the Dutch Royal Family. The 2007 through 2009 demo seasons aircrafts were piloted by Flt Lt Ralph “Sheik” Aarts. J-015 was received by the RNLAF in August 1991.

Lockheed F-16AM Fighting Falcon designed by General Dynamics as a lightweight, daytime USAF air-combat fighter, the F-16 was first flown on January 20th, 1974. This single-engine, supersonic aircraft has, over the years, evolved into a multirole aircraft. It has a frameless bubble canopy-giving its pilot superior visibility-and it uses advanced aerodynamics. The F-16 was one of the first designs to use a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire system, which helps it pull 9-g maneuvers and achieve speeds of more than Mach 2. Called “Viper” by its pilots, the F-16 is considered one of the most successful aircraft designs of the Cold War, with 4,400+ aircraft built since 1976.