Lockheed F-16C Fighting Falcon – Venom Scheme, USAF Demonstration Team 2020

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA3883: Lockheed F-16C Fighting Falcon #90-0047 in the Venom scheme of the USAF Demonstration Team, 2020. Production run of 800 models.

Length 8.25 inches Wingspan 5.25 inches

Lockheed F-16C 94-0047 c/n CC-199 was delivered to the 79th FS in April 1997. In 2006 it transferred to the 20th FW/77th FS. In 2019 this aircraft was selected to join the 2020 Air Combat Command’s F-16 Demo Team with work on the special paint scheme beginning in December. In May 2020 the stunning scheme was unveiled and named “Venom”. Snake scales run along the back, belly and wings as well as up the tail. Snake eyes are on each side of the fuselage. Pilot is Major Garret “Toro” Schmitz.

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.