October 1977
From The Space Library
The USAF reported that the first two-seater F-16 airplane, a fighter-trainer version known as F-16B, had made a successful first flight at General Dynamics Corp.'s Ft. Worth, Tex. facility. The test flights were to evaluate the handling of this version, weighing 6001b less than the standard single-seat F-16 when fueled, and to use rear cockpit controls to put it through takeoff and landing, formation flying, and roll and pitch.
The one- and two-seat versions of the F-16 were almost identical in size and appearance, each 48ft long with a 300ft2 wing area, but the F-16B had a larger canopy to cover the second pilot and would carry 1100 fewer gallons of fuel. Development of the new plane, first fighter designed to withstand forces up to 9g, was managed by the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. (AFSC Newsreview, Oct 77, 1)
ERDA announced it had signed a contract with the Ford Motor Co., to be managed by LeRC, for developing the Stirling passenger-car engine to the point of deciding in 8yr whether or not to produce it commercially. A Stirling engine would be at least 30% more fuel efficient than those of comparable size and performance in current cars. It differed from the conventional internal combustion engine in being powered by heat from an external source: a burner using any of a variety of fuels would heat hydrogen gas inside the engine whose expansion and contraction would move pistons to generate power.
Invented in the 1800s, the Stirling predated the internal-combustion engine and had been used to pump water for mines and quarries. By the 1930s the availability of gasoline-powered cars had overshadowed other development. N. V. Philips of the Netherlands and United Stirling of Sweden had pioneered and continued work on the Stirling engine and had licensed Ford to work on it in 1971. ERDA and Ford had become interested because of the engine's high fuel efficiency, flexibility in choice of fuels, low noise and pollution, and good driving characteristics. Cost of the 8-yr effort would be about $160 million, $110 million contributed by ERDA and $50 million by Ford; if the Stirling should go into production, Ford's investment might eventually amount to more than $500 million. (ERDA Release 77-179)
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