Warbird Information Exchange

Anyone know when the "Viper" nickname came along? Circa 1980s, I only knew them as the "Electric Jet" or the more derogatory "Lawn Dart". In the early 1990s, quite a few Guard/Reserve units were slated for conversion to F-16s with no reference to "Vipers" on the associated patches (Hogs to Falcons; Phantoms to Falcons, etc). Same with the various "Driver" patches from back in the day. "Eagle Driver, Hog Driver, Tweet Driver, etc" but no Viper Driver until fairly recently.

There's some discussion of that in this article.

http://www.f-16.net/articles_article10.html

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Chris Kennedy
Peoria, AZ

Battlestar Galactica back when Starbuck was a dude and Boomer was a black dude, and Col. Tigh was too sober for his own good.
Reinforced possibly by both F-16's and Colonial Vipers having side sticks. I wonder how many F-16's unofficially ended up with a "Turbo" button on the stick?

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

the usaf is starting to use f-16s as drones for combat training. hard to believe they are that old & long in the tooth!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Thanks for your replies. While I have no doubt the F-16 carries the Viper nickname today, I'd be very curious as to when the interview referenced on F-16.net was conducted?

Back in the early 1990s, quite a few squadrons began or planned conversion onto F-16s from other platforms. These conversions were usually accompanied by semi-official, and unofficial patches to commemorate the change. To the best of my knowledge, none of these unofficial/commemorative patches reference the jet as Viper. I can understand Fighting Falcon on official patches since it's the official name of the jet. A good example was the planned conversion to F-16s by both the CT and MA ANGs back in 1991. Patches were duly produced and the A-10s are proudly referred to as Hogs while the F-16s are referenced as Falcons.

If the Viper nickname was in place back in the early 1980s, I'm a bit confused why the name doesn't really appear anywhere? I suspect the name came along quite a bit later -- probably mid-90s.