Beginning of Essay
The first F-16 was developed in 1974. They wanted a lightweight fighter that wouldn’t cost as much as the fighters they had at the time. They also needed a way to have a bomber without going out and building another bomber which would cost millions more. ....

Middle of Essay
.... on February 2, 1974. A level speed of Mach 2 at 40,000 ft was attained on March 11, 1974. The production F-16A differed from the YF-16 in having a 13-inch fuselage extension to hold more fuel and the Westinghouse APG-66 radar. The wing area was increased by 20 square feet and an additional underwing hardpoint was fitted. The first YF-16 was brought out on December 13, 1973 to make its first test flight at Fort Worth and was air freighted by C-5A to Edwards AFB on January 8, 1974. It was an unintended short hop around the pattern on January 21, 1974 at the hands of the test pilot Phil Oestricher. During high-speed ground tests at Edwards, Oe ....