Vederlicht Zwaargewicht
De F-16 in dienst van de Koninklijke Luchtmacht 1979 - 2024
ModelFan

Review
Authors: Quirijn van der Vegt, Erwin van Loo, Frank Visser en Rolf de Winter
Publisher: NIMH and De Walburg Pers/Lanasta
ISBN: 9789464564815
Hardcover
Published: 15-09-2024 (1e print) 30-10-2024 (2e print)
pages: 448
Price: euro. 49,99

Graceful, fast, powerful and agile. These are words that fit seamlessly with one of the most iconic fighter aircraft of the past fifty years: the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Developed and built as a lightweight fighter, the fighter plane resembled a fast and barely grasping featherweight boxer. But also with enormous clout. As a result, the F-16 could easily hold its own in the heaviest combat class. The Royal Netherlands Air Force took delivery of the first of a total of 213 F-16s in June 1979. The fighter plane lived through the tail end of the Cold War and went on to fly thousands of missions over the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The history of the F-16 in the service of the Royal Netherlands Air Force is about this Featherlight heavyweight. The purchase, the introduction, the training, the maintenance and of course the operational deployment; it's all covered. The F-16 – like the old boxer – has now left the ring. The gloves have been taken off after 45 years. The F-16 in service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force 1979-2024 is a salute to one of the most important weapon systems of the Dutch armed forces after the Second World War. Thus the official description of this volumenous book.

The F-16's long-standing operational career in Dutch service is the focus of 'Featherlight Heavyweight. The F-16 in service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force 1979-2024'. The book was written by NIMH researchers Erwin van Loo, Quirijn van der Vegt and Rolf de Winter, and aviation photographer and publicist Frank Visser. In ten chapters, the deployment in the most important mission areas is examined, as well as support services such as training and equipment logistics. In addition, the book does not focus on the nuts and bolts that hold the plane together, but on the people who worked with it. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the F-16 was intensively deployed during international operations over the Balkans, Afghanistan, North Africa and the Middle East.

While reading through and leafing through the book, this comment caught my eye:

An F-16 is easy to fly, better than a Starfighter and safer. But if you make use of the possibilities that the plane offers, then it is executioner's work and brutal physical abuse
[Fokker testpilot Henk Temmen, May 1979]

I myself am an outspoken "Staf" (Starfighter) fan from the very beginning, I think that's due to my age, but that doesn't detract from my, let's say, respect for the qualities of the Falcon/Viper. The introduction of the F-16 ushered in a completely new, digital, era for the Air Force. The lightweight construction and powerful jet engine provided unprecedented climbing ability and great manoeuvrability, allowing the fighter aircraft to excel in almost all disciplines.

Already in 2003, aviation journalist and photographer Frank Visser proposed the idea to the Royal Netherlands Air Force to write THE book about the F-16 if it would be taken out of service permanently. In at least more than 300 pages, this should be the most complete possible history of the F-16. The idea was well received within the Ministry of Defence and the NIMH (Netherlands Institute for Military History) joined (Erwin van Loo, Quirijn van der Vegt and Rolf de Winter as co-authors).  Twenty years is a huge time for the authors to map everything about the F-16 in real time and people's memories are still fresh. This is undeniably evident from the contents of this book. As historians and scholars, the writers were able to pick out the most important highs and lows from the rich history. In ten chapters, deployment in the most important mission areas is examined, as well as support services such as training and equipment logistics. Let's face it: without instructors, crew chiefs or mechanics, for example, no aircraft takes to the skies. Sometimes they even went on a mission to record history first-hand.

Archives were sifted through and sifted through, open sources were intensively consulted. Everything that had anything to do with the F-16 was looked at and countless conversations were held with air force officers. Result; Lots of unknown stories and lots of never-before-published photos. The cartographers were also able to draw the maps (and there are many in the book) with the utmost precision with the help of the pilots and the support staff.

Of course, all chapters are interesting reading. My attention was drawn to chapter 4 (Balkans) which mentions how important it was for the defence summit to demonstrate that the F-16 in particular could also make relevant contributions to the cost-effective participation in international missions. Apparently, a real competition had broken out between the armed forces to prevent further cutbacks in the early 1990s. The Balkan operations came just in time for the Viper.
The book ends with a list of all KLu F-16s and their eventual "fate". A list of food notes and a list of sources and literature, abbreviations, indexes.

Conclusion
Certainly not feather-light this heavyweight of 448 pages. Something really falls on the doormat! A book full of history about the ups and downs of the F16 during its 45 years of service with our Royal Netherlands Air Force. Not only light-hearted but also with intense stories, especially during the many missions. It is not a photo book, but the photos in it support the text, often with NIMH (read KLu) as a source and people and institutions in and around the Air Force. As already indicated, many have not been published before. How popular the book was and is is is evident from the fact that the first edition was sold out within two weeks. There is now a second edition. As far as I'm concerned, this is a book of great historical value for Dutch aviation history.
For F-16/KLu freaks and fans a must, all other interested parties highly recommended.

With thanks to the Walburg Press for providing us with this review copy.