Whenold warrior jetsare latefrom service,they’renot indispensably mothballed— sometimes,they’re incitedinto unmanned planesfor exam pilotsto fire down.Andthat’s preciselywhat’s happenedwiththis Boeing F-16,whichwas not prolonged ago testedat Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base.The initialofits indicationtobe converted,the redesignated QF-16has successfullymadeits initial flight, receivingofffromthe bottomand reaching 40,000 feetat supersonic speeds overthe Gulfof Mexico.After completing the arrayof maneuvers,the craft landed safely.Whilethe cockpitwas empty,the jetwas tranquilby dual Air Force exam pilots.

Foratleast the single pilot, operativeonthe planis the churned blessing.Afterall,the QF-16 isn’t just removing thenew franchiseon life: right awaythatit’s finishedits moody testing,it’s the single step closerto being usedfor aerial precision missionsand, eventually, aim practice.“Toget something readyto takeoffonitsownso somebodyelsecan fireit downmakesit thelittle bittersweet,”says Jason Clements.

Nonetheless, Boeinghas already mutated 6 F-16 jetsinto QF-16s,andthe craftis followingin the prolonged tradition. Unmanned F-4 Phantom jetshavehelped pilots sightfor years; an essayfrom aviation siteFence Checkruns downthe storyofthe moduleand recordsthat over 230 Phantomshavebeen incitedinto dronessince 1995.Andwhilethe mutated planes aren’t meantfor anythingbut testing,they’renot regularly harmless: progressingthis year, a spanof drones crashedat Tyndall,with the single at the moment shutting down the internal highway.