A near-disastrous first flightAn F-16 Viper Demonstration Team pilot. Phil Oestricher, the test pilot on the flight, intended to fly about 1,000 feet down the runway during the fast taxi test. But he avoided near disaster after a wiring issue caused the airplane's exhaust nozzle not to open up. "The airplane pulled back and forth really quickly," Oestricher said. The short-lived flight still rendered an "incredible amount of data" about the airplane, he said.

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Persons: Mary Begy, Phil Oestricher, —, Oestricher, It's Organizations: US Air Force, Senior