Tulsa’s F-16 Fighter Jets Back In The Sky In Full Force After Pandemic Slowdown

The F-16 fighter jets at Tulsa’s 138th Fighter Wing are back in the sky in full force after the pandemic caused a slowdown.

The Oklahoma Air National Guard gave News On 6 a rare look at its night operations Thursday night.  

The base said many Tulsans may not realize F-16 jets are taking off almost daily. They fly during the day every Monday-Thursday, and one weekend a month.  

Training at night usually happens one week each month, but they did fly at night two weeks in April to catch up on training hours.  

The powerful takeoff happens just before sunset. 

"It definitely is the sound of freedom,” Maj. Colin Newton, who is an F-16 pilot, said.  

Before the jets can leave the runway, they go through intense inspections, and a lot of repairs.  

Chief Master Sgt. Tracey Weaver manages the maintenance work for the F-16s on base, which have all seen combat overseas. He estimated there are 15 to 20 hours of maintenance behind every single hour of flight.  

"It’s a sense of fulfillment to see all the work that goes into them and then ultimately see them go out to the flight line and go fly,” Weaver said.  

During the pandemic, some of that work slowed down. The base said it went from flying 12-14 jets a day, to only two to six a day, with operations at night nearly coming to a halt because of split scheduling.  

"It slowed a lot of things down. For a period of time we were bringing in only half of our crew two days a week and the other half of the crew would come in the other two days a week,” Weaver said.  

Thursday night, pilots flew five jets over Arkansas for a training mission.   

"It's great. Great to get back to some type of normalcy, kind of get back into the rhythm,” Lt. Col. Chris Wells said.  

Wells has been flying F-16s for 16 years, and said it is an honor.  

"It's really indescribable,” Wells said. “I've been doing it quite a while and I still just get so excited. I'm very blessed that I get to do that each and every day, and I do something that I love." 

While operations were scaled back for several months, the base said everyone was able to do other necessary online training that is usually spread out over more time.