AIR International – June 2018

MILITARY DARK FALCON

82 | http://www.airinternational.com

There are several small call backs to Vador’s

Star Wars-derived nickname incorporated into

the design – the ventral fins, nose gear door

and pilot’s helmet all carry relevant motifs.

Painting the jet

Painting the Dark Falcon was done in several

steps under the guidance of Bob, the chief

painter. The first stage was to put the aircraft

on jacks and then strip the existing paint from

the airframe which took one week. The entire

aircraft was sanded smooth and cleaned, after

which several parts were masked (canopy,

antennae, APU exhaust, etc.). Meanwhile, the

radome was painted in the factory. This is

necessary as it’s a complex task - the radar

waves need to penetrate the radome evenly

which requires paint to be applied in several

very thin layers.

The next stage was to begin painting the

aircraft, starting with the underside. It was

painted white after which the masking started.

The large stripes were masked by tape; the

details were added using plotter-cut masks

created by Nicolas Deboeck. With that done,

the entire lower side of the aircraft was masked

with paper and preparations began for the

upper scheme. The entire top side of the jet was

initially painted black and the grey and white

stripes were masked using tape. The text and

national markings were applied using stencils.

All of the paints used for the main scheme

on the jet are standard type, as supplied by

Vador dispenses flares to add

to the impact of this shot; his

display routine involves the

use of flares, adding a dramatic

effect to the blistering flight

routine. Belgian Air Force

Senior Captain Stefan ‘Vador’ Darte closes in on the camera ship. Note how the array of four upper

interrogator fuselage mounted antennas in front of the canopy, part of the APX-111 advanced identification

friend-or-foe system, remain in the standard grey paint. Graham Platt

Captured against the dark tone of the North Sea, this shot shows most of Dark Falcon’s design features. Well

done to the Belgian Air Force! Belgian Air Force/Gert Trachez

The impressive pattern applied to the Dark Falcon’s underside will
add to the visual effect of the flight display routine. Graham Platt

“The Dark

Falcon scheme

is a recognition

of the 40th

anniversary of

the introduction

of the F-16 into

Belgian service.”