F-16 dedicated to Lt. Frank Luke Jr.

  • Published
  • By Deborah Silliman Wolfe
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE --  In recognition of the 90th anniversary of the death of Luke Air Force Base's namesake, 2nd Lt. Frank Luke Jr., an F-16 Fighting Falcon was dedicated to the World War I fighter pilot on Monday, Lieutenant Frank Luke Jr. Day. Lieutenant Luke's nephew, Donald "Don" Luke, attended a retreat and afterwards was shown the jet by Brig. Gen. Kurt Neubauer. 

The F-16 was adorned with Lieutenant Luke's name and his nickname, the Arizona Balloon Buster. Lieutenant Luke earned the title by targeting German observation balloons during WWI. He shot down 18 enemy aircraft in an 18-day period, making him one of the top flying aces of all time. 

"I think it is really, really nice to dedicate a plane to Frank," said Donald Luke. "And it is always nice to come out and see a lot of bright, clean cut young people dedicated to the mission." 

Capt. Timothy Murphy, 309th Fighter Squadron chief of scheduling and Frank Luke Day organizer, and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lovelace, 56th Fighter Wing director of staff, came up with the idea to dedicate a jet to Lieutenant Luke. 

"We were brainstorming ideas and we both wanted to dedicate something to him since it is the 90th anniversary of his death," Captain Murphy said. "It seemed to us like people have pretty much done everything, and then we thought 'Why not dedicate an F-16?' We had never heard of a jet being dedicated to a historical figure from the Air Force, which makes this very special." 

Captain Murphy said he thought when Airmen walk up to the plane and see Lieutenant Luke's name on the canopy it would be motivating for them, instructor pilots and students alike. 

"For pilots to know that they are flying a jet that is dedicated to one of the Air Force's leading aces of all time -- that is pretty cool," Captain Murphy said. 

According to Captain Murphy, the dedication is twofold. The members organizing Frank Luke Day wanted to honor Lieutenant Luke with the dedication of the F-16 and Captain Murphy also sees a broader meaning. 

"All WWI fighter pilots are such a huge part of our heritage," said Captain Murphy, who majored in history while attending the U.S. Air Force Academy. "And a lot of the time it seems like we don't know much about them. Part of dedicating the plane to Lieutenant Luke is to give some publicity back to the fighter pilots who flew in WWI when the aircraft was brand new. They did some amazing stuff. Parts of their planes were made of cloth and if the planes were 'G-ed' up too much, they would just fall apart. And the planes were known to catch on fire in midflight. The pilots who flew those planes were really incredible." 

Captain Murphy said the idea is to have an F-16 permanently dedicated to Lieutenant Luke, but the plane dedicated on Monday was on loan from the 62nd Fighter Squadron.
"We have to get a waiver from pretty high up to permanently dedicate the F-16, but we are definitely going to try for that," Captain Murphy said. "We want to dedicate a jet that is going to be around the base for a long time to come."