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Harry Hillaker

1 aircraft·General Dynamics·1974

Harry Hillaker was the father of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the most produced Western fighter jet in history. As chief designer of the Lightweight Fighter programme, Hillaker championed a small, agile, high-g aircraft when the Air Force establishment wanted bigger and heavier. His fly-by-wire, relaxed-stability design was revolutionary -- the F-16 was the first production fighter intentionally designed to be aerodynamically unstable, making it phenomenally manoeuvrable. Over 4,600 have been built for 25 nations.

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