| Fighters with long service lives are not unheard of. The F-86 was on active duty until 1993, when the last aircraft in Bolivian service was retired. The T-33, a variant of the F-80, is still in active service, often as a light attack aircraft. P-51s, F4Us, and P-47s flew against each other in the 1969 âSoccer Warâ between Honduras and El Salvador. The F-4 today is still in service in large numbers in Japan, Israel, Turkey, and South Korea â having first flown in 1958. The F-5 and itâs more capable variant, the F-5E, are also still in service with several countries, having first flown in 1959. Australia has plans to keep its F-111s flying until 2020 (not bad for a plane that first flew in 1964), and the United States Air Force is pushing the B-52H until 2044 â 84 years after it entered service. The F-16 and F-18 will join these others who had long lives in service. |