09/08/2026
TPPA President-Elect, Beth Groom Steel was seen in the September/October 2026 issue of The Photographer Magazine.
“Fuselage of Freedom”: The image was commissioned by Lockheed Martin to commemorate the final F-16 produced at the company’s Fort Worth facility. This image captures a historic moment as the last F-16 moved through the production line in 2016 before production was relocated to South Carolina. The photograph features Bobby Bazzell, a dedicated employee who spent more than 20 years at the Fort Worth plant. Here, he carefully measures the precise screw-hole locations, a critical step in ensuring the aircraft’s accuracy and quality. The F-16 was built in Fort Worth for nearly 44 years, beginning with the rollout of the first prototype in December 1973 and concluding with the delivery of the final Texas-assembled Fighting Falcon to the Iraqi Air Force in November 2017. Over those four decades, the Fort Worth facility produced an impressive 3,620 F-16 Fighting Falcons, making it one of the aircraft’s most significant production sites in history. This image was captured using only available light at f/5.6, 1/40 second, ISO 1600, preserving the authentic atmosphere of the factory floor.
