Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon —

I have always been curious as to why they hold the nose up for such a long distance after the mains are down and spinning. I've seen them touch down and then keep the nose up exactly as seen here for two, three, or four thousand feet before they allow the nose gear to come down and kiss concrete. And finally, I found out why.
They travel to many, many different airports. When they land, they cannot be certain of what foreign objects just might be on a runway. In the case of RNO, there are palm size rocks along the runway edge. So because the pilots can never be 100% certain that a runway is free of foreign objects AND because the jet engine intake sits so low which makes it hang close to the runway surface, they hold the nose off after touching down to reduce the possibility of some object being sucked into the intake because, should that happen, that F-16 may well be damaged which would naturally cause it to be scratched from performing.
Here at RNO, whenever the Thunderbirds are scheduled to arrive (or depart), a NevANG C-130 taxies the full length of whichever runway they will use with the inboards cranked way up to blow any object on the runway off the edge. Then, the on-duty Ops agent drives the length of the runway doing a visual check. So by the time the Tbirds use the runway (either to land or take off), it has been "prop-swept" and visually checked to insure there is absolutely nothing that could be accidentally ingested into the intakes. But since not every airport has a C-130 available to sweep its runway, it makes sense that the Thunderbird pilots take whatever precautions they can (like keeping the intakes elevated as much as possible) to prevent any accidental damage from occurring.
I also learned why they do not land at RTS when they make a performance appearance at the Reno Air Races. It is because of the many varied types of aircraft that use the RTS runways during the air races AND the various other activities (jet car races, etc) that take place. The Thunderbird pilots simply cannot be sure there are no foreign objects on the RTS runways so they perform over RTS but they land for their RON stay at RNO. Better safe than sorry.

Great shot, Gary! And that makes a lot of sense especially with the F-16. But another reason I was told, way back in the 70's when I was taking flying lessons, is that the slower you can go before letting the nose wheel come down, the less wear and tear on the tire. Anyway, keep those great pics coming!

Great shot Gary!

The main reason for the nose high attitude after touchdown is aerodynamic braking.

Greg & Darryl ... Hi, guys. Thanx for the comments and complis. (Wave)
Rick ... Howdy. Hey, I appreciate your input. And since I am not a pilot and I have zero aeronautical knowledge, I am not in a position to doubt your views. Also, I don't know your background qualifications so I have no reason to dispute you because (simply put) why would you deliberately misstate such a thing? However, I would not have posted the above info if I did not have some belief that it was correct because (simply put) why would I deliberately misstate such a thing?. And based upon my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to talk with several people (first, the TBird ground crewperson, then one of the pilots, and a short time later, the airport Ops agent and finally the C-130 crewperson from the Herc that prop-swept the runway), I was either the butt of some mysterious multi-person joke or they all were answering honestly. Somehow, I doubt they all secretly conspired to mislead one photographer from among the sixty or so of the people who were there. And the fact that we all actually saw the C-130 do the prop-sweep and then the Ops truck do the runway check tends to make me believe they weren't joshin' me. But I am willing to admit that the four of them just might have thought I was too stupid to understand the concept of aerodynamic braking so they all (independently) came up with an explanation they figured would sound better to someone like me. Or maybe the real truth lies somewhere between each explanation. Anyway, as I said, I appreciate your explanation which (I freely admit) sounds perfectly logical to dimwitted me. Or maybe Greg's explanation is the true reason and they are just saving wear and tear on the front tires. Or they are, as you state, saving the brake linings. Or they are concerned about ingesting rocks into the engine. Or all three. Who knows? (Wave)

I think we're all right. But I also think the primary reason for these F-16s is the one stated by Gary. They go to great lengths to ensure nothing can damage these birds. I saw the T-birds giving a demonstration years ago. One of the a/c had a mechanical problem. He quickly landed, jumped into a spare bird at the end of the runway, took off and rejoined the group. The whole process took just a few minutes. Anyway, I'm sure they try everything to keep those types of problems from happening.