Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
rick_ingram
Yoda
Offline
-
Hey Guest!
British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!**Upgrade Now**
(PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Incredible landing for an F-15!
- Thread starter rick_ingram
- Start date
Share this page
Bret
Yoda
Offline
Yup seen that a few times. I heard that even the designers at the factory upon seeing the photos of the damages aircraft at first didn't believe that it was results of a mid-air collision and figured it was a ground accident.
Kind of reminds you of some of the old B17s flying home in WW2 with half a wing or tail section missing or blown to shreads.
One would think that with close proximity to the fuel tanks & the reported amount of fuel loss that the aircraft should’ve been vaporized on impact.
Kind of reminds you of some of the old B17s flying home in WW2 with half a wing or tail section missing or blown to shreads.
One would think that with close proximity to the fuel tanks & the reported amount of fuel loss that the aircraft should’ve been vaporized on impact.
Offline
Bret
Yoda
Offline
Certainly does say a lot about the ruggedness of aircraft and the pilots ability to bring it home.
Not to go off the subject too much but - One thing I remember reading about a few years ago (10-15?) is how the F-15 was one of the test platforms used for something called “Fuzzy-Logic” software. The thought was that an aircraft can adapt to battle damage to its control surfaces and from the pilot prospective his control inputs remain pretty much unchanged. Not sure it would’ve helped a lesser pilot in this case but I like the concept and suspect this technology has found it’s way into some of our newer fighters & attack aircraft.
The down side to this much control being imbedded into the aircrafts’ onboard system – is that depending on the damage a nanny-ish computer might think it knows better & totally ignore any pilot inputs and depending on the level of control written into the software might prematurely eject him from an otherwise recoverable aircraft.
Not to go off the subject too much but - One thing I remember reading about a few years ago (10-15?) is how the F-15 was one of the test platforms used for something called “Fuzzy-Logic” software. The thought was that an aircraft can adapt to battle damage to its control surfaces and from the pilot prospective his control inputs remain pretty much unchanged. Not sure it would’ve helped a lesser pilot in this case but I like the concept and suspect this technology has found it’s way into some of our newer fighters & attack aircraft.
The down side to this much control being imbedded into the aircrafts’ onboard system – is that depending on the damage a nanny-ish computer might think it knows better & totally ignore any pilot inputs and depending on the level of control written into the software might prematurely eject him from an otherwise recoverable aircraft.
SilentUnicorn
Yoda
Offline
Talk about a wing and a prayer...
mark
mark
Nunyas
Yoda
Offline
Wow! I remember reading about this back in the late 80's (around '88/'89) in a book, and including this story in an AFJROTC presentation about aircraft survivability, but I'd never seen any of the pictures of the damages before...
speaking of survivability, if I recall correctly, the A-10 is supposed to be able to fly with half a wing missing, a missing engine, and half the tail section missing...
speaking of survivability, if I recall correctly, the A-10 is supposed to be able to fly with half a wing missing, a missing engine, and half the tail section missing...
Twosheds
Darth Vader
Offline
Nunyas said:
You recall correctly. Not only is it supposed to, it has done so.
Everything has three spars, any one of which looks like plenty. There are two engines separated by the fuselage, two vertical fins, two separate hydraulic systems (one is plumbed on the right side of the fuselage and wing leading edge, one on the left side and trailing edge), etc. etc. etc. The elevator is in two pieces joined by a torque tube and a shear pin. If one side is jammed, the pin will shear and you still have half of an elevator! And then there's manual reversion... You get the idea.
Won't win any beauty or speed contests, but will bring you home.
MGBGT_noob
Jedi Hopeful
Offline
Bret said:
That was probably an F-16, not a 15.
The F-15 does not have a fly-by-wire primary flight control system, the F-16 does.
That means you cannot take the pilot completely out of the loop, in an F-15. The stick and pedals connect mechanically to the hydraulic valves. As long as the plane still has hydraulic power, and the control linkage is in tact, the pilot has some control over the aircraft.
Since the hydraulics provide all the "muscle" to move the control surfaces, it doesn't seem too far fetched that he didn't notice what must have been a hellacious left yaw!
Remember, that the F-15 was the first aircraft with a power to weight ratio above 1:1. It can technically stay airborne with no lift from the wings at all.