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An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

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Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#31

Post by krisoft »

lkrubner wrote: post #29

How in the world is this possible: "In a testament to just how incredibly tough these aircraft really are, the damaged F-15 was transported to a maintenance facility in Tel Nof, where it was given a new wing and returned to service." Am I reading this correctly? Events were something like: So you rip a wing off a plane in a mid-air collision but you can safely assume that it did not suffer fundamental structural dama…

> you can safely assume that it did not suffer fundamental structural damage

I don’t know where you are getting that they assumed anything. Most likely they carefully checked every part of the airplane.

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#32

Post by baybal2 »

lkrubner wrote: post #29

How in the world is this possible: "In a testament to just how incredibly tough these aircraft really are, the damaged F-15 was transported to a maintenance facility in Tel Nof, where it was given a new wing and returned to service." Am I reading this correctly? Events were something like: So you rip a wing off a plane in a mid-air collision but you can safely assume that it did not suffer fundamental structural dama…

No post body was provided.

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#33

Post by jlkuester7 »

jskrablin wrote: post #21
stavros wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that what these planes basically are? They aren't very aerodynamic so they can maneuver quickly, so they need tons of thrust to stay aloft. I heard one described as "a brick with a jet engine strapped to it".

That is usually referring to F-4 Phantom. F-15 is using something called a lifting body design in which fuselage itself produces lift. That's what save this one. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body

+1 to this. The aerodynamic lift from the F-15 wings/body also increases its maneuverability as well since the pilot will roll the plane into the turn.

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#34

Post by jlkuester7 »

stavros wrote: post #17
_0ffh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in the RC flying community there's a saying like "Anything can fly, with enough thrust". Safely landing, otoh, now that's a feat!

Rockets are a testament to the truth of that :P

Apparently no one told that to Elon....

It may have been German mad-scientists who pioneered sending rockets to space, but I think you actually have to be more crazy to think you can bring them back down again and land them in one piece! (Not that it has stopped Musk from doing just that...)

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#35

Post by jlkuester7 »

dogma1138 wrote: post #30
lkrubner wrote: post #29

How in the world is this possible: "In a testament to just how incredibly tough these aircraft really are, the damaged F-15 was transported to a maintenance facility in Tel Nof, where it was given a new wing and returned to service." Am I reading this correctly? Events were something like: So you rip a wing off a plane in a mid-air collision but you can safely assume that it did not suffer fundamental structural dama…

Yes, aircraft are designed to be transportable and repairable so the wings and other control surfaces are easily removable. The wings on an F-16 for example are secured by two bolts all you need is to disconnect the avionics remove the bolts and the wing comes off. You can replace a wing on an F-16 within under half an hour without skipping any steps it is like changing tires on a car.

I hope that the techs give an extra tug on the wrench "just to be sure" when they are tightening those two bolts back on like I do when putting the lug nuts back on my car wheel...

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#36

Post by stavros »

jlkuester7 wrote: post #34
stavros wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rockets are a testament to the truth of that :P

Apparently no one told that to Elon.... It may have been German mad-scientists who pioneered sending rockets to space, but I think you actually have to be more crazy to think you can bring them back down again and land them in one piece! (Not that it has stopped Musk from doing just that...)

I'm fairly sure someone did, as his rockets do have enough thrust to fly.

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#37

Post by GekkePrutser »

jlkuester7 wrote: post #33
jskrablin wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is usually referring to F-4 Phantom. F-15 is using something called a lifting body design in which fuselage itself produces lift. That's what save this one. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body

+1 to this. The aerodynamic lift from the F-15 wings/body also increases its maneuverability as well since the pilot will roll the plane into the turn.

Isn't rolling into a turn what every plane does? I was told the rudder is more for support to reach proper turn coordination.

Some airliners don't even use rudder during cruise to avoid upsetting passengers in the rear.

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#38

Post by recuter »

_jack_cox wrote: post #28
amelius wrote: post #22

So the pilot seriously risked their life to save the government a few million $.

Ejecting is very risky for the pilot. Many pilots are seriously injured in the process (1 in 3 chance of spinal injury https://www.smh.com.au/education/how-dangerous-is-it-to-ejec... ). Ejection is the option of last resort; I'm guessing the pilot felt that he wasn't quite that desperate yet.

Nope. Israel in the 80s was not a wealthy country and didn't have jets to spare. He guessed the correct motivation.

Re: An Israeli F-15 landed without a wing (2020)

#39

Post by Maursault »

tomcam wrote: post #3

Everything about the incident is surreal. Neither student nor instructor could tell the wing was missing until they landed because a fuel leak obscured their view. The instructor told the student, who outranked him, to eject. The student refused. They had to fly almost twice as fast as usual to remain stable when landing. The plane manufacturer didn’t believe the incident until in-flight photos were produced. And the…

> Everything about the incident is surreal.

I'm a little disappointed that we know hardly anything about this incident except the surreal parts. What specific events lead to the collision? What happened to the Skyhawk and its pilot?[1] Was there an investigation, and if so, what were its findings? I guess I've been spoiled by publicized NTSB investigations.

[1] The pilot of the Skyhawk was automatically ejected and his aircraft disintegrated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Negev_mid-air_collision

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