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Old 27th Nov 2011, 18:27
  #1718 (permalink)  
stepwilk
 
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The only whole-wing loss I know of was an Israeli AF F-15, and in that aircraft, a substantial amount of lift is produced by the entire wing root/fuselage juncture area, so the pilot in fact didn't even know he'd lost the entire wing until after he'd landed. He of course knew something was seriously wrong and held the airplane relatively stable by using full power, but he was unaware of the extent of the damage.

No conventional-airframe aircraft, ie like the Polish aircraft, could possibly lose an entire wing and "land safely."
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