One wing F15?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
IIRC, it was a two seater - Captain instructor and Lt Col on refresher training. Captain ordered ejection, Lt Col declined and landed it. Got demoted for disobeying instructor - and then promoted for saving aircraft.
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[spotter hat]You're right- it was a twin-tub. You can tell by the canopy.[/spotter hat]
One question springs to mind though- did they not have a playmate (apart from the A-4 obviously) who could give them a once-over?
One question springs to mind though- did they not have a playmate (apart from the A-4 obviously) who could give them a once-over?
The event is real and the pictures of the jet on the ground are real, but the footage of the jet in the air is doctored. If you look closely, you'll see the footage is actually an F-15E.
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This is the text of an e-mail I received a few months ago about this incident:
This is a story about an Israeli F-15 that lost its wing - and still
managed to stay airborne!...
"On may 1st. 1983, a simulated dogfight training took place between two
F-15D's and four A-4N Skyhawks over the skies of the Negev. The F-15D
(# 957, nicknamed 'Markia Shchakim', 5 killmarks) was used for the
conversion of a new pilot in the squadron. Here is the description of the event as described in "Pressure suit": At some point I collided with one of the Skyhawks, at first I didn't realize it. I felt a big strike, and I thought we passed through the jet stream of one of the other aircraft. Before I could react, I saw the big fire ball created by the explosion of the Skyhawk. The radio started to deliver calls saying that the Skyhawk pilot has ejected, and I understood that the fire ball was the skyhawk, that exploded, and the pilot was ejected automatically.
There was a tremendous fuel stream going out of the wing, and I understood it was badly damaged. The aircraft flew without control in a strange spiral. I
re-connected the electric control to the control surfaces, and slowly gained control on the aircraft until I was straight and level again. It was clear to me that I had to eject. When I gained control I said : "Hey, wait, don't eject yet!" No warning light was on and the navigation computer worked as usual; I just needed a warning light in my panel to indicate that I missed a wing..." The instructor ordered me to eject. The wing is a fuel tank, and the fuel indicator showed 0.000 so I assumed that the jet stream sucked all the fuel out of the other tanks. However, I remembered that the valves operate only in one direction, so that I might have enough fuel to get to the nearest airfield and land.
I worked like a machine, wasn't scared and didn't worry. All I knew was: as
long as the sucker flies, I'm gonna stay inside. I started to decrease the airspeed, but at that point one wing was not enough. So I went into a spin down and to the right. A second before I decided to eject, I pushed the throttle and lit the afterburner. I gained speed and thus got control of the aircraft again. Next thing I did was lowering the arresting hook. A few seconds later I touched the runway at 260 knots, about twice the recommended speed, and called the tower to erect the emergency recovery net. The hook was torn away from the fuselage because of the high speed, but I managed to stop 10 meters before the net.
I turned back to shake the hand of my instructor, who urged me to eject, and
then I saw it for the first time - no wing!!!
The IAF (Israeli Air Force) contacted McDonnel Douglas and asked for information about possibility to land an F-15 with one wing . MD replied that this is aerodynamically impossible, as confirmed by computer simulations...
Then they received the photo....
After two months the same F-15 got a new wing and returned to action.
McDonnel Douglas attributes the saving of this aircraft to the amount
of lift generated by the engine intake/body and "a hell of a good pilot".
Possible, I suppose, but I am intrigued by the comparative lack of control input to port, even though the remaining flap (port) is fully down.
This is a story about an Israeli F-15 that lost its wing - and still
managed to stay airborne!...
"On may 1st. 1983, a simulated dogfight training took place between two
F-15D's and four A-4N Skyhawks over the skies of the Negev. The F-15D
(# 957, nicknamed 'Markia Shchakim', 5 killmarks) was used for the
conversion of a new pilot in the squadron. Here is the description of the event as described in "Pressure suit": At some point I collided with one of the Skyhawks, at first I didn't realize it. I felt a big strike, and I thought we passed through the jet stream of one of the other aircraft. Before I could react, I saw the big fire ball created by the explosion of the Skyhawk. The radio started to deliver calls saying that the Skyhawk pilot has ejected, and I understood that the fire ball was the skyhawk, that exploded, and the pilot was ejected automatically.
There was a tremendous fuel stream going out of the wing, and I understood it was badly damaged. The aircraft flew without control in a strange spiral. I
re-connected the electric control to the control surfaces, and slowly gained control on the aircraft until I was straight and level again. It was clear to me that I had to eject. When I gained control I said : "Hey, wait, don't eject yet!" No warning light was on and the navigation computer worked as usual; I just needed a warning light in my panel to indicate that I missed a wing..." The instructor ordered me to eject. The wing is a fuel tank, and the fuel indicator showed 0.000 so I assumed that the jet stream sucked all the fuel out of the other tanks. However, I remembered that the valves operate only in one direction, so that I might have enough fuel to get to the nearest airfield and land.
I worked like a machine, wasn't scared and didn't worry. All I knew was: as
long as the sucker flies, I'm gonna stay inside. I started to decrease the airspeed, but at that point one wing was not enough. So I went into a spin down and to the right. A second before I decided to eject, I pushed the throttle and lit the afterburner. I gained speed and thus got control of the aircraft again. Next thing I did was lowering the arresting hook. A few seconds later I touched the runway at 260 knots, about twice the recommended speed, and called the tower to erect the emergency recovery net. The hook was torn away from the fuselage because of the high speed, but I managed to stop 10 meters before the net.
I turned back to shake the hand of my instructor, who urged me to eject, and
then I saw it for the first time - no wing!!!
The IAF (Israeli Air Force) contacted McDonnel Douglas and asked for information about possibility to land an F-15 with one wing . MD replied that this is aerodynamically impossible, as confirmed by computer simulations...
Then they received the photo....
After two months the same F-15 got a new wing and returned to action.
McDonnel Douglas attributes the saving of this aircraft to the amount
of lift generated by the engine intake/body and "a hell of a good pilot".
Possible, I suppose, but I am intrigued by the comparative lack of control input to port, even though the remaining flap (port) is fully down.
Originally Posted by Zoom
Possible, I suppose, but I am intrigued by the comparative lack of control input to port, even though the remaining flap (port) is fully down.
Huh? The F-15 airborne pictures are not real - they were produced by digitally removing the wing from a two winged F-15E so that the History channel could make a documentary out of the story.
Last edited by VigilantPilot; 1st Feb 2006 at 16:34.
Originally Posted by VigilantPilot
Huh? The F-15 airborne pictures are not real - they were produced by digitally removing the wing from a two winged F-15E so that the History channel could make a documentary out of the story.
I wonder if the one wing model is cheaper to buy than the two winged one? All those air forces that have been longing for the Eagle may be able to pick up a few now.
Originally Posted by ZH875
No doubt the British Defence Budget will only be able to afford the wing, the one without any engines..
I'matightbastard
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The site had pics of another version with the cabin at the wingtip - and one with two cabins also 
(not sure if they're for real though)
...might as well post 'em I suppose
...sorry, annorak coming off now
(not sure if they're for real though)...might as well post 'em I suppose
I just finished talking to Hans H. Amtman (94 and living in California) over the phone about the Bv 141 with the wingtip nacelle. He said he had no more documents concerning that plane but could remember seeing it on the tarmac. The 141 in question had a second nacelle at the other wingtip but without flight controls. It was flown only to test how it would feel like to sit at the wingtip. Such an arrangement was duplicated at Wright Field after the war when a wingtip nacelle (also without controls) was mounted to the right hand wing-tip of a B-17. Mr. Amtmann sat in that nacelle on one occasion and said it felt no different than sitting conventionally in the middle of the plane.
...sorry, annorak coming off now
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I'll bet they were a pig to land in a cross-wind. Imagine trying to judge the right moment to kick the drift off when you're so far removed from the centreline?
I believe several months ago (maybe longer, memory being what it is these days) Flying magazine (US) had a column by Peter Garrison called Technicalities that was devoted to how this plane flew. I don't remember much of it, but McAir had analyzed how it was done. The discussion was about the lifting moment of the one wing and how the tail could oppose it with the F15's flight control system. Further, how much fuselage lift would be generated based on the speeds flown during recovery.
Some days you are NOT the bug on the windscreen!!
GF
Some days you are NOT the bug on the windscreen!!
GF
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Onan, I prefer your tongue in cheek persona - interesting pics though, you got any of Jenny Agutter in Equus? Er... or however it was spelled?
PS, how about Rutan's assymetrical oddity?
PS, how about Rutan's assymetrical oddity?