F15`s grounded again

Well we even have a picture of the pilot being hoisted to the dolphin!

Here is a link just restating most of the information provided by Zaphod.
www.honoluluadvertiser.com.../20080202/NEWS01/802020347/1001/NEWS01

Lee said the pilot, who was flying solo in the twin-seat aircraft, "was getting to the point where he said, 'Hey, I'm getting kind of low, if I can't control it, I better punch out."

Coast Guard rescue swimmer Dave Burns said the pilot was in a life raft when the Coast Guard arrived. The rescue swimmer jumped into the waves, swam over to the jet pilot and made sure he was OK.

Coast Guard Lt. Will Johnson, the pilot of the Coast Guard helicopter, said there was an oil sheen in the water and a smell of oil in the area around where the fighter pilot was rescued.

And of course we have the standard statement that we will have to wait 30 days or more till the actual report is released.

My friends are gonna sit on top of this one and pass on any information that they hear. I have sources through them that are former HiANG, and have inside contacts, so as soon as they hear from them they'll pass it on to me, and I'll post it here. But right now, it seems to be a "normal" malfunction.

Thanks to that ejection page I found the other night, I also found that HiANG lost another bird that was being delivered to them in 1987. The aircraft required an OCF, and the Col flying the ferry flight decided to do the OCF during the ferry, with three full externals on (totally against policy). He took off and immediately lost control of the aircraft. A rudder valve had been improperly serviced. Everytime he would ease up on the controls to try to eject the bird went more squirrley on him. As he was close to an interstate, housing, and other buildings he chose to stay with it as long as possible to ensure it didn't land on any of those. Sadly he was unable to get out in time.

The ejection seat website is incorrect. Lt Col Gene Jackson was not performing an OCF as part of the ferry flight. The flight was scheduled as an OCF prior to the ferry flight which was to take place on some later date. Nothing was done that wan't kosher. He wouldn't have flown from Holloman Air Force Base, NM as a single F-15 to Hawaii and without tanker support. The flight was to be a local sortie. I was a captain and F-15 pilot at the time and had flown several times with Col Jackson. I also had the misfortune of witnessing the entire incident from brake release to his aircraft impacting the ground.

Not to argue, but a former crew chief that was working at Holloman that day says that the OCF was going to be done during the ferry, and if everything checked then he would continue. IIRC the first aircraft to arrive in Honolulu was either a single ship or part of a pair, but at any rate, his was the only aircraft mentioned, it wasn't said that he was a single ship ferry.

I sincerely hope you are still monitoring this as I have some more information for you regarding two F-15A incidents at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.

I was stationed at Holloman AFB as an F-15 crewchief from 12/1985 until12/1989 in the 9th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, 49th Tactical Fighter Wing. I had the privilege to launch and recover Lieutenant Colonel Gene Jackson a few times during my time at this base. He was one of the few high-ranking pilots I ever encountered that would treat enlisted personnel with respect and with light-hearted banter.

During the early afternoon of March 9, 1987 F-15A 77-0075 (Assigned to the 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron) was departing Holloman AFB enroute to the Hawaiian Air National Guard for a permanent transfer. In order to save time following an extensive and lengthy transfer inspection it was decided that the aircraft would complete its required Operational Check Flight (OCF) while configured for long range having three FULL 600-gallon external fuel tanks installed, which is totally against standard operating procedures. If the aircraft performed without problems the pilot agreed to continue his flight to Hawaii. All ground checks were completed with no noted anomalies and the flight was permitted.

Almost immediately after rotation the F-15 pitched up into an excessively high AOA not able to gain enough airspeed to climb rapidly. Numerous times the pilot was told to eject but he refused stating the aircraft was too unstable and every time he released the controls the aircraft started rolling towards base housing, the flight line, or the highway. He fought the aircraft until it was no longer a threat to anyone but was unable to eject in time to save his own life. I consider him an "unsung hero" and I have found it difficult to locate any information about him.

www.ejection-history.org.uk...

The crew chief was most likely misinformed. It was a local sortie to ensure the external tanks would transfer fuel correctly. I saw the flying schedule for the day (I stepped outside specifically to watch the takeoff) and knew that the ferry flight to transfer the jets to Hawaii was scheduled for late in the month.

This latest F-15 crash just appears to be, from what I've read, non related to the longer on problem, yet it is horrible timing, given the circumstance. No doubt it will receive more attention because of it, but let us not forget that statistics and other problems don't care if there is bad press or not. F-15's, like all aircraft will always crash due to various reasons, and had this happened at any other time I would have received a headline in passing. Anyway, I hope this incident is not due to PE, or else that pilot might get buried given the time regarding the Eagle fleet.

The Hawaii Air Guard has confirmed that the aircraft was intact when the pilot ejected. It passed inspection 3 weeks ago, and had flown previously that day. They're still decided whether to attempt to recover the aircraft from the ocean floor, and are hoping to resume flights by Thursday. They're still flying the air defense mission, but all routine training flights are grounded still.

The pilot was Lt Col Christopher "Frenchy" Faurot, 43. He has been flying with the Hawaii Air Guard since 1991. He was one of 4 pilots scrambled from after the attacks on 9/11 to protect Hawaii. He's also managing the transition to the F-22 due to happen in 2010.

www.flightglobal.com...

there all back in the air

All remaining US Air Force Boeing F-15A-D Eagles have been returned to flight, contingent on completion of individual inspections on each aircraft's fuselage longerons.

The USAF does not expect any of the 149 aircraft to require repair and says there will be no operating restrictions on Eagles that pass these final inspections. But all F-15A-Ds will require repetitive checks for longeron cracks every 400 flying hours

of the aircraft which have cracks - i personally think they will just write the airframes off.

Not so fast guys! Two F-15s are missing off Florida. Two F-15Cs and pilots have been missing since about 3pm EST, during a training flight over the Gulf of Mexico. They've had no contact with the pilots, and no ideas yet what caused them to go missing.

ETA: Looks like they rescued both pilots, and it was a midair they're saying now. No word on pilot conditions, just that they're alive.

[edit on 2/20/2008 by Zaphod58]

As soon as I heard this story and the circumstances I immediately thought of a mid air. Flying low over water while doing ACM is very dangerous because it can cause even the most seasoned pilots to experience special disorientation, vertigo. If they were on a training mission and were pulling high aspect BMF over the Gulf then Igm not surprised at the outcome; just upset that two more airframes are no longer available.

One pilot died after being transported to the base hospital. The other pilot is listed in good condition. The pilot that died was pulled out by a fishing boat, and transported by helicopter to the hospital where he was pronounced dead later.

A Coast Guard helicopter was on a training mission and saw a parachute heading towards the Gulf. They directed a fishing boat to where it landed, and they pulled the pilot out.

In the face of the now not-so-grounded F15`s we have


www.defense-aerospace.com.../

ST. LOUIS --- The Boeing Company has been awarded a $130 million U.S. Air Force contract to upgrade 16 Air Force and Air National Guard F-15C Eagles with the APG-63(v)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.

16 more Golden Eagles


says to me: no more raptors.

reply to post by Harlequin


The USAF has always had a plan to upgrade around 200 of the least used F-15C's with new radar, avionics, and other systems to serve alongside Raptors until 2025. Granted the USAF would like to have around 381 F-22's but the current Administration is not supporting that view.

I'm glad they're upgrading them. That's not going to fix the problem. The F-15 is limited to Mach 1.5, and has G limits on every airframe out there. There are Generals running the air force that have sons flying the EXACT SAME AIRFRAMES THAT THEY FLEW earlier in their careers. The F-15 fleet has reached 100% of airframes at what SHOULD be the end of their lifespan, with something like 40% having parts issues. If they fly at the limits they were DESIGNED for, they develop cracks in the wings, tails, and other structural members. So they're limited. What good is that going to do if they get into a WVR fight? They're going to get their heads handed to them.

Update on the HiANG crash.

The decision was made not to raise the wreckage when they found out the cost. The airframe is in EXTREMELY deep waters off Diamond Head. The preliminary AIB report on the cause is that the crash was caused by a flight control failure of unknown cause. The pilot was in routine flight, when all flight controls stopped responding.

Not a good time to be an Eagle driver. Maybe it is for some as they'll be transitioning to the Raptor. The other half? Maybe they'll be flying a "cargo plane full of rubber dog sh** out of Hong Kong"!

[edit on 21-4-2008 by HatTrick]

Originally posted by WestPoint23
reply to post by Harlequin

 

The USAF has always had a plan to upgrade around 200 of the least used F-15C's with new radar, avionics, and other systems to serve alongside Raptors until 2025. Granted the USAF would like to have around 381 F-22's but the current Administration is not supporting that view.

How much does it coast to maintaine ALL 730 F-15's?
I was wondering wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to just scrap ALL F-15/16/18's and just maintaine 2000 F-22 and 500 F-35

reply to post by Lambo Rider


In an ideal world of course it's cheaper in the long run (life time costs/capability) to buy around 500 Raptors and the original 2,500 planed F-35s. However since civilians run the DoD, White House and Congress logical and rational decisions are, naturally, not forthcoming. And there is only a finite amount of funs allocated per year, unless that also increases significantly the ideal and logical option will continue to be ignored.

So how much does it coast to maintaine the F-15's
I was wondering also the U.S. spend $500B on Defense, but what has it brought forth