Archive for the ‘F15 Trivia’ Category
Israeli F-15 had bird strike
Posted by Jobelle in F15 News, F15 Trivia on October 7th, 2011
example of a Bird Strike
An IAF F-15 fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday after one of its engines caught fire during a routine training flight. Initial details suggest the F-15′s engine caught fire due to a bird-strike. The jet landed safely at the Tel Nof Air Base. The pilots were unharmed.
A military source confirmed the incident, adding: “Around 11:20am, an F-15 on a training flight was hit by a bird. The pilot and copilot followed procedure and immediately aborted the flight landing safely.
“The jet is currently undergoing a mechanical and technical inspection to determine whether it sustained any damage.”
Bird strikes, or BASH (Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard) are considered a significant threat to both civilian and military flight safety. In most cases, a bird hits the windscreen or flies into the engines, causing them to fail.
Luckily the majority of BASH incident do not cause human fatalities.
Source: ynetnews.com
Kingsley Field instructor pilot reached milestone
Posted by Jobelle in F15 News, F15 Pilot, F15 Trivia on September 7th, 2011
Lt. Col. Wes “Pappy” French, a Kingsley Field instructor pilot, passed a significant flying milestone this summer. On June 8, the 45-year-old fighter jet pilot logged his 3,000th hour flying the F-15, becoming the third active Kingsley pilot to reach the mark.
If you do the math, that’s 125 days spent roaming the skies in the tight cockpit of the air-to-air fighter jet.But that doesn’t take into consideration the countless hours French and about 25 other instructor pilots at Kingsley spend preparing to the fly the $30 million machines.
“Every milestone has been a proud moment, but to me the more important part is that every hour I’m up there I’m providing good training for the guys I’m working with,” said French, a member of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing.
Instructor pilots at Kingsley fly about four days a week, logging five to six hours in the air over that time period. Kingsley trains pilots to fly the F-15 and is the base to train pilots on the F-15C, a single-seat version of the fighter jet.
“We take a guy that is straight out of pilot school and train him for about six months to make the F-15 a fighting machine,” French said. “It’s very tough for them.”
Source: Herald and News
F-15 lands in Tri-Cities for air show
Posted by Jobelle in F15 News, F15 Trivia on July 27th, 2011
Two F-15 fighter jets performing at this weekend’s air show during the Columbia Cup land in the Tri-Cities Tuesday morning. The Air Force F-15 fighter planes will perform tricks and spins over the Columbia River for tens of thousands of hydroplane fans.
Since this is the first time these premiere planes have been involved in the annual show, pilots say they plan to show off the full aerobatic capabilities of their planes.
“We’ll get it low, we’ll get it on the deck, going almost the speed of sound, we’ll be doing the rolls and the loops, showing off the maneuverability of the airplane,” says Major Mike Maeder. “We’re gonna climb it. It’s got a max climb that’ll go 3 miles high in less than 20 seconds. Just lots of after burner, lots of noise, lots of fighter jets up close and personal.”
The F-15 planes are set to perform on Saturday and Sunday.
Source: kvewtv.com
Firefighters simulated egress aircrew at Seymour Johnson AFB
Posted by admin in F15 News, F15 Trivia on February 21st, 2011
On Feb. 15, Firefighters from the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron practiced extracting a simulated incapacitated aircrew member from a simulated disabled F-15E Strike Eagle during egress training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (AFB) in North Carolina.
The egress process begins when the firemen receive notification of an aircraft emergency. When they arrive on the scene they access the situation. After the quick assessment they extinguish all fires and hazards. Once the scene is safe based on the conditions they face a decision about best way to remove the aircrew members.
The second a fireman or ladder touches the aircraft the team has exactly 90 second to safely remove the F-15E Strike Eagle aircrew. The personnel extraction times vary depending on the airframe and the number of personnel onboard.
At Seymour Johnson, the firefighters must complete egress training on the F-15E Strike Eagle and the KC-135R Stratotanker quarterly.
- seymourjohnson.af.mil
Planes in Books: Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat
Posted by admin in F15 Trivia on January 17th, 2011
Author Shomo Aloni not only writes about the combat usage of the F-15 by the Israelis, but also its acquisition, deployment, non-combat losses and upgrading. It’s a fascinating story, told well and with Osprey‘s usual outstanding color plates. What is surprising is that the normally secretive Israeli Air Force allowed this kind of information to be published about a type that is in front-line service.
“Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat” is a definite must-read for aviation junkies.
- f-15e.info
F-15 Picture of the Week
Posted by Jobelle in F-15 Model, F15 Trivia on December 15th, 2010
F-15 Eagle drops five GPS-guided bombs high above the clouds. USAF picture by Bobbi Garcia.
The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. The Eagle’s air superiority is achieved through a mixture of maneuverability and acceleration, range, weapons and avionics. The F-15 has electronic systems and weaponry to detect, acquire, track and attack enemy aircraft while operating in friendly or enemy-controlled airspace. Its weapons and flight control systems are designed so one person can safely and effectively perform air-to-air combat. It can penetrate enemy defense and outperform and outfight current or projected enemy aircraft.
-globalsecurity.org
-1000pictures.com
Military Woman
Posted by Jobelle in F15 Pilot, F15 Trivia on November 17th, 2010
It was the summer before her senior year at the University of Texas at Austin, and officer candidate Cathy De La Garza was headed to an air base in Florida to spend two weeks “shadowing” an active duty officer. The idea was to get a taste of the real Air Force before she graduated.
” The officer was an F-15 pilot. I got a couple of rides when I was down there,” she said, “and that just brainwashed me.”
De La Garza grew up in Austin, the daughter of a Japanese mom and Irish dad, the latter a retired Air Force chief master sergeant. Her two older brothers were pilots; one flew C-130s for the Air Force, the other Army helicopters. “I kind of looked up to them, I guess,” she said. In addition, a brother-in-law flew F-14s for the Navy. By the time she got to high school, she’d decided she wanted to fly, too.
De La Garza knew what she wanted to do. And the timing was right. That spring, the Pentagon had begun allowing women to compete to fly combat aircraft.
Today, De La Garza is one of only seven woman F-15 pilots in the Air Force. For the past two years, she has flown the F-15C, a powerful air-to-air combat version of the jet, for the 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base. It’s a tour of duty that has included two deployments to the Persian Gulf region and roughly 50 flights over the “no-fly” zone in southern Iraq. Now a captain, she also recently earned an upgrade to “2-ship flight lead”; that means she can lead another jet out on a combat mission.
“It pushes me to do a lot of things I wouldn’t do normally,” De La Garza said during a recent interview at Langley. “It just forces me to use all my skill, everything they taught me. It just puts me out there.”
She’s aware that others still view her as a curiosity — including, upon first meeting, the wives of her male squadron mates, even though she’s married. She’s also fully versed in the short history of women in combat jets, including the controversy that swirled around the first women combat pilots in the Navy. She insists she hasn’t been granted special favors or considerations during her five-year career.
“I think I’ve been treated fairly and allowed to succeed or fail like everybody else,” she said. “I was not given preferential treatment. I can tell you that.”
Asked if she foresees a day when just as many women as men are flying combat jets, De La Garza said it will depend on the level of interest. If she were to ask a room full of young women what they want to do in life, she said, “I don’t think too many women would say, ‘I want to fly jets.’”
Ultimately, the attempt to integrate women into combat roles “may fail miserably,” De La Garza said. “Who knows? We haven’t had the history to make that decision. But I think everybody should have the opportunity” to fill such roles, she said. De La Garza hopes she’s one woman who is breaking down barriers to those opportunities.
- userpagesaug.com -
The F-15SG: Singapore Air Force’s Pride and Glory
Posted by admin in F15 News, F15 Trivia on November 15th, 2010
Based on the F-15 Strike Eagle, the F-15SG is the highly advanced multi-role combat aircraft equipped with the most technologically sophisticated avionics and weapon systems provided to an F-15 aircraft.
Selected by Singapore as a replacement of its A-4SU Skyhawk, the F-15SG is the latest combat aircraft based on the F-15E Strike Eagle. The development and production contract was awarded to Boeing in December 2005 which included 12 firm aircraft with an option for eight additional fighter jets to be executed at a later date.
In early January 2006, the Government of Singapore selected General Electric F110-GE-129 engine rated at 29,000 pounds of thrust to power the F-15SG.
In April 2006, Boeing selected Lockheed Martin to provide Sniper Advanced targeting pods, Tiger Eyes navigation pods, and an Infrared Search and Track (IRST) System for the Republic of Singapore F-15SGs.
Last April 5 of this year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Teo Chee Hean officiated inauguration ceremony of 149 Squadron at Paya Lebar Air Base. He also expressed gratitude to his USAF counterparts, who were very helpful as they taught the Singapore team about the aircraft.
According to Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Kelvin Khong, Commanding Officer of 149 Squadron who flew one of the F-15SG aircraft back to Singapore from the US, hard work was a major component that helped the crew get up to speed during their training.
“It wasn’t easy because the F-15SG has a lot of capabilities, which also means it has a lot of systems. For many of us, who were previously operating the F-5 and F-16 aircraft, there were a lot of things that we had to learn, such as the more advanced systems on board. It took a lot of studying and hands-on practice on our part,” Khong said.
The F-15SG can carry two crewmembers. It has a height of 5.6m, length of 19.5m, and a wingspan of 13m.
- defencetalk.com
- deagel.com
What sets the F-15 apart from other aircraft?
Posted by admin in F15 Trivia on May 27th, 2010
A multimission avionics system sets the F-15 apart from other fighter aircraft. It includes a head-up display, advanced radar, inertial navigation system, flight instruments, ultrahigh frequency communications, tactical navigation system and instrument landing system. It also has an internally mounted, tactical electronic-warfare system, “identification friend or foe” system, electronic countermeasures set and a central digital computer.
The F-15‘s versatile pulse-Doppler radar system can look up at high-flying targets and down at low-flying targets without being confused by ground clutter. It can detect and track aircraft and small high-speed targets at distances beyond visual range down to close range, and at altitudes down to treetop level. The radar feeds target information into the central computer for effective weapons delivery. For close-in dogfights, the radar automatically acquires enemy aircraft, and this information is projected on the head-up display. The F-15′s electronic warfare system provides both threat warning and automatic countermeasures against selected threats.
- www.aviationexplorer.com
What’s with the F-15 Eagle Plane?
Posted by admin in F15 Trivia on May 26th, 2010
The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. The Eagle’s air superiority is achieved through a mixture of maneuverability and acceleration, range, weapons and avionics. The F-15 has electronic systems and weaponry to detect, acquire, track and attack enemy aircraft while operating in friendly or enemy-controlled airspace. Its weapons and flight control systems are designed so one person can safely and effectively perform air-to-air combat. It can penetrate enemy defense and outperform and outfight current or projected enemy aircraft.
The F-15′s superior maneuverability and acceleration are achieved through high engine thrust-to-weight ratio and low wing loading. Low wing-loading (the ratio of aircraft weight to its wing area) is a vital factor in maneuverability and, combined with the high thrust-to-weight ratio, enables the aircraft to turn tightly without losing airspeed.
Get a personalized F-15 Model Airplane at www.warplanes.com!
