Posts Tagged ‘F15 News’
U.S. Air Force F-15 Funding Flying High
The U.S. Air Force will have spent about $5.8 billion on F-15 programs between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2017, with F-15E Strike Eagles accounting for about $3.2 billion of that total, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of data. Most of the work, about $3 billion, is for sustainment Read the rest of this entry »
F-15s extend deployment in Hawaii
The 120th Fighter Wing of the Montana Air National Guard will extend its current air combat alert mission at Joint Base Pearl-Hickam, Hawaii until September 2012.
The extension is a result of a recent decision to leave the F-15 mission at MANG longer than originally anticipated. MANG is performing the 24-hour alert mission in Hawaii while that base converts from the F-15 to the newer, more high-tech F-22 Raptor. Approximately 30 pilots, maintainers and logistics personnel, in addition to six F-15s, from MANG have been deployed to Hawaii since August of last year. They were originally scheduled to return in January 2012.
When the personnel were fist deployed, a MANG spokesman said many of those making the trip had sold their homes or rented them out in anticipation of a long deployment.
An alert-status mission means the F-15s must be ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week to fly at a moment’s notice if an aircraft is in trouble or an unidentified plane enters restricted airspace or acts erratically, according to MANG officials.
Source: http://www.greatfallstribune.com
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
Is there a delay of F-15s for Saudi?
There are rumblings that the Boeing F-15 deal with Saudi Arabia is delayed. There are also speculation the Saudis are upset with President Obama’s support of Arab Spring demonstrations or his opposition to Palestine becoming a state through U.N. approval.
“We hear the same rumblings, but to narrow it down or be able to pinpoint it, we’re up in the air about that right now. We don’t know,” said Aerospace Machinists president Gordon King.
“They are keeping it pretty close chested of what the reasons might be”
King feels the Saudis are still interested with the F-15s, but admits there has been a hold-up in the transfer of money.
Source: stlouis.cbslocal.com, foxnews.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
Three More F-15K Slam Eagles Delivered to ROKAF
Posted by Jobelle in F-15 Model, F15 News on August 24th, 2011
Boeing delivered three F-15K Slam Eagle aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) at Daegu Air Base on Aug. 20.
“We are pleased to receive the latest three F-15K Slam Eagles, F-15K 51, 52 and 53, from Boeing,” said Lt. Col. Tae Uk Kim, Commander of the 110th Squadron, 11th Fighter Wing, ROKAF.
“The F-15K is one of our most important assets in defense of the peninsula. We are satisfied with the continued on-schedule, quality deliveries of our F-15K Slam Eagles from Boeing,” he added.
The aircraft left the Boeing St. Louis facility on Aug. 16 and made stops in Palmdale, Calif., Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, before arriving in Korea.
Boeing delivered the first six of 21 F-15Ks it is producing under the Next Fighter II contract in 2010, followed by two in April and two more in May. The remaining eight aircraft will be delivered through April 2012.
“Our long-term cooperative relationship enables Boeing and Korean industry to ensure the ROKAF continues to fly a superior multi-role aircraft in defense of Korea,” said Roger Besancenez, Boeing F-15 Program vice president.
The F-15K is an advanced variant of the combat-proven F-15E. Equipped with the latest technological upgrades, it is extremely capable, survivable and maintainable. The aircraft’s service life is planned through 2040, with technology insertions and upgrades throughout its life cycle.
Source: AIR-ATTACK
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
U.S. F-15 crashes in Libya
An F-15 fighter jet crashed in Libya’s rebel held east, both crew ejecting safely as the aircraft spun from the sky during the third night of the U.S. and European air campaign. U.S. military said the two US airmen were force to eject from their F-15 after an apparent mechanical failure.
The F-15E came down in field of winter wheat and thistles outside the town of Bu Mariem, about 24 miles east of the rebel capital of Benghazi.
The aircraft, based at RAF Lakenheath, was flying out of Italy’s Aviano airbase in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn at the time of the incident.
“I saw the plane spinning round and round as it came down,” said Mahdi el-Amruni, who rushed to the crash site with other villagers. “It was in flames. They died away, then it burst in to flames again.”
By Tuesday afternoon, the F-15 plane‘s body was mostly burned to ash, with only the wings and tail fins intact.
Vince Crawley, a spokesman for the Africa Command, said both crew members had been safely recovered and had received only minor injuries. Crawley said the crash was likely to have been caused by mechanical failure rather than hostile fire. He declined to give the location of the crash and would not say how the rescued crewmen were picked up or where they were taken.
The crash was the first major loss for the U.S. and European military air campaign, which over three nights appears to have hobbled Qaddafi’s air defenses and artillery and rescued the rebels from impending defeat.
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Source: cbsnews.com
guardian.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk
abcnews.go.com
Kadena’s F-15s to move training to Guam
Japan and the United States have reached a basic agreement to move some training functions of F-15 fighters stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture to the U.S. territory of Guam, Japanese government sources said.
The transfer from the Kadena base, which is home to two F-15 squadrons of the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Wing, would occur within fiscal 2011 at the earliest, the sources said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa will finalize the agreement on Jan. 13 during a two-day visit by Gates to Japan, the sources said Sunday.
Japanese government regards the agreement as a concrete reduction of the burden borne by the prefecture in hosting U.S. bases, and hopes to use it as a beachhead to get the prefecture’s cooperation on the stalled plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station within the prefecture, the sources said.
The United States has as a rule kept two fighter squadrons–each currently comprising 24 F-15s–permanently stationed at the Kadena base, which is one of the United States’ largest strategic military locations outside the U.S. mainland.
The Japanese government has been trying to have the United States move the training functions of as much as one full F-15 squadron to Guam.
- Daily Yomiuri Online -
F-15 Model Airplanes on sale at 15% off! Hurry and get one now!
Oregon F-15s go supersonic to defend restricted airspace
Two Oregon Air National Guard jets scrambled from Portland International Airport on Tuesday afternoon to intercept a small float plane that veered into restricted airspace near Seattle during a visit by President Barack Obama.
The jets, from the 142nd Fighter Wing ripped north through western Washington, trailing in the planes’ wake, said Guard Col. Mike Stencel.
The seaplane left the restricted area before the jets reached Seattle, about 10 minutes later, Stencel said.
President Obama, who was in the Northwest to stump for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray as part of a larger cross-country campaign trip, was leaving his hotel when the booms rattled Seattle windows.
Stencel, speaking with an Oregonian reporter outside the guard’s air base in Northeast Portland, said the F-15s are on 24-hour alert and often respond to emergencies, but that the nature of this call led to a more urgent response.
He said the distance from Portland to Seattle, about 145 miles by air, is covered by the single-seat jets in minutes. According to a U.S. Air Force fact sheet, F-15s can reach top speeds of about 1,875 mph.
Stencel said the Oregon Air National Guard in Portland monitors the entire Northwest. “We cover defense for Oregon, Washington and Idaho, with the next air defense base being down in Fresno, Calif.,” Stencel said.
The Associated Press reported that the incident began when a Cessna 180 float plane en route to a seaplane port on Lake Washington accidentally entered the restricted airspace.
Joseph said she and Daily were allowed to leave after being interviewed by the Secret Service and haven’t heard anything yet about possible sanctions.
Stencel said authorities often issue air notices, called NOTAM, alerting pilots to areas of restricted travel. “Civilian pilots should be looking that up before they go.
- OregonLive.com
