F/A-18F
Posted on 11/05/2007 5:46:00 PM PST by RDTF
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A mandatory grounding of Air Force F-15s has been expanded to cover those flying combat missions over Afghanistan after a crash in Missouri last week, Air Force officials said Monday.
The F-15Es in Afghanistan can fly only in emergency situations to protect U.S. and coalition troops in a battle, according to Maj. John Elolf, a spokesman for the U.S. Air Force Central Command.
Maj. Cristin Marposon, an Air Force spokeswoman, told The Associated Press the country's fleet of 676 F-15s, including mission critical jets, was grounded on November 3 for "airworthiness concerns" after the crash of an older model F-15C on Friday.
-snip-
A spokeswoman for Boeing, the aircraft's manufacturer, told AP the company was cooperating with the Air Force but could not provide additional comment because of the pending investigation.
Col. Robert Leeker, commander of the 131st Fighter Wing, said Friday the plane had been among four planes split into pairs and were engaging in one-on-one training flights in which speeds of 400 to 450 mph are typical, according to AP.
A pilot, a 10-year veteran of the guard whose name and rank were not released, safely ejected from the aircraft when it crashed in Dent County, Missouri, AP reported. The pilot suffered a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm and minor cuts and bruises.
Now only "mission critical" F-15s will fly.
Pentagon officials said the U.S. Navy has had to move the only aircraft carrier in the region from the Persian Gulf to the North Arabian Sea to fill mission gaps for the F-15s.
Several dozen F/A-18 fighters from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise will fly missions with other Air Force aircraft to fill mission gaps.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
If the Pukin Dog was still with us he would say “I told you so”
But he isn’t, so “I told you so.” :)
The Eagle may be getting a little too long in the tooth.
Where is Pukin’?
This is the actual title of the article
***
Air Force grounds F-15s in Afghanistan after Missouri crash
***
I was looking for references to “break up in flight,” and couldn’t find any.
It should be amended to reflect the actual title, IMO.
ML/NJ
why did you do a search? I didn’t alter the title, (look at the home page) but if the title now says that then it can be corrected.
“Banned or Suspended”...I’d also noticed his absence the last couple of months or so.
“I was looking for references to “break up in flight,” and couldn’t find any.”
If I understand correctly...it is in there in the linked article;
check fourth paragraph.
i.e.,
“Air Force officials said it was a structural failure and the plane broke apart in flight.”
'Nobody by that name.'
Because I wanted to read the whole article, I clicked
on the link ... and this is the title of the article now.
They must’ve changed it.
Air Force grounds F-15s in Afghanistan after Missouri crash
If you do a search for his screen name you will find his last posts where he wrote that he was POed and quitting FR.
And he hasn’t been seen on this forum since.
I always wondered if there was something else going on in his life to trigger him off.
yea they probably changed it, it was new to begin with
ping
Please use the original title.
The plane broke up in flight?
Funny but from the looks of the wreckage it went straight in and burned.
Eyewitness accounts said they heard a “fluttering” like noise followed by a loud boom with black smoke trailing from the aircraft.
It sounds to me as if it sucked in a bird and damaged an engine (fluttering sound = possible compressor stall?) the loud boom would be the turbines failing.
But we’ll have to wait a year or more before the investigation is complete.
The grounding of the F-15E Strike Eagles do not make any sense since they are newer airframes.
Reading the Airforce Times online edition, they mentioned the following:
“The grounding announcement comes at the same time Air Force leaders continue to press Congress for more F-22A Raptors, the stealth jet replacing the F-15 Eagle at many bases, and permission to retire a host of older bombers, tankers and transports.”
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/11/airforce_f15grounding_071104/
You don't think it had to do with the Rudy supporters he liked getting the boot?
Years ago, when an Aloha Airlines 737 came apart mid-air, Boeing and the FAA did extensive researh as to the cause of the accident. In that case, the airframe was preserved because the plane made a safe landing on Maui, less the top front section.
Many of those models were checked/modified and continued to fly, granted, not at 400-500 mph.
I wonder if simialr checks are being made/modified for airworthiness on the remaining F-15s
Where did the Dog go ......Banned or worse ?
Thanks for the ping.
Pukin Dog opused and went over to Wideawakes when they started up, but it looks like he hasn’t posted over there in a while, either.
Plane breaks up in flight.
I hate it when that happens.
What happened to Pukin Dog?
“Years ago, when an Aloha Airlines 737 came apart mid-air, Boeing and
the FAA did extensive researh as to the cause of the accident.”
After reading about that aviation “event”, I do tend to look over
the exterior of the plane when boarding.
And promise myself I will NOT complain if some passenger notes
a crack in the fuselage that requires deboarding and boarding a
second plane for a safe trip.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Flight_243
According to the official NTSB report of the investigation, a passenger
noticed a crack in the fuselage upon boarding the aircraft prior to
the ill-fated flight but did not notify anyone. The crack was located
aft of the front portside passenger door. This crack was probably due
to metal fatigue related to the 89,090 compression and decompression
cycles experienced in the short hop flights by Aloha, which was the
second highest number of cycles in the worldwide fleet of 737s at
the time.
You have to shove a whole bunch of birds in there to screw it up. A frozen chicken might do it!
He violated the most important rule... of not being sufficiently hateful of Rudy. Just try posting something that isn't totally hateful of Rudy and see what happens you you.
Now, of course, since I've compromised my standing I must offer:
I hate Rudy. <-- mods... please let me stay :-)
F/A-18F
WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Air Force suspended non-mission critical F-15 flight operations on Nov. 3 following the crash of a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C aircraft Nov.2.
The cause of that accident is still under investigation, however, preliminary findings indicate that a possible structural failure of the aircraft may have occurred. The suspension of flight operations is a precautionary measure.
----------------------------------
http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/344254.html
The plane crashed on private property surrounded by Mark Twain National Forest.
“I heard something fluttering, like something was wrong with the plane,” said property owner Dairl Asher, 71. “I heard a bang and I saw some smoke. I got on my four-wheeler and went over there, but I couldn’t find it.”
Ted Pryor, 34, and David Major, 39, saw the plane circling while taking a break from work at Resource Recycling. They got into a truck and went to the site of the crash, then called authorities.
“You could tell he was scared,” Pryor said of the pilot. “He kept saying, I feel like I’m going into shock.’” The 7th Civil Support Team and Black Hawk helicopters were sent to provide security at the crash site, Gov. Matt Blunt said in a news release.
“I am very pleased the pilot was not seriously injured and was able to receive medical treatment quickly,” Blunt said.
Another Missouri Air National Guard fighter crashed in May after taking off from Lambert. That fighter, an F-15D, had been conducting drills about eight miles south of Vincennes, Ind., when a jammed cable caused the two-seater plane to crash, according to an Air Force report released last week. The report said the crossover cable was properly installed, inspected and maintained, leaving it unclear why it malfunctioned.
The pilot, a veteran of 15 years of flying, was able to eject and had only minor injuries. No one on the ground was hurt. The plane, valued at $43.7 million, was destroyed
Compression isn't the only problem. Aircraft are built with tempered aluminum sheet metal. 7075-T6 or T3 for interior parts. Not Pepsi can or beer can aluminum sheets and rivets. It's the constant heating and cooling that makes it brittle over time. There is a time limit on aircraft usage. Usually when cracks are seen, it's had so many avionics parts replaced it gets retired. Or refurbished into a cargo plane. I did that.
Wonderful he was not seriously injured.
Is that an R/C aircraft?
Pukin Dog, Pukin Dog, where are you now?
Something’s wrong a plane went down, freepers havin a cow!
Title changed, who’s to blame, nobody can see your old name...
Jets discussed, felt you a must, but the place just ain’t the same. (sob)
The big antenna gave it away huh?
So are we going to order new F-15s or more F22s. Because we were already wearing down or inventory.
Why no. Matter of fact it's a super-duper-secret airplane that just happens to run
off of a certain secret type of fuel for, um, light weight fueled aircraft.
Yea! Light weight aircraft fuel, for aircraft's and stuffs. For light planes,
and stuff things that fly. Lightly in the sky like bird things.
So what the hell is your BEEF?
/GRIN
It has been around for ages...
Or is it made of steel versus other metals?
All metals fatigue eventually.
My guess, what we see is not the same airplane anymore.
get my drift?
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group departed the US East Coast home ports yesterday. Embarked Strike Fighter Squadrons are VFA-11, VFA-32, VFA-37 and VFA-105, all flying the F/A-18F.
Yes, with a caveat. He used to claim access to inside contacts that he apparently didn't have. I had a running argument with him over the F-35. He'd claim that his knowedgable inside contacts had let him know that the project would be canceled by the end of the year. (I think that was 2005, it might have been 2004). I kept pointing out that the Marines and the allied partners had to have the plane, and that there were international political considerations that he was ignoring, looking at it from his single service perspective.
He changed the kill date several times, but left before I could fully rub his nose into his earlier comments.
I hate it when that happens! :-))
“Is that an R/C aircraft?”
Yup, frontline jets don’t have paint jobs that nice anymore, unfortunately.
I always liked the attitudes of the Tuskeegee Airmen...paint that tail bright red and let the enemy know that you’re coming to whip their ass.
“Why doesn’t the B-52 Bomber have metal fatigue problems.”
The BUFF had their wings fortified by Boeing a few years back. They still have age problems though. There have been some incidences with things like engine pods just falling off during flight. There have been some proposals to scrap the 4 twin-engine pods, and simply hang 4 huge off-the-shelf airliner engines on the BUFF.
US grounds F-15 jets after crash
*******************EXCERPT*********************
It is thought that the plane, which dated from 1980, started to break up in the air. The pilot ejected, suffering a broken arm and minor cuts and bruises.
“Oh I dunno about that:”
From what I understand, one bird from each squadron has the nice paint job, strictly for public relations purposes, and all the other planes have the same sh*tty “ghost grey” paintjobs that the Navy used when I was on the Enterpise in the late 80’s.
Looks like Israel have grounded their fleet too.
F-16s were noted, on some bases, taking over NORAD duties from the F-15s.
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