Why were the F-15's grounded?

[philp]

I uploaded the pics to Picasso and they still don't show on IE so here is a link to the album if you want to take a look http://picasaweb.google.com/phil13/OOPS

OOPS....
From the Missouri Air National Guard.... Just Flying along, enjoying the ride


Oh my, this is so much fun, it's so great being a pilot.


Hmmm something feels different


Hey, why am I looking up


Oops.my controls aren't working???


Where's my F-15?? (Milt Sez: At this point isn't it an F 7 1/2?)


Oh, there it is


I think I'm having separation anxiety


OK, I'm out of here..but first the canopy has to go.


Glad that worked


That's it, now I'm gone


Can you imagine what was going through this poor pilot's mind?
AND,

just what caused the mid air break up.

U.S. Air Force's announcement on Thursday said that a Missouri National Guard F-15 jet broke apart in midair on Nov. 2, 2007; the pilot evacuated the plane safely. The breakup in mid air was blamed on parts that didn't meet specifications.

[Lord Darth Beavis]

Apparently some of the longerons were not machined to the proper dimensions, causing them to fatigue out and fail catastrophically.  Suck part is, the airframes won't even make good drones, now.

At least the F-15Es and on are built much stronger.

[jcf]

Apparently some of the longerons were not machined to the proper dimensions, causing them to fatigue out and fail catastrophically.  Suck part is, the airframes won't even make good drones, now.

At least the F-15Es and on are built much stronger.

The under-spec longerons are not on all of the earlier aircraft and 60% of the fleet was cleared for flight as of January, 8, 2008. Other aircraft have since returned to flight status.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123081489

The report is here:
http://www.acc.af.mil/aibreports/

Jon

[Daryl J.]

Philip,

Are you aware that most of the pictures you likely have are part of an animation of the event?   It's quite fortunate the pilot was able to eject at all.      Let me assure you, it was music to my ears when the OR ANG F-15C's returned to the air.    They did so with a full AB takeoff which most of the metro area can hear given the location of the rivers, their valleys, and having an airport right in the middle of the city.



Daryl J., thinking these pix are worth seeing again

[jcf]

Link to the animation:
http://www.acc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080110-018.wmv

Jon

[GTX]

For a simplified (though comprehensive) description of the problem (with pictures) try here:  http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/01/11/220799/pictures-manufacturing-defects-caused-cracks-that-downed-usaf-f-15.html

Regards,

Greg

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Well you can't fault me for at least trying to fix the links in Phil's thread.  I corrected each image link and actually had one image appear (the third one in the set) and then after it was saved, the damned thing disappeared on me and never came back.  There must be some kind of software enabled on the google page that prevents an active link from being maintained to another web page. 

[philp]

Jeff,
Thanks for trying mate.  I will have to go into my album and add the comments to the pics there.
Now if I can just get the home computer to stay functional...

[r16]

ı just couldn't find where  the topic on F-15 structural woes was but I came across this in

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/03/airplane-oops-situations-part-2.html not an experts site but a good find for my personal tastes

***I moved it for you*** :^)