Video: F-15 Eagle lands with one wing

[bugazon]

This is a partial video from the History Channel of an F-15 Eagle landing with One wing. It is amazing that this aircraft made it home.
http://www.sonnyradio.com/F15.wmv

[Mike]

This has done the rounds - I believe the video was faked, but there are some genuine still photos of the incident.

Randy, any comment?

[Randy Haskin]

Real story, real photos, fake video.

The video is a re-creation (digitally edited normal F-15 landing) done for the program called "Heavy Metal: The F-15" which aired on the History Channel in the US in October 2003. My WSO and I were actually interviewed for this show about participation in OEF and OIF, and are near the end of the program.

Note that the flaps are down and speedbrake out -- neither of which were used in the Israeli pilot's actual landing. The flap down would aggrivate the asymmetric lift situation....

[muddyboots]

all right Randy, you need to esplain just how the heck that coulda been done! Was the body of the plane helping act as a lift surface, or was the port wing enough to keep it up if he didn't screw up?

[Randy Haskin]

all right Randy, you need to esplain just how the heck that coulda been done! Was the body of the plane helping act as a lift surface, or was the port wing enough to keep it up if he didn't screw up?

It's a combination of a couple factors;

- The bottom of the jet is flat, and provides a large lifting surface in itself.

- Differential stabilator movement provides the vast majority of the roll control. The stabs are HUGE -- larger than a T-38 wing -- so with the stick deflected it can overcome a significant roll moment, so long as you have....

- Airspeed! He kept the jet fast, which allowed the maximum controllability. He landed so fast that he snapped the tail hook.

That being said, I've heard that McDonnell Douglas tried to recreate the scenario in the simulator and couldn't get it to fly.

[Paul Krumrei]

What is funny is in the video, they keep talking about the A-4 and they have a inverted F-100 in teh video. I thought the History Channel would do a better job in providing HISTORY information more accurate.

Did this happen in the E model? Because he mentioned something about his wingman looking at the wing, but nothing about his back seater?

Then it would be a C model, but the pics show a rear seat?