How long is the F-15's to stand down ?

[Glen]

Greetings
I was wondering how long is the F-15' to stand down ?
Today at Work in Killeen Texas their was a very loud flyby of a fighter of some type that one person described looking like a Flaten F-14 fat chance of that ! I didnt get to see it as I was inside the building . I think that it might of been a F-22 Robert Gray Airfield is just 10 miles from my Job ! That is where the President's Air cover HQ's when he is in the Texas White house. Long way around it could not of been a F-15 Right ?

[skymstr02]

Most prob F-16's enforcing the TFR around Crawford, not F-22's. There are F-16's in the area, and that is what has been used in the past. There aren't any F-22 bases near by.

As far as the F-15's, thats up to the Boeing's engineers in St Louis to determine the structural defects in the accident bird and non destructive testing on other Eagles in the fleet.

[RickH]

Dammit, DZ, that little bug avatar you've got had me swattin' at the screen !!

[Obergrafeter]

I could swear I saw two F-15s fly over on there way into Kelly yesterday. Didn't think anything about it till I saw this topic. Maybe going into Boeing?

[Roger Cain]

Thanks alot Skymaster02,

I just got home from spending a week in Lost Wages, and at the Nellis AFB air show. While looking through a few past messages (I've had no email/web for a week), I hit upon this one and thought I had a bug here on my screen, and then worse, it's inside my new monitor!

good one...........

[JDK]

... I hit upon this one and thought I had a bug here on my screen, and then worse, it's inside my new monitor!

good one...........

Me too.

[LadyO2Pilot]

Greetings
I was wondering how long is the F-15' to stand down ?
Today at Work in Killeen Texas their was a very loud flyby of a fighter of some type that one person described looking like a Flaten F-14 fat chance of that ! I didnt get to see it as I was inside the building . I think that it might of been a F-22 Robert Gray Airfield is just 10 miles from my Job ! That is where the President's Air cover HQ's when he is in the Texas White house. Long way around it could not of been a F-15 Right ?

We also had two F-16s come up from Lackland for the airshow at TSTC.....may have been them.

[bilwor]

Not even bug spray will kill it.
bill word

[Dan K]

Curses on the bug avatar! I keep leaving thumbprints on the screen...

[skymstr02]

CNN reports the newest F-15E Strike Eagles will be returned to service after undergoing an air frame inspection, including a one-time check of hydraulic lines. Longerons running the length of the fuselages on those planes must also be checked, as do skin panels near the environmental control system bay.

USAF officials would not confirm whether problems in those areas contributed to the F-15C crash, saying only the investigation is ongoing.

For the moment, lifting of the flight ban applies only to the 224 E-model F-15s now in service. The balance of the fleet -- comprised of nearly 500 older aircraft -- will remain grounded.

The aircraft involved in the November 2 accident was built in 1980.

[flyboyid]

2x F-15E from MO just passed through about 10 minutes ago.
Good to hear that noise again

[Glen]

Well as of today it was comfirmed that it was indeed a pair of F-22 that were at Robert Grey Airfield on the Weekend of Nov 02 2007 ! talked to a F-15 driver today comfirned it went on to say that they will be back again in the very near future. Ah did I mention that I got this info from a F-15 pilot that Flew in this past Friday afternoon ( in a F-15 ) and will be in the Area for the New Years events. So I guess that the F-15 are up and at it .

[Cvairwerks]

Last thing I saw about the F-15s was that the E's were still flying, but everything else was back down for further inspections. There had been a second incident with structural failure within days of the A-D's being returned to flight status. Reports were to the effect that 8 more a/c were found with cracking in the same area along with additional cracks found in another critical location nearby.

Randy can probably fill in the blanks better, as he's plugged in to the -15 world much better than anyone else on WIX.

[Randy Haskin]

Last thing I saw about the F-15s was that the E's were still flying, but everything else was back down for further inspections. There had been a second incident with structural failure within days of the A-D's being returned to flight status. Reports were to the effect that 8 more a/c were found with cracking in the same area along with additional cracks found in another critical location nearby.

Randy can probably fill in the blanks better, as he's plugged in to the -15 world much better than anyone else on WIX.

I have to be very careful with what I say, since the USAF distributes information about ongoing mishap investigations to members of the AF under "safety privilige". Since I can't really remember what has been reported in open sources vs what I've heard at work, I'm choosing my words delicately to keep safe.

Yes, all of the E models are back to flying, and have been throughout December. The E models are designed slightly differently in that area of the airframe -- ironically, a beef-up that was designed to give the F-15E a longer flight-hour lifespan. So, it is only the A-D crowd that is grounded currently (or at least was as of 23 December).

There was not a second "incident"...it is more that the inspections generated by the first grounding did not look at the longeron area that is now suspect. So, the jets had to be grounded AGAIN to look at the longerons -- and that is the area where they have noted the 8 or so jets with defects/cracks.

All of this was occuring while the St Louis accident investigation was still ongoing...so the AF at that point simply decided to keep the jets grounded until the whole fleet could be inspected, the investigation could be completed, and the Boeing and depot engineers could figure out a course of action based on what was found in the investigations.

And that's where we were the last time I checked just before Christmas. Over the last week or so they may have brought the jets back to flying, I'm not sure.

[Paul Krumrei]

Not that I am an expert, but the word that I got from the AFA matches Randy's statement, the A-D are still grounded and the "E"s are flying.