Fw: WOW....just WOW!!

This post came with photos (about 32 and 44kb) attached; I'll
pass them along to anyone who asks me directly (off list).

-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Murphy <SMurphy@RetroStudios.com>

>On May 1st, 1983, a simulated dogfight training mission took
place between
>two F-15D's and four A-4 Skyhawks (Israeli) over the skies of
the Negev.
>
>The F-15D (# 957, nicknamed 'Markia Shchakim', 5 kill marks)
was used for
>the conversion of a new pilot in the squadron.  Here is the
description of
>the event as described in "Pressure Suit":
>
>At some point I collided with one of the Skyhawks, at first I
didn't realize
>it.  I felt a big strike, and I thought we passed through the
jet wash of
>one of the other aircraft.  Before I could react, I saw the big
fire ball
>created by the explosion of the Skyhawk.  The radio started to
deliver calls
>saying that the Skyhawk pilot had ejected, and I understood
that the fire
>ball was the Skyhawk, that exploded, and the pilot was ejected
>automatically.
>
>There was a tremendous fuel stream going out of the (my) wing,
and I
>understood it was badly damaged.  The aircraft flew without
control in a
>strange spiral.
>
>I re-connected the electric control to the control surfaces,
and slowly
>gained control on the aircraft until I was straight
>and level again.  It was clear to me that I had to eject.
>
>When I gained control I said:	"Hey, wait, don't eject yet!" No
'warning
>light' was on and the navigation computer worked as usual; I
just needed a
>'warning light' in my panel to indicate that I missed a
wing..."
>
>The instructor ordered me to eject.  The wing holds a fuel
tank, and the
>fuel indicator showed 0.000 so I assumed that the slip stream
sucked all the
>fuel out of the other tanks.  However, I remembered that the
valves operate
>only in one direction, so, in fact, I might have enough fuel to
get to the
>nearest airfield and land.  I worked like a machine, wasn't
scared and
>didn't worry.	All I knew was that, as long as the sucker
flies, I'm gonna
>stay inside.
>
>I started to decrease the airspeed, but at that point one wing
was not
>enough.  So I went into a spin down and to the right.	A second
before I
>decided to eject, I pushed the throttle and lit the
afterburner.  I gained
>speed and thus got control of the aircraft again.  Next thing I
did was
>lowering the gear and arresting hook.	A few seconds later I
touched the
>runway at 260 knots, about twice the recommended speed, and
called the tower
>to erect the emergency recovery net.  The hook was torn away
from the
>fuselage because of the high speed, but I managed to stop 10
meters before
>the net.
>
>I turned back to shake the hand of my instructor, who had urged
me to eject,
>and then I saw it for the first time - no wing!!!
>The IAF (Israeli Air Force) contacted McDonnell Douglas and
asked for
>information about the possibility of landing an F-15 with one
wing.  MD
>replied that this is aerodynamically impossible, as confirmed
by computer
>simulations...  Then they received the photo....  After two
months the same
>F-15 got a new wing and returned to action.
>
>Special thanks to Tsahi Ben Ami This is what "Flight
International, 8 June
>1985" wrote about the incident:
>
>"The most outstanding Eagle save was by a pilot from a foreign
air force.
>
>During air combat training his two seater F-15 was involved in
a mid air
>collision with an A-4 Skyhawk.  The A-4 crashed, and the Eagle
lost its
>right wing from about 2ft outboard.  After some confusion
between the
>instructor who said, "eject," and the student, who outranked
his instructor
>and said, "no," the F-15 was landed at its desert base.
Touching down at
>290 knots, the hook was dropped for an approach and engagement.
This slowed
>the F-15 to 100 knots, when the hook's weak link sheared, and
the aircraft
>was then braked conventionally.
>It is said that the student was later demoted for disobeying
his instructor,
>then promoted for saving the aircraft.
>McDonnell Douglas attributes the saving of this aircraft to the
amount of
>lift generated by the engine intake/fuselage and "a hell of a
good pilot".
>
>
>
>
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