Does anybody know the reason why a f-15 is able to fly on one wing????? is it just the aeronautical design of the F-15. Here link: http://shock.military.com/Shock/images.do?displayContent=78594
Thanks Guys!

Two things - the fuselage is unbelievably aerodynamic, designed like a lifting body, the wings are more for control than flight and - if you put enough power behind anything it will fly. He we still a damned good pilot to keep it in the air and get back safe.

Hey CRS,

Thanks A bunch. I can't believe he could get it back in one peace. Thanks again.

just to add, i read an interview with the pilot somewhere, and he said that due to the triple redundancy, and shut off valves he did'nt lose any hydraulics so apart from a missing wing! the plane still worked, plus the stabilators generated quite a lot of lift on their own.
but still.......thats one lucky guy!

The F-15 is quite an aircraft, several of my Engineer friends at McDonnell Douglas swore it would fly without wings, but none of them wanted to ride in it in that condition.

There is nothing like watching an F-15 roll down the runway, at Lambert, suck up it's gear, go vertical on full afterburner, and go out of sight straight up. It is one of the few, if not the only, aircraft that can accelerate through Mach 1 going straight up.( it actually does go Ballistic) Not bad for a plane first flown in 1972.

Go Mach 1 vertical is absolutely crazy! Most aircraft stall after that right? Plus busting out the afterburners and blasting it going straight up is something else. I can't imagine the G's that are effecting the pilot.

I'm sure the ground crew had to hose out the cockpit after the pilot saw his missing wing!

Yeah I definitely agree

The bigger question of course is how much paper work had to be signed!

i saw one do that at an airshow, it just pointed it nose straight up an vanished! and the usaf sargeant who was doing a running commentary said "and it disappears into the east anglian skies" however we were actually in lincolnshire, and when my swambo pointed this out to me i replied "it probaly IS in east anglia by now!"
i'm not really a modern jets person, but this display (the one and only time i've seen an F15 fly up close) was really impressive.

There's also another reason he was able to save it. By reseting the flight control computers the F-15s computers will compensate for any damaged flight controls. And the fuselage also acts as a sort of lifting surface.If it's the pic I'm thinking of, it's of an Israli F-15 that clipped an A-4. They actually repaired the F-15 and flew it again. Now thats a tough plane and a good pilot.
Jerry

I actually saw an interview with the two pilots on the History Channel. After the collision, the aircraft was venting fluids of some type, probably avgas. Neither of the brave flyboys could see the wing was missing because of the venting while in flight. Apparently, after a while, another aircraft showed up and did a fly around to relay the damage report to the pilot. He decided to stay with it and landed it safely, albiet at a higher rate of speed. He did not believe the wing was really missing until he touched down and could check out the damage. He said after that, all the Israeli pilots wanted to switch over to the F-15.