Article

2008-01-11 Home Front: WoT

Flaw may permanently ground 160 jets, Air Force general says

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by gorb 2008-01-11 04:35|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top

#1 ground em....move on. take the savings from the maintenace budget and beef up everything 22

Posted by Spiny Gl 2511 2008-01-11 07:48|| 2008-01-11 07:48|| Front Page Top

#2 Some of the longerons are too thin, or have ridges or rough surfaces that put too much stress on the structure, officials said. Some longerons diverge a small amount from design specifications, while others have larger flaws.
$250K parts and labor

Posted by KBK 2008-01-11 09:50|| 2008-01-11 09:50|| Front Page Top

#3 Reading the article, it was unclear whether that figure was costs and labor or costs alone.

Posted by Abdominal Snowman 2008-01-11 10:28|| 2008-01-11 10:28|| Front Page Top

#4 OREGON AIR NATIONAL GUARD TAKES TO THE SKIES AGAIN AS SOME F-15 EAGLES ARE CLEARED FOR FLIGHT
Posted: January 9th, 2008 5:19 PM
Photo/sound file: http://www.flashnews.net/images/news/080109-F-8260H-027.jpg

EXPANDED CUTLINE INFO: First Lt. Tyler Cox of the 123rd Fighter Squadron, 142nd Fighter Wing conducts a post-flight inspection of his F-15 today at the Portland Air National Guard Base. Cox is among the first pilots at the base to be airborne after a series of stand downs that kept F-15 models A-D on the ground.

A Nov. 2 crash of an F-15 raised concerns about the safety of the F-15 fleet, and the entire U.S. Air Force fleet of F-15s stood down for a short time. Engineers have focused recently on the A-D models while allowing the E models to return to flight. Concern centered on the longeron, a critical support structure in the airframe. After intensive inspections some of the F-15 A-D models are now returning to flight, including several from Oregon.

There are two F-15 bases in Oregon: the 142nd FW at the Portland International Airport, and the 173rd FW at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls. The 142nd FW protects the skies for the Pacific Northwest from the Canadian border to northern California, and there are a total of 19 F-15s stationed there. The 173rd FW is one of two F-15 training bases with 25 F-15s assigned.

The 173rd FW will resume flying operations Jan. 10.

For additional information on the return to flight, go to www.acc.af.mil.

See the F-15 fact sheet at: http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=101

PHOTO CREDIT: Official U.S. Air Force Photo by Oregon Air National Guard Sr. Amn. John Hughel, Jr.

Contact Info: Major Mike Braibish 503-584-3886 or cell 503-932-5805

Posted by OregonGuy">OregonGuy 2008-01-11 11:30|| http://oregonguythinks.blogspot.com/]">[http://oregonguythinks.blogspot.com/] 2008-01-11 11:30|| Front Page Top

#5 from the link provided in KBK's comment (#2)
F-15s originally were designed to last 4,000 flight hours, then were upgraded to last 8,000 flight hours. The F-15 that crashed had been flown for 6,000 flight hours.

Posted by Bobby 2008-01-11 12:01|| 2008-01-11 12:01|| Front Page Top

#6 Airframe fatigue is something that no amount of posturing can erase; design life is computed at the beginning. THe armed forces are often mandated to fly aircraft past their original design life for a variety of reasons and they do an admirable job of managing these assets. The cost / benefit ratio for fixing these older F-15s doesn't warrant repair.
When the A-6 Intruder first fell out of the sky after losing a wing, the entire fleet was grounded for inspection; depending upon the severity of the cracks ( if any) the a/c was either grounded until a new center wing section was installed, or restricted to a 3G flight condition or left as a fully unrestricted bird. These flyers then were periodically inducted into re inspection programs to monitor the growth of any cracks. Other than the first one, there were no more losses to do wing fatigue. Lessons learned from the Intruders were applied to the Prowlers when their wings started showing similiar problems.

Posted by USN,Ret. 2008-01-11 13:56|| 2008-01-11 13:56|| Front Page Top

#7 Since the average mission of an F-15 lasts from two to four hours, that means an aircraft with 6000 hours has flown from 1500 to 3000 missions. That means 1500 to 3000 take-offs and landings, enough aerial refuelings to become comfortable with the procedures, high-speed turns, rocket-like acceleration to altitude, etc. That puts a lot of stress on man and machine. Considering that each pilot is lucky to get 100 missions a year, that means each pilot gets a maximum of 2000 to 4000 hours of flying during his career. The aircraft, of course, can be shared by as many as three or four pilots in an ANG or Reserve situation. It doesn't take much of a manufacturing defect to work into a major problem over the course of a lifetime. The wonder isn't that the planes are suffering metal fatigue, but that they've lasted as long as they have.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2008-01-11 14:04|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2008-01-11 14:04|| Front Page Top

#8 Buy lockheed and Boeing. The Air Force is about to get some more money for F-22s.

Posted by Mike N. 2008-01-11 14:08|| 2008-01-11 14:08|| Front Page Top

#9 When O'Bama becomes President everyone will be our friends and we won't need to make war-no-mo'.

/various dhimmis

Posted by Excalibur 2008-01-11 14:26|| 2008-01-11 14:26|| Front Page Top

#10 20-30 years for a fighter aircraft is a wonderful thing. The F-15s are getting old and will fall apart with more frequency. It is just a fact of life. Replace them with the F-22 or wait until the F-35 comes out and then replace 'em. Either way, the F-15 is long in the tooth and due for retirement.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2008-01-11 14:50|| 2008-01-11 14:50|| Front Page Top

#11 When Obama will be president you will no longer need an army because you will have surrendered.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2008-01-11 14:51|| 2008-01-11 14:51|| Front Page Top

#12 True, JFM, but we'll all be happy and loving and united about that.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2008-01-11 17:22|| 2008-01-11 17:22|| Front Page Top

#13 See DEFENSETECH.org for the probs of ARMY AVIATION.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-01-11 19:58|| 2008-01-11 19:58|| Front Page Top

23:56 JosephMendiola
23:40 newc
23:36 Frank G
23:26 Frank G
23:25 Frank G
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:23 Frank G
23:12 Procopius2k
23:03 JosephMendiola
22:57 JosephMendiola
22:45 JosephMendiola
22:44 Broadhead6
22:40 JosephMendiola
22:35 Whomong Guelph4611
22:33 JosephMendiola
22:30 Old Patriot
22:28 Whomong Guelph4611
22:24 Whomong Guelph4611
22:24 RD
22:19 JosephMendiola
22:11 regular joe
22:09 no mo uro
22:06 no mo uro
22:06 regular joe