I've heard jet fighters before, albeit it was over forty years ago in Viet Nam, and the plane was an F-4 Phantom overflying the 1st Infantry Division NDP (Night Defensive Position -- a.k.a. "base camp) and the jet was within hundred of yards of the ground. That time it scared the pants off me as I sat leaning against the sandbags of a bunker on the perimeter.
This time I was safe at home, and I knew I was safe as houses.
But the adrenaline was rushing through my veins because it felt like I was being attacked.
I rushed to my window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sky warrior. I was rewarded by the sight of an F-15 Strike Eagle as he egressed the city limits, and kicked in the afterburners.
My camera was not handy, and although I rushed to find it and put it on the window ledge so it would be handy if the arrogant (and lucky!) SOB chose to overfly Corvallis again.
No such luck. I heard the engines pulsing in the sunny Indian Summer skies several times, but he never actually overflew this small PNW college town again.
Bummer, dude.
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I love airplanes, and I particularly love Military Attack Planes. As a teenager I dreamed of becoming an Air Force Pilot, experiencing the thrill of thousands of horsepower kicking me in the seat of my pants as it booted me into the sky. I was much too young, and far too shy, to have ever experienced sex. If anything, I thought it would probably be a slightly less rewarding experience than flying a military jet in air combat.
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In my adolescence, my priorities changed, and somehow I never got around to learning how to fly in an airplane. Instead, I went to college; I was drafted into the Infantry, and somewhere in that progression I got married.
Still, something in that experience triggered a need to determine that yes, I had indeed correctly identified the F15, and to find out more about this war-craft.
During my search of F-15's I discovered this video from YouTube which illustrated the robust nature of the aircraft.
I was entranced by the concept of a jet fighter which could not only survive the daage, but landed safely lacking a wing.
In my continued search, I found videos which purported to depict non-jets which had survived the loss of a wing, including this one (which, after some examination,
Among the most spectacular videos available. I found this one, where a sports competition airplane (prop-driven) seems to lose a wing and still land safely.
Unfortunately, there is some controversy about the validity of the video.
This video blatantly declares it a sham.
This video takes almost ten minutes to, supposedly, examine the "Speed Racer Loses a Wing and Still Lands Safely" concept ... in great detail. (Note: Most of the original video is included here.)
Since the rebuttals referenced "Knowledged ,Not Generally Known, I spent a little time researching RC ("Radio Controlled") airplane flying.
This video seems to support the proposition that small-scale radio-controlled airplanes are able to sustain flight modes which, in a large-scale ("Military Jets") mode would be non-viable. And, for the pilot in a full-size situation, would present counter-survivable conditions.
Here is the full-length (almost 10 minutes, in French with sub-titles) video which purports to explain in all detail why a speed-racer may njot have sur4vived a wing-and-a-prayer one-wing landing my not have actually occurred, but also why it was promulgated.
And again here is how rhe stunt may bed perforfmed with a Radio-controlled flyer:
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I'm not qualified to decide whether the original non-jet "wing and a prayer" video is accurate and untouched. I only offer this sub-segment for your entertainment. You have to decide for yourself whether you accept the thesis.
However, in support of the anti-thesis, here is a video which demonstrates how versatile small-scale airplanes can be. In a word, when it comes to unbelievable maneuvers, small-scale "RC" (Radio Controlled) airplanes cheerfully ignore the Laws of Nature to which full-scale airplanes must conform.
This video demonstrates how easy it is to stall a "Radio Controlled" airplane: well, it isn't easy, but it can be done by a Master RD flier
After all, isn't this the concept which seems to have been proved by the original F-15 Strike Fighter Video?
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