# F-15 lands with one wing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322 "2013-12-27T22:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/1 "2013-12-27T22:45:16Z")
Having seen [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M359poNjvVA), I still find this difficult to believe. The pilot supposedly didn’t know it until he landed. A wide body and landing at twice the normal landing speed made it possible. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/2 "2013-12-28T00:33:46Z")
That’s called flying on a wing and a prayer. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/3 "2013-12-28T05:06:09Z")
There must have been enough of the wing root to act as a lifting body. Otherwise it would have to be flown ballistically the whole time. Pretty impressive flying. Damn good airplane. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/4 "2013-12-28T05:31:05Z")
Bravo!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/5 "2013-12-28T05:52:44Z")
30-year anniversary? ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/6 "2013-12-28T17:53:32Z")
Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/7 "2013-12-28T18:00:28Z")
Hey, I guessed right! I figured that its wide fuselage acted as a lifting body and the MD engineers agreed! It seems, though, that since the F-104 fighters have gotten so powerful that they only need wings to hold the ailerons and hang stores, and the F-15 doesn’t have much for wings normally. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/8 "2013-12-28T21:21:44Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Hey, I guessed right! I figured that its wide fuselage acted as a lifting body and the MD engineers agreed! It seems, though, that since the F-104 fighters have gotten so powerful that they only need wings to hold the ailerons and hang stores, and the F-15 doesn’t have much for wings normally. Yes, the Starfighter was pretty much a rocket. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/9 "2013-12-28T23:22:12Z")
Now one has ever held a 104 wide open in AB as the leading edges begin to melt before it runs out of power. I don’t really know how high they tried it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/10 "2013-12-28T23:53:17Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Now one has ever held a 104 wide open in AB as the leading edges begin to melt before it runs out of power. I don’t really know how high they tried it. Chuck Yeager? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/11 "2013-12-29T07:06:54Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Chuck Yeager? I imagine he has flown them but wide open, don’t think anyone has & lived to report it or for it to be remotely verified. The leading edges of the wings are sharp steal because of the melting problem. They had protective covers for when on the ground, people got cut on them. All the display 104’s I have seen have very rough not real sharp edges on them without the covers. I don’t think they let the real leading edges go out with a display bird. But I could be wrong. Over the years I have several times read this or heard it and maybe in that little town in Oklahoma which has one as a display, the plaque said it. I think they are not suited to the high altitudes that the X-15 could go to & those can not do Mach 3 at 1000’ MSL either. Would be really interesting if they did side by side comparisons at different altitudes with those two birds. Back to broken wings, did not a Thunderbolt Wart Hog come back with large parts of one wing gone? Or was it the tail feathers? Remember reading something … :eek: ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/12 "2013-12-30T05:39:24Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Back to broken wings, did not a Thunderbolt Wart Hog come back with large parts of one wing gone? Or was it the tail feathers? Remember reading something … :eek: If I recall correctly, it came back missing the port engine, half of the starboard tail fin, both hydraulic systems shot out, and more holes than a ton of Swiss Cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/13 "2013-12-30T06:46:11Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I imagine he has flown them but wide open, don’t think anyone has & lived to report it or for it to be remotely verified. The leading edges of the wings are sharp steal because of the melting problem. They had protective covers for when on the ground, people got cut on them. > All the display 104’s I have seen have very rough not real sharp edges on them without the covers. I don’t think they let the real leading edges go out with a display bird. > > But I could be wrong. > > Over the years I have several times read this or heard it and maybe in that little town in Oklahoma which has one as a display, the plaque said it. > > I think they are not suited to the high altitudes that the X-15 could go to & those can not do Mach 3 at 1000’ MSL either. > > Would be really interesting if they did side by side comparisons at different altitudes with those two birds. > > Back to broken wings, did not a Thunderbolt Wart Hog come back with large parts of one wing gone? Or was it the tail feathers? Remember reading something … :eek: A [site](http://www.kalimera.org/nf104/aircraft/aircraft.html) on the NF-104, one of which Yeager so famously crashed. 118,000 feet is quite high. Nothing compared to the X-15’s ~350,000 feet, and the Astronaut badges Joe Walker, Bob White, and [others received](http://www.space.com/1465-nasa-15-pilots-awarded-astronaut-wings.html), but still. The design criteria for the [A-10](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II) was that it be able to fly with one engine, one tail, one elevator, and half of a wing gone. Surprisingly, the USAF has actually lost a couple (4 in Desert Storm, 1 in OIF, according to the wiki), but it’s still a famously rugged airplane. [Ask](http://web.archive.org/web/20090903200943/http://www.stripes.com/07/jun07/heroesweb/campbell.htm) (now)LTC [Kim Campbell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Campbell_(pilot)). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/677322/14 "2013-12-30T14:03:11Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Having seen [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M359poNjvVA), I still find this difficult to believe. The incident is pretty well documented, and although the still photo at 4:30 is certainly real, I’m pretty sure the video is a dramatic reenactment, including some special effects to insert the fuel spray and make the wing disappear.