F-15E Crew Safe

[royinidaho]

From: 48 FW/CC
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 5:53 PM
To: 48 FW Personnel
Subject: Crew is safe after F-15E incident in Libya

Liberty Wing,

I'd like to take a moment to give you the facts that I know, and am
allowed to release, regarding the crash of one of our F-15E Strike
Eagles. You may pass this information to your family and friends. My
goal is to reduce rumors and speculation.

Our Wing forward deployed aircraft to Aviano Airbase, Italy where we are
supporting the international effort to enforce the No-Fly-Zone and
protect innocent civilians within Libya. Last night, March 21, at
approximately 10:30 CET one of our F-15E aircraft experienced a
malfunction and the two crew members safely ejected in a remote area of
Libya.

Both crew members are safe. Their identities are withheld to protect
their privacy and I request you refrain from speculation.

The pilot and weapons officer demonstrated incredible skill and
discipline in making a time-critical decision to eject from their
aircraft. They proved the value of their military training by
coordinating the rescue force. The Marine Force from the USS Kearsarge
demonstrated extraordinary readiness and capability in conducting a
daring night-time rescue.

The conduct of military aviation is never without risk. I am proud of
the skill of our aviators and the professionalism they demonstrated.
Please keep all of our Airmen deployed around the globe in your thoughts
and prayers. If you have further questions regarding our operations, I
encourage you to talk to your supervisors and commanders. To the degree
that we can release information without adding risk to our mission and
our people, we will make every effort to do so. Please help me by not
adding to the speculation that can grow like a wildfire on some of the
social media sights.

Thanks for your support!

Col John Quintas
48th Fighter Wing Commander

[MT4XFore]

Thanks Roy, it's nice to get the straight poop now and then.

[T3-OleMan]

Roy, thanks for the true report. Glad the tripple nickel crew made it home safely! Got to go down the assembly line in St. Louis a couple times back in the mid 1970s (I used MCAUTO) and was impressed to see 2 dudes watching 1 dude put in a fastener, under the wing. That quality control is appreciated by those that go MACH II+. I would have been driving one of those bad boys back in the 1980s if the old body had not let me down-earlier. My one GOAL in my young life was to shoot down MIGS=in bunches!! GOD BLESS all those that serve!
Here is a pic of the dead EAGLE....

http://media.washtimes.com/media/ima...95331439a6360a

I love the EAGLE so much that I got Mcdonald Douglas -in the late 1970's-to give me some plans (non-secret) to build a model from. In the eary 1980s I built the R/C plug for a 1/6th scale, using the TURBAX II ducted fans (best available at that time). Finished bird would have been 127.6" long. Job lay-off ended that project and now I have a $3,000 - 95% finished plug that I may have to sell some day to buy AMMO-lol. I had a R/C Jet mfg run some numbers on my bird and he said it would weigh -fully loaded - 60+ lb. and fly in the neighborhood of 200+ MPH with 2 real MAX model jet engines. This a GIANT SCALE & over the speed limit and would be a show stopper, which would require special approval from AMA to fly at a R/C air show i.e. every one else would park their planes and watch till you landed.

If anyone has an additional $10k >$15k laying around to finish this project, and loves the tripple nickel like I do, we may could work a deal. The finished birds would be cheap-they too crash you know-that's why I built a plug instead of a stick plane. You would do all the flying, I got a Commercial ticket but never flew a R/C (engines not included-mileage may vary).