“The first flights of the modification on F-15B #2 took place in the last half of Nov 1983. One of these flights was likely the source of the Team Talk article. For a considerable time after that, Polysonic wind tunnel tests, flight simulations, and electronic control system modifications were made to resolve the deleterious effects of the pod on supersonic directional stability. There was a very limited amount of supersonic flight testing during which the predicted effects on stability were experienced.Work on the pod program continued at a rather slow pace at least until early March 1985. After that, it just seemed to fade away.”
1 comments:
Ron,
The photo in the article actually shows one of the FSD F-15A airframes, 71-0289 I think. The chin pod was also tested on 71-0291, see here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-15B%20chin%20blister%20FQ%20eval_zpsghacwlcv.jpg
I retired from the USAF civil service as Chief of Test win the F-15 Program Office. In cleaning out my office I found the referenced photo. At first glance, I thought it was an early 1990s test picture since. In the later days of Desert Storm and for a while afterwards, we were looking at a "Single-Seat SEAD" capability for the MSIP jets - to include direction finding gear a la the chin pod and integrating the AGM-88 on stations 2 and 8. The MSIPs were looking for a mission after air dominance was established.
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