Forty Years of F-15 Air Supremacy (Reblog)

In 2012, Jack Abercrombie wrote several articles and a slide show to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the F-15’s first flight. They detail the challenges of bringing along a new aircraft and the changes that were required to the airframe to enable it to be the world class fighter that it became.

This is a must read for anyone who is interested in the F-15 Eagle and it’s history from the man that was there! Jack was an Aerodynamics Project Engineer from 1971 to 1978. Credit: Jack Abercrombie

Download here or here or here or here (2.6 Megs)

Origal post (More info) here

F-15 Eagle - The Early Years

Another narrative from Jack Abercrombie on the early years of the F-15 Eagle project, An exciting first hand account of the F-15 design program with all it’s warts. This narrative is part of Jack Abercrombie’s memoirs. Jack was an Aerodynamics Project Engineer from 1971 to 1978. Credit: Jack Abercrombie

Download here or here or here or here (33.6 Megs)

F-15 Spin Test Program Notes

Another narrative from Jack Abercrombie on the early days of the F-15 Eagle project, A first hand account of the F-15 Spin Test Program. This narrative is part of Jack Abercrombie’s memoirs. Jack was an Aerodynamics Project Engineer from 1971 to 1978. Credit: Jack Abercrombie

Download here or here or here (12.3 Megs)

Additional blog info supplied by Jack Abercrombie here

F-15 Project Development History

A first hand account and summary of the F-15 program and Flight Test Program at Edwards Air Force Base. Credit: Jack Abercrombie and Mike De Garcia

A note from Jack Abercrombie: Ron--The F-15 Development Summary recently posted is an early version which contains a typographical error which I later corrected.  The "First Achievement of Mach 2.5..." shows a date of 23 August 1973.  The date should be 13 August.

Download here or here or here (0.3 Megs)

F-15 Eagle –Prelude to Flight (A Tall Tail Tale)

Another narrative from Jack Abercrombie on the early days of the F-15 Eagle project, The proposal, design, wind tunnel data and the final “Tall Tail” outcome. This narrative is part of Jack Abercrombie’s memoirs. Jack was an Aerodynamics Project Engineer from 1971 to 1978. Credit: Jack Abercrombie

Click here to download narrative (1.4 Megs)

A Tribute to James S. McDonnell Article

An article written as a tribute to James S. McDonnell (Mr. MAC) by his son, John F. McDonnell. This article first appeared in the 2001Carving Our Destiny: Scientific Research Faces a New Millennium magazine (Essays of the James S. McDonnell Centenial Fellows). Credit: Google Books via Jack Abercrombie
Click here to download article (13.6 Megs)

Mr. MAC and the McDonnell Aircraft Company

An article on the life and times of James S. McDonnell (Mr. MAC) and McDonnell Aircraft Company. This article first appeared in the Gateway Heritage, the Quarterly Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Summer 2003, Vol 24, No. 1.  Written by Sanford (Sandy) McDonnell (A nephew of Old Man MAC). Credit: Missouri Historical Society via Jack Abercrombie

Click here to download article (27.4 Megs)

The Eagle Flies Article

A first person article by McAir test pilot Irv Burrows on the first flight of the F-15 Eagle at EAFB. Great F-15 background and first flight from takeoff to landing! This article first appeared in the Gateway Heritage, the Quarterly Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Summer 2003, Vol 24, No. 1. Credit: Missouri Historical Society via Jack Abercrombie

Click here to download article (34.9 Megs)

F-15 First 100 Flights Article

 

A fascinating first hand account of the F-15 Eagles first flights and the problems that had to be solved. This narrative is part of Jack Abercrombie’s memoirs. Jack was an Aerodynamics Project Engineer from 1971 to 1978. The first picture above shows most of the engineers at Edwards who supported the F-15 first flight. Credit: Jack Abercrombie

On a personal note, I ran one of the wind tunnel tests at Langley that resulted in the “Snag” horizontal mentioned in this memoir!

Click here to download this article (2.3 Megs)

F-18 Spin Aircraft Photos

The sixth production F/A-18A-2-MC Hornet, BuNo 1610780, C/N 6/a006 was designated for spin testing.
After spin testing it was leased to NASA at Edwards AFB, CA. in 1985, to be Used in high angle of attack and thrust vectoring tests. It was registered as N840NA and Flown as 840. After it finished with NASA, it was sent for display to Virginia Air And Space Centerat Hampton, VA, March 2003.

Per Jack Abercrombie: “ FYI, the MCAIR test pilot in the last three photos is Denny Behm, the designated high AOA/spin test pilot for the program.  (Denny was also the guy who flew the first spin in the F-15 Eagle a few years before--although not planned).”

Click here to view photos

Click here to download a very more F-18 spin Movie (.7 Megs)

F-4 spin aircraft info here, here, here and here

F-15 spin aircraft info here and here

Early Years in the Hornets Nest–F-18 Growing Pains

A fascinating first hand account of the F-18 Hornets design background and how the aircraft evolved from Jack Abercrombie. Jack was head of the Aero project from 1978 and the Chief Aerodynamicist at McDonnell Douglas from 1982 to 1985. credit: Jack Abercrombie

Download here or here or here or here (2.1 Megs)

Seven Wings The F-4 Phantom II Has Flown

McAir report 80-002 on the history of the Seven Wing configurations the F-4 Phantom II was tested in flight. Credit: Written by D.H. Bennett and W. A. Rousseau and presented at the Dayton-Cincinnati Chapter Conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dayton, Ohio,18-19 March 1980.Credit: Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum via Jack Abercrombie

Click here to download report PDF (21 Megs)

More F-15 S/MTD Photos

Jack Abercrombie sent along a few more F-15 S/MTD (STOL/ Maneuver Technology Demonstator program photos, including another view of the wind tunnel test. Jack was the Technical Integrator for the program.

Click here to view photos

Original post here

Early F-18 Hornet Advertisement

I have always liked aviation advertisments and Jack Abercrombie send over this one.

Jack says: “Here's an ad from a 19 April 1976 Aviation Week showing the then (early) F-18 configuration.  Note the scaled-up YF-17 LEX, three LEX slots, wing LE snag, short-span ailerons, stabilator with no snag, and strakes on the sides of the nose radome.” It is very interesting to compare this to the later as-built configuration. Enjoy!

Click here to view large sized ad

F4H-1 Rocket Boosted Model Testing

More info on the unusual NACA Rocket Boosted 13% Scale Model F4H-1 tests, mentioned in the blog post here. These tests where measured against the standard wind tunnel tests in order to evaluate the validity of this type of testing.

Jack Abercrombie found some of his old memos and charts from his time as the McAir Chief Aerodynamics Engineer.

As Jack says: “I found some of my work from many years ago regarding the the NACA Rocket Model F4H-1.  Apparently, after the test of Memorandum RM SL57K20, there were at least three more tests the following year (1958).

In 1983, after I became Chief Aerodynamics Engineer, one of the old time VPs remembered the NACA tests, and I was asked to dust off the results. I had extensively examined the NACA data more than 20 years before during a drag investigation when I was still a working Aerodynamicist.  My archives from the earlier period were used to generate the data for the attached memorandum 341-83-313 dated 8 Nov 83.

Note that the rocket model derived data is really no good, particularly subsonically.  Supersonically, the data are better but still not good.

The memo 341-83-313 was presumably passed on; but, I never heard any more on the subject.” 

I have also included a nice photo of a rocket boosted Douglas F4D model. So, this type of test was run on several aircraft models!

Click here to view info

Douglas C-132 Loading and Equipment Servicing

Douglas C-132 photos with details about the equipment needed and how to load the proposed transport aircraft.

This is the last of the C-132 photos that I have. I wish to thank Jack Abercrombie and Mark Nankivil for gathering all these photos!

Click here to view photos

Douglas C-132 Mock Up Photos

All the Douglas C-132 Mock Up Photos that I have. A “Magnificent Beast” for sure! Credit: Jack Abercrombie via The Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum

Click here to view photos

Douglas C-132 Update #1

Additional information on the Douglas C-132 proposal. More photos to follow.

The newspaper article comes from Jack Abercrombie who has this to say: "My first job after graduation was as an aerodynamicist on the C-132 at Douglas Tulsa.  The very day before reporting for work, the newspaper in Tulsa reported the contract cancellation.  What an interesting way to start a career."

Credit: Jack Abercrombie

Click here for newspaper article and more photos

Click here for original blog post

F-15 Full Scale Mockup Question (AIM-82) Update

 

Ron Hinkel reports that: (I turned up at China Lake Naval Weapons Center as the newly appointed Air Weapons Officer and Agile Project Pilot in October 1973. The AIM-95 Agile was an air-to-air missile being developed as an advanced replacement for the AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile. The Navy intended it for the F-14. The US Air Force was developing the AIM-82 missile to equip the F-15 Eagle at the same time. Since both missiles were more or less identical in their role, it was decided to abandon the AIM-82 in favor of the Agile.)”

Jack Abercrombie reports that the program had been canceled in 1970. “The Chicago Tribune in Sep 1970 reported the cancellation of the AIM-82: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1970/09/03/page/7/article/missile-work-is-canceled-by-air-force . To my recollection, MCAIR never did any wind tunnel testing of the AIM-82/F-15 configuration.”

Click here to see original post

F-15 Eagle Origins & Development 1964-1972

While discussing another matter, Jack Abercrombie sent me this report from the Office of Air Force History. It is the account of the Air Force’s efforts to acquire a new air superiority fighter which became the F-15 Eagle. I thought that it would make a fine post!

The abstract, in part, reads like this:“This study traces the evolution of the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter from its beginning in 1964 through the aircraft's first flight in July 1972. It examines the military. technological. economic and political influences on the weapon system
acquisition process. ….The story ends with air superiority reaffirmed as a major mission.”

Click here to view the report