...the Agile Eagle that can match the Gripens STOL and the Flankers Pugachev Cobra Maneuver... VIDEO by NASA/McDonnell Douglas : F-15 ST/MTD (Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator) The aircraft is a tech demonstrator via a highly modified pre-production TF-15A (F-15B) No. 1 (USAF S/N 71-0290), the first two-seat F-15 Eagle built by McDonnell Douglas (out of 2 prototype), the sixth F-15 off the assembly line. The Agile Eagle carried out research for studying the effects of thrust vectoring and enhanced maneuverability. They used 2D thrust vectoring nozzles and canard foreplanes (FA-18 stabilators) to improve low-speed performance. With the help of TVC, this aircraft could perform the famous Pugachevs Cobra maneuver. This F-15 was also part of an effort to improve ABO (Air Base Operability), the survival of warplanes and fighting capability at airfields under attack. Pitch vectoring/reversing nozzles and canard foreplanes were fitted to the F-15 in 1988. They tested ways to land and take off from wet, bomb-damaged runways. The aircraft used a combination of reversible engine thrust, jet nozzles that could be deflected by 20 degrees, and canard foreplanes. NASA acquired the plane in 1993 and replaced the engines with Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines with Pitch/Yaw vectoring nozzles. The canard foreplanes were derived from the F/A-18s stabilators. The program accomplishing their flight objectives, and the F-15 STOL/MTD plane achieved some impressive performance results: • Demonstrated vectored takeoffs with rotation at speeds as low as 42 mph (68 km/h) • A 25-percent reduction in takeoff roll • Landing on just 1,650 ft (500 m) of runway compared to 7,500 ft (2,300 m) for the standard F-15 • Thrust reversal in flight to produce rapid deceleration • Controlled flight at angles of attack up to about 85 degrees MRFPAF Note : The same airframe for the F-15 ST/MTD was again further modified for the ACTIVE program via the 3D thrust-vectoring nozzles
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 02:00:43 +0000