191 F-15s grounded at least another month

[unhappycamper]

191 F-15s grounded at least another month
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 10, 2008 19:44:33 EST

A decision on the return to flight of 191 grounded F-15 Eagles will be made on a “plane-by-plane basis,” the head of Air Combat Command, Gen. John Corley said Thursday at the Pentagon

The jets remain grounded because each jet failed a detailed inspection that looked at sections of the jet’s longerons, the metal beams that reinforce the fuselage, said Maj. Gen. Tom Owen, commander of the Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia and the officer who oversees F-15 maintenance issues for the entire Air Force.

Inspection teams were looking for longerons that were thinner than the aircraft’s specifications called for. Even if a longeron was 1/1000th of an inch thinner than expected, the plane was grounded.

Inspectors also checked for other imperfections that could lead to crackling such as a rough surface on the aluminum alloy beams. Actual cracks were found in nine jets.

Corley told a press conference that a decision to release any of the jets back to flight would wait until after more analysis is done of airframe problems and the potential for cracking, a process that he said would take at least four weeks.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/01/airforce_f15s_grounding_080110w/



uhc comment: The estimated cost of replacing one longeron is $250,000, which is better than the $330,000,000 F-22 or the $239,000,000 F-35 replacement aircraft.

[Sherman A1]

1. We should just fix these

do what upgrades are needed and scrap the F22 program (along with the F35's)