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physics - Did an F-15 airplane successfully land with just one wing? - Skeptics Stack Exchange

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Tags: aircraft airplane F-15 jetfighters aviation skeptics.stackexchange.com
Clipped on: 2014-03-07

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I've just been forwarded a video about a jetfighter landing with just one wing and I wonder if this could indeed be true.

Here's the link to the video: One-Winged F 15 Crash Landing Video (landing starts at 2:45)

My understanding of flight is that the airplane would have started to spin out of control because the lift on the still intact wing would be much higher than on the other side, causing the plane to flip over without hope of recovery.

But then again this airplane has two vertical stabilizers and side rudders, also two rather big horizontal stabilizers. And jetfighters can fly upside down, anyway. So perhaps that, combined with the shape of the plane, would suffice to stabilize the flight somehow?

Image (Asset 1/5) alt=