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Found this on the net I should watch the news more did not even know this happened.

shock.military.com/Sho...RC=navy.nl

OOPS !!

- Uhu_Fledermaus

OOPS !!

Would love to think the pilot said that in his de-brief.

...yup, just cause they cost a lot doesn't make em crash proof. Water in the sensor ports. Bet there gonna be pissed if they find out a cover that costs $3.00 dollars could have prevented this...

Yep, the electronics age is a blessing and a curse at the same time.

A more detailed analysis, with the film and computer animation can be found here:

www.avweb.com/avwebfla...060-1.html

Costly, for sure.

This is one of the problems with 'advanced' aircraft that can not be flown without computer assistance. The pilot's input becomes only one of many and the computer does what it thinks is right and there is nothing the pilot can do to override it. The pilot knew that the negative AOA readings were false but had no way of telling the computer to ignore that input and follow the stick inputs.

I knew F-15 pilots who swore they would never fly an F-16 in operations because with teh sidestick controller the pilot was only 'advising' the computer about what he wanted to do and the computer decided how much input to apply to the control surfaces. As he put it

'I don't want some computer telling me it wont turn as tight as I want to turn because it will over-G and may hurt the airplane. If I have a missle coming up my a** and I pull the stick into my belly as hard as I can I WANT to over g the airframe. yea I may bend the wings and I may pop some rivets but I MAY JUST LIVE!.'

By the way the highest recorded G reading I know of on an F-15 was 19+. It happened at Red Flag back in the late 70's. An F-15A was coming in very close behind an F-4 in DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) and the F-4 hit its Afterburner when the Eagle had its wing broadside to the exhaust flow. The blast tightened the already tight turn (in itself probably well in excess of normal G limits but that was common at Red Flag). The pilot eithe gt=reyed or blacked out momentarily but recovered and landed at Michael Army Airfield (Where they were deployed to). After a thorough inspection (when the wing tips were noted to be several inches above their 'nominal height off the ground') the aircraft made a 'one time flight' back to the factory at St Louis where it was tested and I believe overhauled. I used to know the tail number but no longer remember it.