LO's F-15 vs. the F-15 Streak Eagle

I'm happy to hear that the F-15 is indeed being looked at and at least some issues will be fixed, it's just a question of when.

Most games do under-model the F-15, mostly because it takes more than just an idea of pure thrust vs. weight to give an accurate feel. Also because most people dont realise just how much brute power it has, so they write it off as "unrealistic".

Sorry, can't let this thread go.

SwingKid:

The reason why ground effect is relatively undetectable by "us pilots" is because the aircraft doesn't behave appropriately. When a swept-wing aircraft enters ground effect, the deflection in air flow, decrease in induced drag, all combine to cause a nose-down pitching moment. At this point, any excess thrust or airspeed is converted to lift as the pilot flares the aircraft. The aircraft will balloon, possibly exiting ground effect (which occurs approx 0.3-0.5xwingspan in altitude). The aircraft may stall (or a wing might stall, causing a "sabre dance") or cause the aircraft to have a hard landing.

You must read that NASA study for content. All the approach angles were made at less than normal. We try to fly a 3 degree glidepath to the approach end of the runway, roughly. The study was made to examine dynamic ground effect and its relationship to a control surface malfunction - in preparation for a future study on using throttle to control the aircraft in pitch, roll, yaw. The study above requires shallow glidepaths, where minimal flare would be required to safely touchdown.

Bottom line: It's hard for a pilot to detect ground effect in this sim because the aircraft doesn't behave appropriately in the flare.

A little experiment to confirm the presence of ground effect, for those who are interested is to fly the aircraft to the point of flare, power on, in a shallow 1-2 degree glidepath (shallow angle). Pull power above the threshold and hold the aircraft off the runway as long as possible. You will notice the LOMAC F-15 will begin to pitch up on its own and you might have to push the stick over to control this pitch up tendency. You should touch down slower than in-flight stall speed in the landing configuration (which confirms the presence of ground effect).

Next experiment. Do the above, but don't pull power when you flare the aircraft. When you flare, try to fly just above the runway without touching. You should accelerate if there's ground effect.