Project Description: NASA's two F-15 research aircraft don't get a lot of flight hours, and it's even rarer to have them in the air together on the same mission. But research pilots Jim Smolka and Craig Bomben from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center put the highly modified aircraft through their paces during a mission over the Edwards Air Force Base test range in late July that supported the Intelligent Flight Control System's (IFCS) project. > The canard-equipped F-15B tail number 837, NASA's IFCS aircraft, was flying structural mode validation flights at the time, leading to Generation II IFCS flights planned for later in 2005. F-15B tail number 836 was flying safety chase as well as for pilot proficiency in air refueling. Both aircraft performed aerial refueling from an Air Force KC-135 tanker aircraft. At the end of the mission, the two joined up for a formation fly-over of their home at NASA Dryden. > Photo Description: > NASA's two modified F-15B research aircraft joined up for a fly-over of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards AFB, Calif., after a research mission. July 22, 2005 NASA Photo / Tony Landis EC05-0148-31
