Could a single pilot have handled being both the pilot and weapons officer while flying low level at night? Also this was back in the 80's so they didn't have as many of the helpers they have now.
According to Wiki, grain of salt added, the deal breaker was that the F-15E was a modified D model trainer. The F-6XL was more like a whole new plane with the wing and extended body. It also had less thrust with just one engine.
Because of the wing and overall shape and the (near) conformal carriage of (dumb) bombs, it only needed the one engine - that was the cool thing about the design. And it was cheaper than the F-15E (planned anyway).
But 'me' is right; you really need two brains in the cockpit, and that second engine (at the time) was also needed due to reliability issues (around then started the PW vs GE wars).
Could a single pilot have handled being both the pilot and weapons officer while flying low level at night? Also this was back in the 80's so they didn't have as many of the helpers they have now.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wiki, grain of salt added, the deal breaker was that the F-15E was a modified D model trainer. The F-6XL was more like a whole new plane with the wing and extended body. It also had less thrust with just one engine.
Cool looking plane though!
Because of the wing and overall shape and the (near) conformal carriage of (dumb) bombs, it only needed the one engine - that was the cool thing about the design. And it was cheaper than the F-15E (planned anyway).
ReplyDeleteBut 'me' is right; you really need two brains in the cockpit, and that second engine (at the time) was also needed due to reliability issues (around then started the PW vs GE wars).