Hello everyone, Zerø here. And today, I have here with me the #837.

haha f15 go brr
Also challenge submission.
Cold War Challenge by WinsWings

Introduction:

The McDonnell Douglas NF-15B STOL/MTD was an experimental aircraft, as well as a maneuver technology demonstrator derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The aircraft modified for this job was the F-15B with a tail number of #837. This F-15B was modified to accomodate two Two-Dimensional Thrust Vectoring Control (TVC) nozzles, a reverse thrust mechanism, and a canard foreplane which was derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.

History:

In 1975, a research center which goes by the name of Langley Research Center began a study regarding the technology of 2D Thrust Vectoring Nozzles. During which in 1977, was decided to be tested on the McDonnell Douglas F-15B airframe. The aircraft chosen had a tail number of #837, which was then modified to accomodate the 2D TVC nozzles, a canard foreplane which was derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, as well as a thrust reversal mechanism.

The new F-15B, dubbed the NF-15B STOL/MTD had several goals to do, and one of them is to demonstrate short takeoffs to bypass the issues of wet runways, as well as damaged runways. The NF-15B had go on to achieve several achievements. These included, but not limited to:

• Achieving a takeoff with a rotation speed as low as 42mp/h (68km/h, 36 knots)
• A 25% decrease in takeoff rolls
• Landing on just 1,650ft (500m) of runway compared to the usual 7,500ft (2,300m)
• Rapid deceleration achieved with thrust reversals in flight

The NF-15B #837 was retired in 15th of August 1991 and was acquired by NASA in 1993, and was later modified to have 3-Dimensional TVC nozzles. The new variant was dubbed the NF-15B ACTIVE. The NF-15B would go on to conduct more flight testings until it was finally retired in 30th of January 2009. Today, the aircraft stood firmly beside the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird at Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Controls & Features

Controls:

Normal Controls
Activate1: Engage Reverse Thrust
Activate2: Nose Wheel Steering
Activate3: External Lights
Activate4: Extend Flaps
Activate5: Engage Airbrakes

Features:

• A working nozzle, complete with Thrust Vectoring capabilities.
• A working reverse thrust! Useful for rapid deceleration in midair and achieving short landings.
• A 180° moving canard foreplanes to increase maneuvering performances.
• NF-15B-837 Livery with no labels.
• Even more refined flight characteristics.
• Post-Stall Maneuver capable.
  

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Flight Tips:

Takeoff:

• If you're doing a taxi first, be sure to activate the nose wheel steering.
• After lining up on the runway, be sure to deactivate the nose wheel steering.
• During takeoffs, be sure to deploy flaps!
• The aircraft is very sensitive towards the pitch axis, so when reaching the rotation speed (48mph, 68km/h, 36 knots), gently pull the stick and raise the aircraft's nose from 5-10 degrees.

In Flight:

• After taking off, be sure to pull your flaps and landing gears up.
• The engine can be reversed mid-flight, so if you want to achieve rapid deceleration, press AG1 and throttle up. The afterburner will be disabled during this process, and the engine will gain about 10% in mil-power, due to funky tree stuff.
• Wanna do PSMs? Slow down below 240 mph (386km/h, 210 knots), pull the throttle above 40% and quickly pull on the stick. The aircraft will then do what's called a "Pugachev's Cobra". From then on, you can quickly level your flights off by gently pulling the stick while the canard is pitching your aircraft down. It's very sensitive, so be careful on not doing it close to the ground or you might crash!

Landing:

• The first step is to line up in the runway.
• After reaching 287mph (463km/h, 250 knots), pull the gear down.
• After reaching 241mph (389km/h, 210 knots), deploy the flaps.
• Gently descend towards the runway. It is recommended to keep the aircraft's nose from 0-5 degrees during speeds of 196-241mph (315-389km/h, 170-210 knots).
• When reaching speeds below 173mph (278km/h, 150 knots), gently pull the nose from 5-10 degrees. Watch your speed and be careful that it does not go below 149mph (241km/h, 130 knots)! Don't forget your descent rate, too!
• After touching down on the runway, activate your reverse thrust and throttle up.
• When the aircraft reaches to a full stop, throttle down to 0%, and deactivate the reverse thrust. From then on, you can taxi back to your original spot by activating the nose wheel steering.

Have fun!

Gallery:

This was a really quick build I made, which I'm very happy about! Since I've already made both an F-15EX frame and an F/A-18C frame, it was very quick to be modified. The only thing that took me longer than it should was trying to painfully paint this thing.

Oh yeah, this aircraft is not weaponized, to resemble the pure experimental sense of the NF-15B. However, I'm happy to accept weaponized versions. Modifications are welcome! ...Just don't reupload with little to no effort in changing it's performance or appearance. Seriously, don't. Other than that though, I'll see you around, and until next time...