The continued grounding (see above) of the F-15 A-D fleet is a nightmare come true. Air Force officials now believe that years of patches made to the aircraft, coupled with flying high-stress missions far longer than anticipated, has caused the current problem. And, even if the Eagles fly again by mid-January, it will take the Air Force more than six months to get its F-15 pilots re-qualified. Read more in “It Just Got Worse.”
Lockheed Martin has approved F-35s flying with a 50-50 blend of standard jet fuel and Synthetic Aviation Turbine Fuel, made from waste oils, coal, gas, and other carbon products. Norway flew two F-35s using a 40/60 mixture of standard and SAT fuels earlier this week.