"José Herculano" wrote in message
...
What do you think, would the airframe be a write-off?

Hard to tell....

Would the USAF do this or just eject as the safer, although more
expensive
option?

Really depends on the type of aircraft. That flat belly on the Tornado
makes
it a natural for a safe belly landing with minimum fuel onboard. Don't
believe anyone would try that on an F-16, the bird would almost certainly
roll over.

I believe, you're wrong. It's actually designed for it. It was tested (on
grass as far as I remember) during development.

A few years a Danish F-16 pilot did a wheels up landing on a runway. It was
shown on national TV (in Denmark). It didn't roll over - all it did was to
put one of the wing tips to the ground when it eventually stopped.

Søren Tjørnov


____________
José Herculano