July 27th, 1972






The first F-15A flight was made in July 1972 here at Edwards Air Force Base and the first flight of the two-seat F-15B (formerly TF-15A) trainer was made in July 1973. The first Eagle (F-15B) was delivered in November 1974.
The jet reached operational capability September the next year. In January 1976, the first Eagle destined for a combat squadron was delivered.

Originally designed as an air-to-air fighter, the F-15 has evolved to become the one of the most capable, versatile and affordable multirole aircraft available anywhere in the world. It is the backbone of the U.S. Air Force and is in service with Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Korea, and Singapore.

The F-15 has long been considered one of the most successful fighters ever built with, according to program officials, 104 aerial combat victories and no losses. Its unparalleled range, speed, persistence, and weapons load make it the fighter of choice for some of the world's most powerful air forces.

More than 1600 F-15s have been built.

This aircraft was trucked out to Edwards AFB from St. Louis sometime in early 1972 where Boeing (then McDonnell Aircraft) finished some manufacturing and then performed systems checkout prior to its maiden voyage.

The single-seat F-15C and two-seat F-15D models entered the Air Force inventory beginning in 1979. These new models have Production Eagle Package (PEP 2000) improvements, including 2000 pounds (900 kilograms) of additional internal fuel, provision for carrying exterior conformal fuel tanks, and increased maximum takeoff weight of up to 68,000 pounds (30,600 kilograms).

The F-15 Multistage Improvement Program was initiated in February 1983, with the first production MSIP F-15C produced in 1985. Improvements included an upgraded central computer; a Programmable Armament Control Set, allowing for advanced versions of the AIM-7, AIM-9, and AIM-120A missiles; and an expanded Tactical Electronic Warfare System that provides improvements to the AN/ALR-56C radar warning receiver and ALQ-135 countermeasure set. The final 43 included a Hughes AN/APG-70 radar.

F-15C, D, and E models were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm, where they proved their superior combat capability. F-15C fighters accounted for 34 of the 37 Air Force air-to-air victories. F-15Es were operated mainly at night, hunting SCUD missile launchers and artillery sites using the LANTIRN system.

They have since been deployed for air expeditionary force deployments and operations Southern Watch (no-fly zone in Southern Iraq), Provide Comfort in Turkey, Allied Force in Bosnia, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.

General Characteristics:
–– Primary function: Tactical fighter
–– Contractor: McDonnell Douglas Corp.
–– Powerplant: Two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100, 220 or 229 turbofan engines with afterburners
–– Thrust: (C/D models) 23,450 pounds each engine
–– Wingspan: 42.8 feet (13 meters)
–– Length: 63.8 feet (19.44 meters)
–– Height: 18.5 feet (5.6 meters)
–– Weight: 31,700 pounds
–– Maximum takeoff weight: (C/D models) 68,000 pounds (30,844 kilograms)
–– Fuel Capacity: 36,200 pounds (three external plus conformal fuel tanks)
–– Payload: depends on mission
–– Speed: 1875 mph (Mach 2 class)
–– Ceiling: 65,000 feet (19,812 meters)
–– Range: 3450 miles (3000 nautical miles) ferry range with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks
–– Crew: F-15A/C: one; F-15B/D/E: two
–– Armament: One internally mounted M-61A1 20mm 20-mm, six-barrel cannon with 940 rounds of ammunition; four AIM-9 Sidewinder and four AIM-120 AMRAAMs or eight AIM-120 AMRAAMs, carried externally.
–– Unit Cost: A/B models - $27.9 million (fiscal 98 constant dollars); C/D models - $29.9 million (fiscal 98 constant dollars)
–– Initial operating capability: September 1975
–– Inventory: Total force, 249

(Chris Haight, 461st Flight Test Squadron (Joint Strike Fighter), contributed to this article.)

Awesome bird!

That airframe is timeless... Thanks OP
 

Awesome plane!  


F-15 porn!  Some pics I got here at the local airshow

And we should be cranking out more F-15's , damm good jets that can still get the job done.

Man this is unbelievable.  40 years??

What an airframe.  My all time favorite from a looks perspective, but damn the performance is STILL there.

Not only have ours never been shot down, but the Israelis or anyone else using them.  Crazy.

The #1 thing I wish I could do before I die is to fly one all-out.

Too bad I don't even know how to fly.........ahahaha.

They like to fly em with one wing too!  

I'm 40 and a scary badass motherfucker too

Seriously though, let the record speak for itself.  It's the Michael Phelps of air combat.


Bitches

At the rate we are going, I hope those airframes have another century or two left in them.

104 and 0.  There's American know-how baby.

One of my favorite books.  Bought it when I was 10 or 11 in the Misawa AFB BX.  26 years ago.  I'm old.



Best,
JBR

Oh, Boeing is cranking them out, just not for the US.  Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and S. Korea are all getting shiny new Strike Eagle variants.  That doesn't even take into account the "Silent Eagle" version that Boeing is pushing for foreign sales.  

I doubt the US will ever see another new Strike Eagle airframe in it's inventory, though I will be happy enough when all of our Strike Eagles can just get AESA radars.

You sir, are looking for the Streak Eagle.

I had that book too. Hell, I had a shit ton of that series.

I really hope when we export shit like this to certain countries that we put killswitches on them or crap avionics/countermeasures.

First aircraft I worked on.
First aircraft someone handed me the controls

All pictures below were taken by yours truly.

Got my ride on A1063

Not a pound for air to ground!  This is what happens when no expense was spared, 40 years later its still a viable weapons platform.  Damned shame as that will probably never happen again.

Still sexy at 40

Absolutely beautiful bird, it would be the eqivalent of having the P-51 Mustang still in frontline use in 1985!  Ain't technology and design wisdom grand.

I'm an ex jet mech and the f-15 was my bird, I love that jet!  Anyone here make it to Nellis?  I'm 82-86.

I had the honor of working with one of the chief engineers of that plane after he had retired.  Lot's of respect for those engineers of that era.

Awesome plane.  Still a very viable piece of equipment 40 years later.  

...and we'll use it for another 20 years.  Terrifying.  

We're ahead of the rest of the world.  Way ahead.

But not 60 years ahead.

(Don't get me wrong... I love it... but I love the F-4... And the P-51... If we let the Democrats run the show, the USAF would be flying Sopwith Camels...)

When I was a kid I saw one blast off on an unrestricted climb from the tower at Luke.

Pretty much cemented I'd work in Aviation

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What's a skunk works logo doing on a McD jet?

The local AFB had a big airshow after Desert Storm in '91.  All the inventory was there––B1B, A10, even had the first public showing of the F117.  The Blue Angels were the headline act of the show.  However, a solo F15 went before the BAs and stole the show from them.  It had to be the most impressive demonstration I've ever seen.  The pilot of the F15 brought it in low and level over the field, stood it on its tail and accelerated straight up, out of sight.  Then he turned it over and pointed it straight down, accelerating again.  He flared out just above the ground.  It was amazing to see.  

Agreed.

While sitting on the flight line at Kadena some years ago waiting for a C-130 to the mainland I had the privilege of watching Eagles do take-offs where they basically shot straight up into the air.  It was really impressive.  I don't know much about it but it seems like we might be better off spending our money on a shit-ton of Eagles instead of a handful of raptors.  Then again, I don't know much.

I wore this patch proudly ...



These pics were taken after my first incentive ride in 1985, I was not allowed to take a camera on the flight.

I agree with you, not that I know shit about air power either

It just seems that as great as the F-22 is, 187 is not enough to give much coverage world wide, let alone accounting for down time for maintenance, or God forbid losses in combat. IMO we would be better off with newer F-15s with the latest avionics. YMMV.

That's because the Eagle, and also the F-16, which is only a couple of years newer, both represented the first generation of aircraft

that could be designed to reach performance and maneuvering limits which were defined by pilot endurance rather than engine and

aerodynamic performance.     Once you've reached the point where the endurance of the human pilot is the limiting factor,  then

beyond that point,  there isn't any point to designing an airframe that's able to deliver still more punishment to the occupant.



In order to achieve big improvements in aircraft agility at this point, you'll have to take that weak fleshy thing out of the cockpit and

let him oversee things from the ground where he won't get crushed in the next max G maneuver.    And removing that fragile animated bag

of bones and glop from the cockpit also allows you to delete all those unnecessary life support and human interface systems which

add weight, cost, and complexity to the overall design.



My guess is that the thrust-vectored maneuvering performance made available for the F-22 probably represents what's very close to the limit

of what can be achieved in a fighter that has to carry a human pilot.   And, thrust vectoring was tested in the 80s and early 90s on the F-16,

in a 3D vectored form which is even more maneuverable than the 2 D (vertical plane only) vectoring that the F-22 uses.  



Once the man is removed from the cockpit, and the internal computer is smart enough to perform the tasks that a good pilot does, but even faster,

then the ensuing increases in maneuvering performance will be terrifying...and fatal to a human pilot.    I predict the first unmanned, autonomous,

ACM-capable fighter will be designed for a 15 G maneuvering limit, at the very least.  Possibly more than that.   20? 30?  I don't know,  but

with no human to support,  the thing could be built very robustly indeed.



CJ
 

This would seem to be borne out by the fact that the F-22 "oxygen problems" turned out to be related to the suits the pilots have to wear to survive flying the beasts.

Air superiority.
 

Damn,  I just saw some at the air show in MA today,

I am constantly reminded that we were able to defeat German tanks in WWII despite their sophistication by the use of sheer numbers.  I feel like we are repeating the Wermacht's mistakes.

I feel insanely blessed to have had a few flights in B and D model Eagles. Was able to experience a gate climb, some 1 v 1 BFM, fly the jet for a while, as well as earn a 9G pin. Learned first-hand what G-LOC was the first time I underwent that many Gs .








 
 
 

beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you mean at that particular show?

Because it most definitely appeared at the NAS Jacksonville show in 1990.

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Wow, another one of those planes where the plane is older than the pilots.

Used to live in the flight path of Bergstrom AFB here in Austin. Pairs of F-4's would cruise almost directly overhead 3 or 4 times a day no more than 3 or 4 thousand feet up. Beautiful, beautiful airplanes! Shook the walls, rattled all the glass...

Then the Tx ANG got F-15's and F-16's. Again flew over in pairs, but soooo much more quiet. The F-15 was the most perfect looking jet I'd ever seen, I loved waiting outside for them to come over.

Apologies to the great F-15, but then one day I saw a B1-B fly overhead.

Save image as...........

Nellis 05-09

The design is 40 years old.  We don't have any 40 year old eagles flying around.

still not compliant in NY.

It's a sexy bird, glad I get to see them fly every day.  I'm really not impressed with the P&W FW-100-229s though, what a pile of crap.

The raptor is even sexier, and has completely amazing motors in comparison.  

Didn't live near the flightpath, but started HS at a school near it. Was awesome to watch pairs of Ole Smoky fly over. My math class was in one of the portables so the teacher had to stop his lecture briefly every time pair would fly over.