I would disagree to that. It really look quite dated next to fighters from the last 25 years. And its not only F35 and F22, but also European fighters. While F15 looks kind of skinny, most moder fighters look quite a bit fatter. While that might not be to veryonce liking, there is a reason for that. Internal fuel and more bypass. Also after that internal bays.
@@matsv201 Saab JAS 39 Gripen looks before it's time and airframe looks modern today and slightly old fashioned. It's undergone a lot of iterations as well. Holy smoke it's short take off!!
@@ScrappyXFL The E/F model looks a bit more modern to me. Its fairly similar to the C/D series, but not quite. The thing is that media pretty much only show the C/D series because there are hardly any video of the E/F series. There are some from Brazil. Its Intresting that the Brazilian E/F and the Swedish E/F come online about the same time
Man, you missed the best part about that Eagle taking out a helicopter during desert storm. The WSO dropped on the helicopter while it was on the ground. To the WSO’s surprise, the helicopter took off. He was able to steer the bomb right through the windshield of the MD500. If I remember correct, that was considered the F-15E’s first confirmed air-to-air kill.
@@ronjones9447 If you study the aircraft flight and controls, the F15 is like a Nascar racecar whereas the F16 is like F1. Its smaller, nimbler, and has easier joystick control
@@jamesmedina2062 my dad use to build the F15 at McDonald Douglas in St. Louis back in the day, he just loved being a part of that factory. He was proud yet a bit disappointed when in joined the navy back in 79, retiring in 99. The power, speed, range and the 100 (or so) to 0 kill ratio makes me love it as well
@@ronjones9447 Nice. My dad was a young teen during WW2 and loved aircraft, built models, and flew small ones. I had a guy watch me for a while as a teen and his brother flew F-15's in Arizona. So very firsthand knowledge on the speed. I had a lawyer once who was retired F-15 pilot. Its nice they used titanium to build them lighter. The F-15 was first of the dominance fighters conducting kills beyond visual range which is likely why the F-35 is not very maneuverable. I find F-35 flawed in comparison and thats why the F-15E still has its place. So do you know what changes happened due to the merger at McDonnell?
I served in the USAF during the 1970's and saw the phase out of the F-4 and the introduction of both the F-15 and F-16. Three marvelous aircraft. It's amazing to think that the F-15 first flight was 50 years ago this year, while the F-16 was just two years later.
@@AllAmericanGuyExpert The whole chair force argument is laughable, when we hear ground troops screaming for help over the radio who are the first to get called?
Maj Bill "Salty" Watkins was my Classmate from USNA and we went through part of flight training together at NAS Pensacola. He started in A-6's, then F-14A's; before transferring to the Air Force and the Strike Eagle. At the time of his death, he had been selected for Lt Col. RIP Classmate.
He was an instructor in my squadron at SJ. I launched both "Boot" and "Salty" (I was a Crew Chief at the time) often and I kicked them out of chocks for their deployment from SJ. RIP.
Watkins was the weapons officer on MY aircraft. I was on the ground THERE when this happened. I will never forget that evening/day when we all learned of the great lost we had suffered. I still think of him often.
I was an AF brat and grew up on Seymour Johnson AFB. We were there through the transition form the F4E to the F15E and on until 1993. They are amazing birds. The conformal fuel tanks are defining featured of Strike Eagle. I have never seen one without them. I didn’t even know they could opt to remove them.
@@grampsto2 My dad was stationed there for 12 years. I lived there with them from 7 to 17, when I enlisted in the Army and moved away. I didn’t leave the base much, didn’t need to except to go to the mall and school. Most of my friends lived on base, or would come on base to hang out with us. It was a lot easier to get on back then. Goldsboro is still a crappy town, although they have a much higher opinion of the base since the AF threatened to close it. About that time, the locals decided that there would be no economy in Goldsboro without the base and decided they loved having it there. I loved growing up on Shady J.
I deployed with the Strike Eagles to Thumrait after just finishing the Phase 2 exercise in Seymour-Johnson. Worked on the ammo build-up and delivery to the flightline.
I grew up watching the test flight's at the McDonald-Douglas plant in St.Louis. I'm still in awe at the shear, power and ingenuity that went into building that plane
My uncle worked at the plant in the 70s and he gave me a model of the F-15. Still have it more than 45 years later. I remember seeing an F-15 doing a vertical take off just driving by Lambert (I think) one day. I believe it was the only fighter with enough power to do that at the time.
I know an A-10 took a chopper as well. Could you imagine what that gun did? I guess he couldn't lock him up, so he used his main gun. The pilot said there was not much left.
My dad worked at McDonald Douglas back in the day. He was so proud, when he died I had his ashes divided into 3 separate containers. 1 was to get scattered over his grave 2. Was going to be scattered over his childhood home (yard) 3. They have a F4 on display at NEADS over at the old griffins AFB in Rome NY where I live, I need to call them and ask since the plane is in their fenced in compound. He loved the F15 and F4
At Nellis in 88-91, I worked Type IV F-15 PMEL. LANTIRN was one of the systems I cal'd back then. It was incredible then and we were seeing the results coming in from Tonopah and other ranges before Gulf War. The writing was on the wall that air dominance was to be ours.
I worked on the F-15E's assigned to the 405th, 550th AMU at Luke AFB . I was an jet engine mechanic on the F-15C and when we started to get the E models I was assigned as a crewchief for aircraft 87-197. What an awesome plane , since I was an engine mechanic I was amazed at the improvements of the F100- PW-220 over the old - 100 engines. I retired in 1991 and I miss working on these beautiful F15's .
@@CaptRye I may have. I was the supervisor of the flightline jet engine crew and I was always helping and training other crew chiefs in maintaining and working on the - 220's. Oh how I miss working on the Flightline with F-15E's and for those of you that remember..... the 'RED BALL ' . I also worked on the F-15C and D models with the 461st JESTERS prior to being reassigned to the 550th in '88 just before we started receiving the F-15E's.
A comment or two on the Streak Eagle would have been nice. As I recall, in the effort to set a new time-to-climb record, this F15 had no paint, thus taking a few hundred pounds of weight off. Then, it was held in place by it's tail hook until the engines were stabilized in full afterburner. It was an awesome sight to see!
They put a tail hook on it? I know thd original plan was for the 15 to be used by the navy as well, but it had a lot of trouble landing on carriers due to it lifting too much while landing at sea.
@@yourlocalhooligan ok. Did not know that. I researched the 15 in the 1980's and knew they originally intended it to be used by the navy as well as the air force but it had trouble landing on carriers due to the lift effect of the design. It tries to stay airborne.
My dad used to work on F-4s and I've sat in the cockpit many times. My dad was stationed at Zweibrucken Air Station Germany in the early 70s, I went to school at a nearby Army post and the F-4s would break the sonic barrier and the glass in the window panes would rattle violently. I was stationed at Lackland AFB TX and lived in an apartment complex across the street from Kelly AFB in the early 80s and I saw many things come into Kelly, like the Space Shuttle on the back of a 747, President Reagan landed at Kelly and also witnessed F-15s landing at Kelly AFB
I have no clue which plane is really the best but I do know watching F4s coming in on a bombing run ( napalm as well ) to help us in heavy combat in Vietnam was a pretty awesome sight
I just subscribed because the quality of the show and in-depth information is unmatched. The details regarding missions and so forth brought this old soldier back to many memories. Thank you.
As a carrier vet, this plane has been bad ass since I was a kid. I had the privilege of working around F 14, F 18 and A6 Intruders. Buy the Eagle remains.
The problem with our Air Force is a lot of it has been in service since before you were a kid. We still fly decrepid B-52s built before most grandpas were kids. The USAF says we are at least ten years behind Russian tech. As for the ancient Eagle a combat-ready 1968 Mig 25 hit Mach 3.2, twice the speed of the later F15 and outfly it's .50 caliber bullets on the afterburners. An F15 pilot would get a glimpse of the Mig contrail from his parachute.
@@shadowopsairman1583 ahem…the EX is a proposal from Boeing…probably won’t be made. What the USAF ‘needs’ is a viable Wild Weasel aircraft. F-16CJ is a stopgap. For the Weasel to be viable and effective in the multi sensor environment, pretty much needs a back seater. F-18G….
I served aboard HMS Ark Royal back in the day, and she was equipped with Phantoms, Buccaneers, and Gannets. I was astonished the first time I watched flying exercises with the Phantoms. Man they were big beasties. It was amazing watching the night time flyexes too, watching them light up their 'burners just before catapulting and the deck flaps diverting the exhaust into the sky.
Almost any channel can create a decent video about this machine, the F-15 E Strike Eagle specifically, due to the amount of declassified info, stock video, and it's battle history. But only Dark Skies can give me a video about a machine I think I know a little about and still give me goosebumps. You guys rock. I gotta add that when current conversation comes around to war with aggressive, expansionist Dictatorship China, I personally don't give too much credit to their warehouse of war tech. Pilots. The West has veteran pilots who have flown varied missions. The F-35 Lighting II is just a tool. Our pilots are the best in the world.
I'm surprised the F-15EX wasn't mentioned. This is essentially a newer version of the F-15E that the US is buying to replace old F-15C/Ds that are aging out.
@@kaijenkins4513 It's really an update of the E. But it's closely enough related, and likely to be performing a lot of the same missions, that it's worth a mention.
I was stationed at Luke AFB when the first F-15E arrived there. Tail number 86-0186 was the fourth production F15E built but the first to be delivered to the USAF. The Strike Eagle testbed was 71-0291, the final unit of the original 12 prototype airframes. I love my Eagles. I've had an on/off, love/hate relationship since 1986 and still maintain them as an overseas contractor.
@kevinkirk4285 I too was at Luke with the 550th my birds tail number was 87-197 I believe it was the 5th or 6th plane to arrive and that's when I went from flightline engine supervisor to the added title of crewchief of 87-197.
I worked on the F15E engines at Luke AFB back in the early 90s. Pratt and Whitney F100-220 and F100-229 engines are a dream to work on. Great engines and great airframe. The acceleration that airframe could achieve with a full armament package of was phenomenal.
My father met the pilot, he was running a aircraft part refurbishing business here in the US. Apparently he has a plaque from MD with a gold F15 missing a wing.
"Blow up what is down, and shoot down what is up..." We all wanted our wing to get these when we got rid of the F4-Es, but we ended up with F-15A models, some of which were older than our F-4Es.
back in the mid 2000s i lived in one of those hardened aircraft shelters saddam had built to protect his air force. they didn't work out so well against modern ordinance. some had skylights. we made a plywood shanty town inside with 5/8" pine sheet and shipping containers
When ever anyone talks about the F-15 or anything related to the F-15 there should be a side mention about the time a F-15 collided with a A-4, lost a wing and still made it back to base.
F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, A-10 Thunderbolt, and the A-6 Intruder are, to me, the most "American" aircraft of the era Sure, the F-22 was also a beast of an aircraft, and it is still one of my favorites, but it didn't really strike the same note as these 4
Boot and Salty were huge parts of my childhood at Seymour-Johnson. My father was a fighter pilot and last minute was pulled from that deployment so he could stay behind and be a flight instructor for the incoming class of fighter pilots. I miss them every day. I hugged Boot so tightly during his going away party, like I knew I was never going to see him again.
As a Navy guy, I will tell you that the F-15E was the best all around aircraft in our inventory. Yes, we had the F-14 Tomcat but the Eagle was better in ground support.
Still as a fellow Navy guy, I'd take F/A-18F over a F-15EX any day of the week. Sure the F-15EX may have ammo and radar but we have dogfighting capabilities which will come in handy against more conventional opponents like Russia or China. Besides our fellow Navy boys are trained for it, unlike our Chair Force friends.😅
The F-4 Phantom was a very loud plane. I remember them taking of from Long Bein and across the Ammo Dump. Something that was hard for a Army guy to get use to.
Love the F 15 but you skipped the part were the nose cone fatigued quickly and started to fall off. So they needed emergency redesign to keep them active.
Hey, I noticed some Streak Eagle footage around the 4:10 mark. I only know that cause my granddad was one of the 4 pilots, and there he was at sitting at the table at 4:13, lol.
@@ohger1 Yes, Streak (not strike). They took an early F-15A off the assembly like and "built" it for the time-to-climb records. They deleted / left off everything not needed for the flight(s), stuff like the radar, gun, flaps, redundant hydraulics, even the paint. They also tuned up the engines. For takeoff they chained it down to the runway using the tow hook attachment, went full afterburner until just the right amount of fule was left (within a few hundred LBS) then blew the chain off the airplane with an explosive bolt. The plane was airborne in around 4 seconds, and supersonic in under 30 seconds (while climbing). It broke every record it attempted (I think altitudes were 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 20, 25 and 30k meters). Took the records from F4 and Mig 25. It was essentially a "muscle plane" built for vertical drag racing, lol. It's big claim to fame was that it was faster to altitude than the Saturn 5 rocket! Edit: the original footage is on youtube (search f15 Streak eagle).
Every now and then a couple F15s will do an exercise or refuel for a nearby airshow at the airport a couple miles from my home. They are so loud that the ground shakes. Been one of my favorite places since childhood
Amazing that this aircraft started out as an air superiority fighter backed by the "Not one pound for air-to-ground" cabal, but evolved into one of the finest strike aircraft ever built.
Oh gheez lol. I was wondering 🧐💭 if you were sorely mistaken at first bc I didn’t see your time stamp. Actually looked it up…. There was a John Candy in the RAF, who was a WW1 ace. Lol
2:08 "hostile north vietnamese". Your written version of history is hilarious. The words you choose, the words you omit. "The ten year conflict". Is that what you sanitised it down to? Not the ten year invasion. Not the ten year massacre of villages and babies?
Any enemy should have shivers run down their spine if they know one of these planes are in the area. They have been beefed up in last three years to meet any tech improvements of the enemy, although they do not have the stealth of the newer planes, they are still extremly dangerous, and they are nearly 40 years old!!! Hats off to MacDonald Douglas for creating such a versatile and effective replacement for the F 4 Phantom, and the wisdom of building such an Iconic and enduring design....we live in freedom, today, partly because this plane was and still is, so frightening in its ability.
I'm a big fan of all US military aircraft. I am hard pressed to pick the F-14 or F-15 as my favorite. I wish the F-14 would have gotten a face lift so they could have remained in the USN longer.
Couple things. F-15Es don't use laser guided missiles. They CAN use Mavericks but given their mission profiles, they don't. They've stopped using Mavericks since. They use laser guided and GPS guided bombs. They don't use two LANTIRN pods. They use the NAVFLIR with the terrain following radar built into the pod. They used LANTIRNs early on and in the mid 2000s, they used LITENING targeting pods briefly as a stopgap and then they have only ever used SNIPER targeting pods since then.
I worked for Pratt Whitney as a pipe fitter running large fuel lines to the outdoor covered building where they ran those engines almost all day full power
For a bit of perspective; the V/O said Maximum take-off weight of 81,000lbs. That’s 40.5 tons. A normal 18-wheel semi’s maximum legal weight is 80,000lbs. Essentially, this plane is a semi with wings. Yes, much faster and far deadlier, but the weight was a surprise.
Left out. An Israeli pilot was flying a F-15(I don’t remember the exact circumstance) and was hit by a middle. It literally blew the whole right wing off. The pilot lost control spinning wildly. He remembered the Eagle had the thrust to be a missile so he put the throttle in wide open and the plane stabilized. He was able to fly back to base in Israel and land. He couldn’t see it, but once he landed the ground control noticed something pretty amazing. The whole right wing was gone. A plane that can fly 1800 mph. With only one wing. Needless to say but the designers and engineers were in Israel the next day. Now there’s a F-15X that can carry 22 AIM air to air missiles and serve as a flying magazine for the F-35. Damn, we are good.
@@Burkutace27 but that wasn't the issue. the misunderstanding was thinking the F-15E took out the most tanks. If you have data to prove the F-111 took out the most aircraft on the ground, do share. Otherwise, stop making excuses for others, it doesn't reflect well upon you.
I was stationed at Bitburg Air Base…Eagle crew chief…was first to scene when a pilot buried his Eagle at the end of the runway…flying touch and goes…before an air show at Spangdahlem Air Base…June ‘79
When you research more that basically describes the entire history of U.S. Military equipment since the end of WWII. From the M1 Abrams to the F-15 all the way to the F-35.
When you go against 30 y older planes and overall army .While you spent more wealth than some countries combines on the "defense" ( y'all literally never defended ever. Just invaded/attacked others) I do believe it was a huge 1 sided conflict
McDonald Douglas: "The F-15A fighter plane is to be an air superiority aircraft, not ground attack. NOT A POUND OF AIR TO GROUND." F-15E: "Bah! Humbug! Watch me ruin Christmas for the bad guys on the ground!"
11:23 That's a Phantom. Thought I'd fallen asleep and dream mode, and WTF started typing. Backed it up that was Phantom footage. 🤔Should I be spooked or not?
I like to think of such equipment as a Platform because they are continuously upgraded the original only looks like the models that have been refined by experts [Pilots] that put them in use
The titles you give to your videos are Sooo SUBJECTIVE, dude! You could have waaay more Sunscribers JUST by not naming them some Millennial-sounding nonsense. What a shame- your videos are really well done.
I didn't know the Phantom ever had a gun or Canon during the period covered by the Vietnam war. I was always led to believe that the one thing Phantom pilots regretted was not having a gun, or Canon.
Old guy here. My understanding was that the Phantom didn’t have a gun because the thinking at the time was that the future of jet warfare,ie dogfighting would be missiles only, and that a gun would be useless, that is not needed. I assume that in the early stages of Vietnam war, the failure rate of the missiles on the Phantom ran as high as 20%, and some pilots complained about it where a gun would have made the kill. Later versions of the Phantom had a gun mounted on it. The series “Dogfights”, on the History Channel and later available on RUclips, talked about this problem in greater detail, in season 2 of said series. If you saw the original Top Gun, Commander Heatherly, callsign Jester, talked about Navy kill ratio in Korean War was 12:1, but later in Vietnam, kill ratio dropped to 3:1. He said pilots had become too dependent on missiles. Part of the problem was that the failure rate of the Phantom’s missiles, Sidewinder and Sparrow, coupled with having no gun, contributed to drop in kill ratio. Of course, the extra training in tactics of air combat maneuvering, combined with more reliable missiles, and the addition of a a fuselage mounted gun did bring the kill ratio back up before the end of the Vietnam War.
@@theresaherman absolutely, couldn't agree more with what you have written, however the chap does say early in the film clip that the Phantom had a gatling type gun or Canon, which was news to me, I'm quite a old chap as well and remember with fondness jets like the Phantom, that's why I made my comments.
One of the greatest examples of when it looks great, it usually flies great. The F15 still looks modern in 2020
yeah but at the same time they usually also refit the planes with latest technology with prototype planes and all
I would disagree to that. It really look quite dated next to fighters from the last 25 years. And its not only F35 and F22, but also European fighters.
While F15 looks kind of skinny, most moder fighters look quite a bit fatter. While that might not be to veryonce liking, there is a reason for that. Internal fuel and more bypass. Also after that internal bays.
@@matsv201 Saab JAS 39 Gripen looks before it's time and airframe looks modern today and slightly old fashioned. It's undergone a lot of iterations as well. Holy smoke it's short take off!!
@@ScrappyXFL The E/F model looks a bit more modern to me. Its fairly similar to the C/D series, but not quite.
The thing is that media pretty much only show the C/D series because there are hardly any video of the E/F series. There are some from Brazil.
Its Intresting that the Brazilian E/F and the Swedish E/F come online about the same time
The SR71 first flew in 1964, five years before I took off from the womb. I’ve aged gracefully while the SR 71 still looks like 10th generation tech.
Man, you missed the best part about that Eagle taking out a helicopter during desert storm. The WSO dropped on the helicopter while it was on the ground. To the WSO’s surprise, the helicopter took off. He was able to steer the bomb right through the windshield of the MD500. If I remember correct, that was considered the F-15E’s first confirmed air-to-air kill.
An Israeli F-15 E returned to base without one of its wings, that's insane!
@@valannursilva1214 was that an E, or an A? I thought it was an A.
Up there with the downing of a Russian helicopter by Ukraine with an ATGM 😄
@@valannursilva1214 "He was a fighter pilot they called Solo Wing Pixy" >
INDEED! Crazy lol.
My son flew the F15E Strike Eagle for eight years. It is an awesome fighter.
@Jaybird how come?
@bigwhite21liar
@@ronjones9447 If you study the aircraft flight and controls, the F15 is like a Nascar racecar whereas the F16 is like F1. Its smaller, nimbler, and has easier joystick control
@@jamesmedina2062 my dad use to build the F15 at McDonald Douglas in St. Louis back in the day, he just loved being a part of that factory. He was proud yet a bit disappointed when in joined the navy back in 79, retiring in 99. The power, speed, range and the 100 (or so) to 0 kill ratio makes me love it as well
@@ronjones9447 Nice. My dad was a young teen during WW2 and loved aircraft, built models, and flew small ones. I had a guy watch me for a while as a teen and his brother flew F-15's in Arizona. So very firsthand knowledge on the speed. I had a lawyer once who was retired F-15 pilot. Its nice they used titanium to build them lighter. The F-15 was first of the dominance fighters conducting kills beyond visual range which is likely why the F-35 is not very maneuverable. I find F-35 flawed in comparison and thats why the F-15E still has its place. So do you know what changes happened due to the merger at McDonnell?
The F-15 are simply the greatest warplanes to come into service since WW2. Yeah I said that.
HELLL YEAH! 104 kills to 0 losses
Might well be true, but my favourite American-made jet is probably the F-4 Phantom II, which also has a commendable service record.
....and able to safely land with a wing clipped...
That's a fact not an opinion
F15 is good but F16 is cooler
I served in the USAF during the 1970's and saw the phase out of the F-4 and the introduction of both the F-15 and F-16. Three marvelous aircraft. It's amazing to think that the F-15 first flight was 50 years ago this year, while the F-16 was just two years later.
Thank you for your service
Did you see it from your chair?
@@AllAmericanGuyExpert The whole chair force argument is laughable, when we hear ground troops screaming for help over the radio who are the first to get called?
@@nag2129 Bob Hope and the USO?
@@AllAmericanGuyExpert Never served a day in your life, and if you did and got out early GREAT! Your mentality is not wanted in the forces.
Maj Bill "Salty" Watkins was my Classmate from USNA and we went through part of flight training together at NAS Pensacola. He started in A-6's, then F-14A's; before transferring to the Air Force and the Strike Eagle. At the time of his death, he had been selected for Lt Col. RIP Classmate.
He was an instructor in my squadron at SJ. I launched both "Boot" and "Salty" (I was a Crew Chief at the time) often and I kicked them out of chocks for their deployment from SJ. RIP.
Watkins was the weapons officer on MY aircraft. I was on the ground THERE when this happened. I will never forget that evening/day when we all learned of the great lost we had suffered. I still think of him often.
I'm sorry to hear your buddy died. My condolences.
I was an AF brat and grew up on Seymour Johnson AFB. We were there through the transition form the F4E to the F15E and on until 1993. They are amazing birds. The conformal fuel tanks are defining featured of Strike Eagle. I have never seen one without them. I didn’t even know they could opt to remove them.
Only for maintenance. They look weird without them. I was stationed there in 95-96.
@@grampsto2 My dad was stationed there for 12 years. I lived there with them from 7 to 17, when I enlisted in the Army and moved away. I didn’t leave the base much, didn’t need to except to go to the mall and school. Most of my friends lived on base, or would come on base to hang out with us. It was a lot easier to get on back then. Goldsboro is still a crappy town, although they have a much higher opinion of the base since the AF threatened to close it. About that time, the locals decided that there would be no economy in Goldsboro without the base and decided they loved having it there. I loved growing up on Shady J.
I deployed with the Strike Eagles to Thumrait after just finishing the Phase 2 exercise in Seymour-Johnson. Worked on the ammo build-up and delivery to the flightline.
they most certainly could fly with out them. they were so "defining" because they were the first iteration to have them.
@@barry99705 they fly to depot without cft's.
I grew up watching the test flight's at the McDonald-Douglas plant in St.Louis. I'm still in awe at the shear, power and ingenuity that went into building that plane
My uncle worked at the plant in the 70s and he gave me a model of the F-15. Still have it more than 45 years later. I remember seeing an F-15 doing a vertical take off just driving by Lambert (I think) one day. I believe it was the only fighter with enough power to do that at the time.
Always a pleasure seeing these at Lakenheath.
I know an A-10 took a chopper as well. Could you imagine what that gun did? I guess he couldn't lock him up, so he used his main gun. The pilot said there was not much left.
My dad worked at McDonald Douglas back in the day. He was so proud, when he died I had his ashes divided into 3 separate containers. 1 was to get scattered over his grave 2. Was going to be scattered over his childhood home (yard) 3. They have a F4 on display at NEADS over at the old griffins AFB in Rome NY where I live, I need to call them and ask since the plane is in their fenced in compound. He loved the F15 and F4
McDonnell Douglas didn’t design pretty planes, but they could design and build quite effective ones really well.
At Nellis in 88-91, I worked Type IV F-15 PMEL. LANTIRN was one of the systems I cal'd back then. It was incredible then and we were seeing the results coming in from Tonopah and other ranges before Gulf War. The writing was on the wall that air dominance was to be ours.
I worked on the F-15E's assigned to the 405th, 550th AMU at Luke AFB . I was an jet engine mechanic on the F-15C and when we started to get the E models I was assigned as a crewchief for aircraft 87-197. What an awesome plane , since I was an engine mechanic I was amazed at the improvements of the F100- PW-220 over the old - 100 engines. I retired in 1991 and I miss working on these beautiful F15's .
I bet that was fun!
My dad Flew the F-15E out of luke from 1989-92. wonder if you worked on his plane.
@@CaptRye I may have. I was the supervisor of the flightline jet engine crew and I was always helping and training other crew chiefs in maintaining and working on the - 220's. Oh how I miss working on the Flightline with F-15E's and for those of you that remember..... the 'RED BALL ' . I also worked on the F-15C and D models with the 461st JESTERS prior to being reassigned to the 550th in '88 just before we started receiving the F-15E's.
A comment or two on the Streak Eagle would have been nice. As I recall, in the effort to set a new time-to-climb record, this F15 had no paint, thus taking a few hundred pounds of weight off. Then, it was held in place by it's tail hook until the engines were stabilized in full afterburner. It was an awesome sight to see!
I remember that day. Incredible
They put a tail hook on it? I know thd original plan was for the 15 to be used by the navy as well, but it had a lot of trouble landing on carriers due to it lifting too much while landing at sea.
@@nooneyouknowhere6148 all f-15s have tail hooks. For emergencies only.
@@yourlocalhooligan ok. Did not know that. I researched the 15 in the 1980's and knew they originally intended it to be used by the navy as well as the air force but it had trouble landing on carriers due to the lift effect of the design. It tries to stay airborne.
My dad used to work on F-4s and I've sat in the cockpit many times.
My dad was stationed at Zweibrucken Air Station Germany in the early 70s, I went to school at a nearby Army post and the F-4s would break the sonic barrier and the glass in the window panes would rattle violently.
I was stationed at Lackland AFB TX and lived in an apartment complex across the street from Kelly AFB in the early 80s and I saw many things come into Kelly, like the Space Shuttle on the back of a 747, President Reagan landed at Kelly and also witnessed F-15s landing at Kelly AFB
I have no clue which plane is really the best but I do know watching F4s coming in on a bombing run ( napalm as well ) to help us in heavy combat in Vietnam was a pretty awesome sight
I just subscribed because the quality of the show and in-depth information is unmatched. The details regarding missions and so forth brought this old soldier back to many memories. Thank you.
As a carrier vet, this plane has been bad ass since I was a kid. I had the privilege of working around F 14, F 18 and A6 Intruders. Buy the Eagle remains.
The problem with our Air Force is a lot of it has been in service since before you were a kid. We still fly decrepid B-52s built before most grandpas were kids. The USAF says we are at least ten years behind Russian tech. As for the ancient Eagle a combat-ready 1968 Mig 25 hit Mach 3.2, twice the speed of the later F15 and outfly it's .50 caliber bullets on the afterburners. An F15 pilot would get a glimpse of the Mig contrail from his parachute.
F-15 in general has to be the best aircraft ever made so far.
Pretty old airframes and tech. F-18F superior. Plus not Cat5 aircraft….F-22, F-35….
@@Blovi-qd4lh Superior in tech doesn't make it better in the sense that of all the combat sorties the F-15 has been in, it has never been shot down.
@@Blovi-qd4lh ahem F-15EX
@@shadowopsairman1583 ahem…the EX is a proposal from Boeing…probably won’t be made. What the USAF ‘needs’ is a viable Wild Weasel aircraft. F-16CJ is a stopgap. For the Weasel to be viable and effective in the multi sensor environment, pretty much needs a back seater. F-18G….
@@A7XKoRnRocks1 great news but that conflict was also over 20 years ago. Hasn’t been a large scale air war since.
I served aboard HMS Ark Royal back in the day, and she was equipped with Phantoms, Buccaneers, and Gannets. I was astonished the first time I watched flying exercises with the Phantoms. Man they were big beasties. It was amazing watching the night time flyexes too, watching them light up their 'burners just before catapulting and the deck flaps diverting the exhaust into the sky.
Almost any channel can create a decent video about this machine, the F-15 E Strike Eagle specifically, due to the amount of declassified info, stock video, and it's battle history. But only Dark Skies can give me a video about a machine I think I know a little about and still give me goosebumps. You guys rock.
I gotta add that when current conversation comes around to war with aggressive, expansionist Dictatorship China, I personally don't give too much credit to their warehouse of war tech. Pilots. The West has veteran pilots who have flown varied missions. The F-35 Lighting II is just a tool. Our pilots are the best in the world.
I'm surprised the F-15EX wasn't mentioned. This is essentially a newer version of the F-15E that the US is buying to replace old F-15C/Ds that are aging out.
Some would argue that the F-15EX (including other Advanced Eagles) is a variant of it’s own.
@@kaijenkins4513 It's really an update of the E. But it's closely enough related, and likely to be performing a lot of the same missions, that it's worth a mention.
The sensor fusion is what separates the EX from past models
Thanks for filling me in on the F-15E! I saw them flying, but no one would talk about them. Now I know.
I was stationed at Luke AFB when the first F-15E arrived there.
Tail number 86-0186 was the fourth production F15E built but the first to be delivered to the USAF.
The Strike Eagle testbed was 71-0291, the final unit of the original 12 prototype airframes.
I love my Eagles. I've had an on/off, love/hate relationship since 1986 and still maintain them as an overseas contractor.
I crewed 6186 for six years at SJ.
860186. 334th Fighter squadron. Worked on it many times. E&E troop
@@aaronpelloat6409 It used to be in red. When I crewed it, it was the wing king bird.
@kevinkirk4285 I too was at Luke with the 550th my birds tail number was 87-197 I believe it was the 5th or 6th plane to arrive and that's when I went from flightline engine supervisor to the added title of crewchief of 87-197.
Great video! The evolution of the F15 shows how well the plane was designed. And I liked the F4 footage snuck in at app 11:15.
F-15 & F4 Phantom are surely the iconic 'fighter jet' that people think of. Elegant pieces of Engineering!
*F14
Hard to call the F-4 "elegant". More like a brick with turbojets attached.
Spoken like a true self centred American 🙄
@@mark675 Actually Scottish and it was just my opinion....should of known it'd ruffle some feathers lol
@@mark675 Why, what do you think of when you think of a jet fighter? It better not be American.
I worked on the F15E engines at Luke AFB back in the early 90s. Pratt and Whitney F100-220 and F100-229 engines are a dream to work on.
Great engines and great airframe. The acceleration that airframe could achieve with a full armament package of was phenomenal.
What about the Israel Air Force F15 that landed with HALF A WING after a collision
My father met the pilot, he was running a aircraft part refurbishing business here in the US. Apparently he has a plaque from MD with a gold F15 missing a wing.
F15’s will forever be the dopest combat jet.
the mighty eagle 🦅🦅🦅
You wiped out a 3rd world country that has cave fighters and you're proud lol.
I worked on the E model for ten years and it was an experience I’ll never be able to top.
"Blow up what is down, and shoot down what is up..." We all wanted our wing to get these when we got rid of the F4-Es, but we ended up with F-15A models, some of which were older than our F-4Es.
back in the mid 2000s i lived in one of those hardened aircraft shelters saddam had built to protect his air force. they didn't work out so well against modern ordinance. some had skylights. we made a plywood shanty town inside with 5/8" pine sheet and shipping containers
Crazy. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your service.
Was that at TQ?
I See F-15 , i upvote!
Like the Phantom that came before, It is one Hell of a Machine.
When ever anyone talks about the F-15 or anything related to the F-15 there should be a side mention about the time a F-15 collided with a A-4, lost a wing and still made it back to base.
F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, A-10 Thunderbolt, and the A-6 Intruder are, to me, the most "American" aircraft of the era
Sure, the F-22 was also a beast of an aircraft, and it is still one of my favorites, but it didn't really strike the same note as these 4
Interesting, the F22 is so feared for over 25 year s no adversary has even dared. That even better then 100 to zero.
Gotta add the F-14 Tomcat. At least in my eyes. Rest of the list is just beautiful deadly planes.
Love the Iron Tadpole!
@@mknewlan67 Damnit! You're right, how could I forget that legendary bird
Don’t forget the Crusader
Boot and Salty were huge parts of my childhood at Seymour-Johnson. My father was a fighter pilot and last minute was pulled from that deployment so he could stay behind and be a flight instructor for the incoming class of fighter pilots.
I miss them every day. I hugged Boot so tightly during his going away party, like I knew I was never going to see him again.
As a Navy guy, I will tell you that the F-15E was the best all around aircraft in our inventory. Yes, we had the F-14 Tomcat but the Eagle was better in ground support.
Still as a fellow Navy guy, I'd take F/A-18F over a F-15EX any day of the week. Sure the F-15EX may have ammo and radar but we have dogfighting capabilities which will come in handy against more conventional opponents like Russia or China. Besides our fellow Navy boys are trained for it, unlike our Chair Force friends.😅
@@JRGProjectsthe fa18f is not a dogfighting plane… the f15ex is just as good if not better
The F-4 Phantom was a very loud plane. I remember them taking of from Long Bein and across the Ammo Dump. Something that was hard for a Army guy to get use to.
I lived next to a German airforce base flying F-4, these things are so loud I had to pause conversations on a phone call till they flew past.
Love the F 15 but you skipped the part were the nose cone fatigued quickly and started to fall off. So they needed emergency redesign to keep them active.
You can make that black electro mag paint by using old VCR cassette tapes.
I believe you can use ferrofluid as well...
@@the80hdgaming Maybe, but that's pretty heavy.
Probably the best air superiority fighter ever built.
The record is something like 198-0. The ONLY F-15 ever shot down by another aircraft was shot down by an opposing F-15.
I would say F22 is #1 and F15E a very close 2nd.
@@VOX471 You are correct.
Gonna wake up and go work on one of these bad boys tomorrow… so cool I get to say this
Hey, I noticed some Streak Eagle footage around the 4:10 mark. I only know that cause my granddad was one of the 4 pilots, and there he was at sitting at the table at 4:13, lol.
"Streak" Eagle?
@@ohger1 Yes, Streak (not strike). They took an early F-15A off the assembly like and "built" it for the time-to-climb records. They deleted / left off everything not needed for the flight(s), stuff like the radar, gun, flaps, redundant hydraulics, even the paint. They also tuned up the engines.
For takeoff they chained it down to the runway using the tow hook attachment, went full afterburner until just the right amount of fule was left (within a few hundred LBS) then blew the chain off the airplane with an explosive bolt. The plane was airborne in around 4 seconds, and supersonic in under 30 seconds (while climbing). It broke every record it attempted (I think altitudes were 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 20, 25 and 30k meters). Took the records from F4 and Mig 25.
It was essentially a "muscle plane" built for vertical drag racing, lol. It's big claim to fame was that it was faster to altitude than the Saturn 5 rocket!
Edit: the original footage is on youtube (search f15 Streak eagle).
@@383mazda Thanks, didn't know that!!
Every now and then a couple F15s will do an exercise or refuel for a nearby airshow at the airport a couple miles from my home. They are so loud that the ground shakes. Been one of my favorite places since childhood
One of the best air superiority fighters, possibly second only to the Raptor.
The Viper would like a word...
@@glamdring0007 If you ever saw the F-15 in a DACT exercise you'd know. The Eagle can out-rate a fighter even smaller than the Viper.
Amazing that this aircraft started out as an air superiority fighter backed by the "Not one pound for air-to-ground" cabal, but evolved into one of the finest strike aircraft ever built.
And started a trend
IMO the F-4 was the _loudest_ freakin' aircraft I was ever near. F-14 was loud too, but that Phantom kicked out a lot of decibels!
I was stationed at Korat Thailand supporting the F-111A's in '75 and I can attest to that fact.
With the F4 it was those giant freaking engines necessary to make the brick fly ;)
Definitely…..grew up near a main stay for the f-111s. Loud as hell
The F-35 joke-of-a-fighter takes the cake now.
Thank you for your very clear narration with the facts .
I sware the RAF Tornado's played a major role in taking out the Air force...
Yes but that truth requires acknowledgment that it wasn’t just the US forces in Iraq etc. F15 still an amazing aircraft.
They certainly did the lower & faster level attacks
They did especially using the JP233 runway denial system.
The F-15 manufacturing line has never stopped producing F-15s in one form or another since it built the first one way back in the 1970s.
You can keep your F22 and F35: for me this will always be the most beautiful and awesome fighter plane ever created.
9
Who's got weapons of mass destruction?
🤷♂️
4:11 Fun fact: Famous comedian John Candy (rip) started out as an Air Force pilot.
Oh gheez lol.
I was wondering 🧐💭 if you were sorely mistaken at first bc I didn’t see your time stamp. Actually looked it up…. There was a John Candy in the RAF, who was a WW1 ace. Lol
@@sulufest 🤣
Fun fact:
PeeWee Herman’s dad was a WWII fighter pilot.
He flew surplus German ME 109’s in Israel against Egypt in 1948!
2:08 "hostile north vietnamese". Your written version of history is hilarious. The words you choose, the words you omit. "The ten year conflict". Is that what you sanitised it down to? Not the ten year invasion. Not the ten year massacre of villages and babies?
F-15 best plane. F-15EX T-Posing on the virgin competition.
Any enemy should have shivers run down their spine if they know one of these planes are in the area. They have been beefed up in last three years to meet any tech improvements of the enemy, although they do not have the stealth of the newer planes, they are still extremly dangerous, and they are nearly 40 years old!!! Hats off to MacDonald Douglas for creating such a versatile and effective replacement for the F 4 Phantom, and the wisdom of building such an Iconic and enduring design....we live in freedom, today, partly because this plane was and still is, so frightening in its ability.
104 kills no losses
that was the f15c
@@potatosuc4950 All F-15s. F-15E has air-air kills with no losses also.
@@slartybarfastb3648 it bombed a helicopter and got shot down like twice by sams
@@potatosuc4950 You do understand that getting shot down by SAMs is not an air-to-air defeat, right? 🙄
@@Primus54 but it has never fired a missile at another aircraft, only f15cs have done that
What's better than the f15E?
The f15EX...
What's better than that?
A hundred of them!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
I'm a big fan of all US military aircraft. I am hard pressed to pick the F-14 or F-15 as my favorite. I wish the F-14 would have gotten a face lift so they could have remained in the USN longer.
Im wondering why they didnt extend the f14 life span but im guess it was to ecpensive to operate per hours
Couple things. F-15Es don't use laser guided missiles. They CAN use Mavericks but given their mission profiles, they don't. They've stopped using Mavericks since. They use laser guided and GPS guided bombs. They don't use two LANTIRN pods. They use the NAVFLIR with the terrain following radar built into the pod. They used LANTIRNs early on and in the mid 2000s, they used LITENING targeting pods briefly as a stopgap and then they have only ever used SNIPER targeting pods since then.
Someone else is excited about the new DCS module XD
YES!!!
The music at the beginning of this took me back to the 90's when watching Wings on the History Channel.
Eagles delivering Freedom, sounds familiar.
so much freedom..
Cringe
@@mark675 cope🤓
@@III1IlIIlIllIl fall in line peasant
I worked for Pratt Whitney as a pipe fitter running large fuel lines to the outdoor covered building where they ran those engines almost all day full power
I play these videos at 1.25x speed... For the nostalgia.
For a bit of perspective; the V/O said Maximum take-off weight of 81,000lbs. That’s 40.5 tons.
A normal 18-wheel semi’s maximum legal weight is 80,000lbs.
Essentially, this plane is a semi with wings.
Yes, much faster and far deadlier, but the weight was a surprise.
Taking out one pickup with a JDAM is the most 'Murica thing ever.
I love your narration style.
Would be interesting if they added the F35 Enhanced Optical Targeting System under the nose to replace LANTIRN system.
There are others that have no need to be discussed here, Opsec.
@@shadowopsairman1583 I've never seen an airman be more boot than this comment.
Some future f-15fx model
The actual weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Who would have thunk it?
F-15 Eagle 🦅 🇺🇸 🌌
Left out. An Israeli pilot was flying a F-15(I don’t remember the exact circumstance) and was hit by a middle. It literally blew the whole right wing off. The pilot lost control spinning wildly. He remembered the Eagle had the thrust to be a missile so he put the throttle in wide open and the plane stabilized. He was able to fly back to base in Israel and land. He couldn’t see it, but once he landed the ground control noticed something pretty amazing. The whole right wing was gone. A plane that can fly 1800 mph. With only one wing.
Needless to say but the designers and engineers were in Israel the next day.
Now there’s a F-15X that can carry 22 AIM air to air missiles and serve as a flying magazine for the F-35. Damn, we are good.
I thought the old F-111 aardvark took out the most armor in the first gulf war.
Libya in the late 80s .
Yes, more so than the A-10.
the title was about taking out the Iraqi Air Force on the ground (planes not tanks).
@@SoloRenegade The varks hit a lot of airbases too.
@@Burkutace27 but that wasn't the issue. the misunderstanding was thinking the F-15E took out the most tanks. If you have data to prove the F-111 took out the most aircraft on the ground, do share. Otherwise, stop making excuses for others, it doesn't reflect well upon you.
I was stationed at Bitburg Air Base…Eagle crew chief…was first to scene when a pilot buried his Eagle at the end of the runway…flying touch and goes…before an air show at Spangdahlem Air Base…June ‘79
good murder, bad murder. good machines to kill, bad machine to kill......
Was watching a pair do touch and gos in San Juan last week, big bird of freedom!
Great video Mr Felton, just not sure about the disco background..İs this the future of war documentaries?
This is not a Mark Felton video
As I have remarked elsewhere, just goes to show when designers are given the freedom to create, the sky is no longer the limit.
To me, making money on slavery then developing advanced arms and then using them on disadvantageous societies are not an achievement to boast of.
Love seeing these buzz around everyday
Didn't realize how big/tall they are until I saw one at the Hill AFB museum
(0:41) Seems that no matter how fancy your electronics are, the issue of 'Pilot swivel neck, 1' Still applied.
You forgot the f-14s as well well at least the later versions of them
Measuring how good a jet is by how it performed against a third-world army under sanctions for the past 10 years is rather lame
When you research more that basically describes the entire history of U.S. Military equipment since the end of WWII. From the M1 Abrams to the F-15 all the way to the F-35.
RB: Really well-done, my friend...
The f15 in various configurations is still being produced today
PS Is the F-15E Strike Eagle one of the aircraft in the USAF arsenal slated to be replaced by the F-35 Lightning II?
Around 10:34 narrator states that F-15E's engaged with Soviet Mig-29's. I'm guessing he meant to say "Soviet Built" Mig-29's?
When you go against 30 y older planes and overall army .While you spent more wealth than some countries combines on the "defense" ( y'all literally never defended ever. Just invaded/attacked others) I do believe it was a huge 1 sided conflict
Good stuff
McDonald Douglas: "The F-15A fighter plane is to be an air superiority aircraft, not ground attack. NOT A POUND OF AIR TO GROUND."
F-15E: "Bah! Humbug! Watch me ruin Christmas for the bad guys on the ground!"
Great video! Informative. The Strike Eagle rocks! 😎
11:23 That's a Phantom. Thought I'd fallen asleep and dream mode, and WTF started typing. Backed it up that was Phantom footage. 🤔Should I be spooked or not?
The F 15 Eagle is the best fighter and my fav Jet.
Nice video! Though the f-15 didn’t replace the f-111 project and F-5 it was actually replaced by the F-14A (sources from Wikipedia)
Yea the F15s over Iraq definitly killed those migs, where do you think they got thier kill count...the Iraqi airforce was a big part of it
I like to think of such equipment as a Platform because they are continuously upgraded the original only looks like the models that have been refined by experts [Pilots] that put them in use
What was the problem with taking out the Mig-29's?
The titles you give to your videos are Sooo SUBJECTIVE, dude! You could have waaay more Sunscribers JUST by not naming them some Millennial-sounding nonsense.
What a shame- your videos are really well done.
11:24 ... snuck a phantom in there. Look at the angle of those tail surfaces.
I didn't know the Phantom ever had a gun or Canon during the period covered by the Vietnam war. I was always led to believe that the one thing Phantom pilots regretted was not having a gun, or Canon.
Old guy here. My understanding was that the Phantom didn’t have a gun because the thinking at the time was that the future of jet warfare,ie dogfighting would be missiles only, and that a gun would be useless, that is not needed. I assume that in the early stages of Vietnam war, the failure rate of the missiles on the Phantom ran as high as 20%, and some pilots complained about it where a gun would have made the kill. Later versions of the Phantom had a gun mounted on it. The series “Dogfights”, on the History Channel and later available on RUclips, talked about this problem in greater detail, in season 2 of said series. If you saw the original Top Gun, Commander Heatherly, callsign Jester, talked about Navy kill ratio in Korean War was 12:1, but later in Vietnam, kill ratio dropped to 3:1. He said pilots had become too dependent on missiles. Part of the problem was that the failure rate of the Phantom’s missiles, Sidewinder and Sparrow, coupled with having no gun, contributed to drop in kill ratio. Of course, the extra training in tactics of air combat maneuvering, combined with more reliable missiles, and the addition of a a fuselage mounted gun did bring the kill ratio back up before the end of the Vietnam War.
@@theresaherman absolutely, couldn't agree more with what you have written, however the chap does say early in the film clip that the Phantom had a gatling type gun or Canon, which was news to me, I'm quite a old chap as well and remember with fondness jets like the Phantom, that's why I made my comments.
0:43 The F-15 pilot has a ball point pen attached with Velcro to his right hand... He writes with his left hand.
/F-15 Strike Eagle
Mud hens! Many thanx 👍👍