Aviation Classics F-15 Eagle.pdf

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FOREWORD
Foreword
E
ven more than 45 years since
its first flight, the McDonnell
Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle is
still at the very tip of the spear for a
number of air forces around the globe.
Born at the very height of the Cold
War, the F-15 was developed during
the mid-1960s as a successor to the
multirole, two-seat F-4 Phantom II.
Initially intended as a pure air-to-air
interceptor and air-superiority fighter, the
F-15’s design learned the lessons of the
Vietnam air war. It housed a single pilot
under a blown ‘bubble’ canopy for an
unobstructed view in front, above and
behind. It also packed a high-tech missile
armament into a highly-agile airframe
that boasted a capable look-down/shoot-
down radar, two lightweight yet powerful
F-100 turbofan engines and that all-
important gun for close-in dogfighting.
Thanks to a high price tag only a
select few nations were allowed to or
could afford to purchase the mighty
Eagle but it was soon in action with the
Israeli air force where it made its first kill
way back in 1979. Since then the Eagle
has never been bested in air combat
and has a ‘more than’ 100-0 kill ratio.
The latent air-to-ground capability
was then harnessed in the new F-15E
‘Strike Eagle’ which ushered in a new
era of accuracy and survivability for
aircrew. The USAF’s fighter and strike
versions of the F-15 made their combat
debut in the 1991 Gulf War. Since then
the F-15E has matured into one of the
world’s most capable strike aircraft serving
with a number of air forces across the
globe, including Israel, the Republic of
Korea, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
Today despite the introduction of the
F-22A Raptor, the F-15C Eagle is still the
most numerous air-superiority fighter in
the USAF’s arsenal and – while still in
production for export customers – could
still yet be built for the US once more if
plans for an F-15X come to fruition. It
seems there’s life in the old bird yet…
Bertie Simmonds
F-15
EAGLE
3
Contents
006
CHAPTER 1
Air superiority at all costs
020
CHAPTER 2
Fledgling fighter
038
CHAPTER 3
Into service
076
064
054
CHAPTER 4
Export Eagles
102
CHAPTER 5
Building the Beagle
114
CHAPTER 6
The Eagle air-to-air
130
CHAPTER 9
The Eagle today
Survivors on display
094
CHAPTER 7
Air-to-ground in the Eagle
CHAPTER 8
The eyrie
4
F-15
EAGLE
AUTHOR: Bertie Simmonds
DESIGN: Lucy Carnell atg-media.com,
Justin Blackamore, Holly Furness
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Dan Savage
PUBLISHER: Steve O’Hara
PICTURE DESK: Jonathan Schoield and
Paul Fincham
PRODUCTION EDITOR: Dan Sharp
MARKETING MANAGER: Charlotte Park
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Nigel Hole
PUBLISHED BY: Mortons Media Group Ltd,
Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle,
Lincolnshire LN9 6JR.
Tel: 01507 529529
PHOTOGRAPHY
Amit Agronov, Alan Wesley, Patrick
Vercauteren, Richard Vandervord,
Christopher McGreevy, Simon Jones, Jane
Jones, Louise ‘Ding Dong’ Bell, Erik Bruijns,
Dryden Research Centre, Wikipedia, USAF
PROFILES
JP Vieira
CUTAWAYS
Mike Badrocke
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS & BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Osprey Combat Aircraft 67: Israeli F-15
Eagle Units in Combat – Shlomo Aloni
• Osprey F-15C Eagle vs MiG-23/25 – Doug
Dildy and Tom Cooper
• Dogights: originally aired on The History
Channel
• The Aviation Geek Club
• Aircrew Interview: www.aircrewinterview.
tv/www.facebook.com/aircrewinterview
• TOP GUNS – Joe Foss and Matthew Brennan
• World Air Power Journal, Volume 9,
Aerospace Publishing Ltd
• Modern Combat Aircraft: F-15 Eagle – Jeff Ethell
• Thanks also to Ron Downey and Missouri
Historical Society via Aviation Archives.
• TAKE OFF, Aerospace Publishing
• Grumman Tomcat: Bye, bye baby –
various authors
DEDICATION:
To my ‘nephew’ Alex Wesley: 1999-2018
and in memory of Don Kilgus: 1937-1988
PRINTED BY: William Gibbons and Sons,
Wolverhampton
ISBN: 978-1-911276-68-5
© 2018 Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage retrieval system
without prior permission in writing from the
publisher.
F-15
EAGLE
5

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