Thread: F-15: Most Successful Modern Fighter Ever?

Depending on how "modern" you're looking, the MiG-21 only ended production in the 80s with over 11,000 built.

F-15 is certainly more successful in combat, though.

MiG 21 had a production run of 36 years and was/is used by ~56 countries. The F-15 first flew in 1972 (40 years and counting) but is currently flown by the US, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Israel

South Korea is/will be soon, an operator of another F-15 variant.

chinese stopped making the Chengdu F-7 Mig-21 clone in 2007, if this could be counted as part of lineage

I'd sure be interested in the initial experiences of our very own Eagle Driver, Chogy, when he had his first opportunities to really stress his skills against the performance window of an F-15.

That'll take me back.

To begin, I pity the first F-15 guy to lose in actual air to air combat. He'll spoil a perfect worldwide record that stands now at something like 105 - 0. A couple of "mud hens" were lost, but to ground fire. No F-15A or C model has ever been shot down by another aircraft.

I took the standard track in the USAF of that era... T-37, then T-38. To us, the T-38 was a rocket ship. It still is, but it pales before modern fighters.

I arrived at Tyndall for RTU training, which lasts about a year. For something like 6 to 8 weeks, it was all ground school, egress, and simulator. The systems were very complex relative to the T-38, and we were expected to know it perfectly. One brilliant thing was there is no "bold face" or red-box memory procedures. On other jets, the student had to memorize a laundry list of immediate action items. None on the Eagle. Even something like "Engine explodes on takeoff" was simply "climb and investigate." We loved that.

First ride was in a "B". Startup is internal to the jet vs. the huffer needed for the T-38. The first impression taxiing was simply "too much power." In idle, with the nozzles open, the jet will accelerate to 100 knots on a long taxiway. We got strong leg muscles from holding brakes. There was no parking brake.

Takeoff was usually mil (non afterburner) power. AB takeoffs were noisy, thirsty, but a lot of fun with about 2 to 3 G straight back. In the air - all we had to compare it to was the T-38. Again it was "immense, borderline ridiculous power." In the T-38, you pull 6G, and you WILL decelerate and the jet will rumble. In the Eagle, you need to modulate (reduce) power to avoid accelerating at 6G near sea level. It was insane.

Probably the hardest part was the HOTAS - Hands On Stick And Throttle. The throttle and stick were studded with a huge number of multi-function switches, and the best analogy was, it was like learning to play a piccolo or saxophone. Getting the switchology right was half the battle. Everything you do is reflected in the HUD and radar tape, so IP's could (and did) freely critique.



I don't want this post to get too long... RTU was a year, then as a 1st LT I was assigned to Eglin AFB. A first balloon in the Eagle at Eglin. It couldn't get any better. All we did was air to air, and we got very good at it in that era. The 58th TFS went on to Desert Storm and became the top scoring squadron of the conflict. I watched it from TV as an IP at Holloman... I missed it by a few months. That hurt.

I've been over mach 2, over 60,000 feet, flew all over Europe, buzzed Soviet "fishing" boats in the Gulf of Mexico, multiple Red, Green, and Maple flags. Did Constant Peg vs MiG's in Nevada. The only platform we feared in a visual fight were F-16's. F-14's and the old F/A-18's were underpowered. I'd guess the Super Hornet is a different beast. BVR, nothing could touch us.

The Eagle (with AESA upgrade) will remain competitive with anything short of true gen V fighters, and I believe we'll see it operational at least another 10 years in the USAF.

I think the Eagle will go down in U.S. history a lot like the P-51 and F-4. We'll hopefully see one or two flying in 2040 at airshows, owned by some rich dude yet to be born, and it'll be nostalgic!

The US'll still be flying them in 2040, just wait.

I love the fact that Tyndall still flies a camo'd up Phantom pretty regularly.

I think that perhaps the coolest thing about the F-15 was landing it with one wing

Originally Posted by bigross86

I think that perhaps the coolest thing about the F-15 was landing it with one wing

Your admiration for that feat wouldn't just HAPPEN to be because it was an Israeli pilot in an Israeli F-15, would it?

Well, that, but also the fact that it was so bloody awesome and even the McDonnell Douglas fellows thought that the IAF was putting them on, they thought it was physically impossible and their simulators proved it

Plus, it's still pretty freakin' cool

Originally Posted by Chogy

That'll take me back.

To begin, I pity the first F-15 guy to lose in actual air to air combat. He'll spoil a perfect worldwide record that stands now at something like 105 - 0. A couple of "mud hens" were lost, but to ground fire. No F-15A or C model has ever been shot down by another aircraft.

I took the standard track in the USAF of that era... T-37, then T-38. To us, the T-38 was a rocket ship. It still is, but it pales before modern fighters.

I arrived at Tyndall for RTU training, which lasts about a year. For something like 6 to 8 weeks, it was all ground school, egress, and simulator. The systems were very complex relative to the T-38, and we were expected to know it perfectly. One brilliant thing was there is no "bold face" or red-box memory procedures. On other jets, the student had to memorize a laundry list of immediate action items. None on the Eagle. Even something like "Engine explodes on takeoff" was simply "climb and investigate." We loved that.

First ride was in a "B". Startup is internal to the jet vs. the huffer needed for the T-38. The first impression taxiing was simply "too much power." In idle, with the nozzles open, the jet will accelerate to 100 knots on a long taxiway. We got strong leg muscles from holding brakes. There was no parking brake.

Takeoff was usually mil (non afterburner) power. AB takeoffs were noisy, thirsty, but a lot of fun with about 2 to 3 G straight back. In the air - all we had to compare it to was the T-38. Again it was "immense, borderline ridiculous power." In the T-38, you pull 6G, and you WILL decelerate and the jet will rumble. In the Eagle, you need to modulate (reduce) power to avoid accelerating at 6G near sea level. It was insane.

Probably the hardest part was the HOTAS - Hands On Stick And Throttle. The throttle and stick were studded with a huge number of multi-function switches, and the best analogy was, it was like learning to play a piccolo or saxophone. Getting the switchology right was half the battle. Everything you do is reflected in the HUD and radar tape, so IP's could (and did) freely critique.



I don't want this post to get too long... RTU was a year, then as a 1st LT I was assigned to Eglin AFB. A first balloon in the Eagle at Eglin. It couldn't get any better. All we did was air to air, and we got very good at it in that era. The 58th TFS went on to Desert Storm and became the top scoring squadron of the conflict. I watched it from TV as an IP at Holloman... I missed it by a few months. That hurt.

I've been over mach 2, over 60,000 feet, flew all over Europe, buzzed Soviet "fishing" boats in the Gulf of Mexico, multiple Red, Green, and Maple flags. Did Constant Peg vs MiG's in Nevada. The only platform we feared in a visual fight were F-16's. F-14's and the old F/A-18's were underpowered. I'd guess the Super Hornet is a different beast. BVR, nothing could touch us.

The Eagle (with AESA upgrade) will remain competitive with anything short of true gen V fighters, and I believe we'll see it operational at least another 10 years in the USAF.

I think the Eagle will go down in U.S. history a lot like the P-51 and F-4. We'll hopefully see one or two flying in 2040 at airshows, owned by some rich dude yet to be born, and it'll be nostalgic!

Is that the throttle quadrant from an F-15? Pretty cool! I see what you mean about all of the switches.