Flew the F-15 in the '80's, it was king of the sky. When we got the new F-100 engines with DEECS (digital fuel control) we were in heaven, could slam throttles to and fro without damaging the engine, plus more thrust. ALWAYS, more thrust is good. They never emphasize the radar in these videos, we could sort and shoot before the bad guys because of the narrow beam width and power of the radar. I can't imagine the joy of the now common AESA. I'm becoming an old man now. I feel like a WW2 pilot in 1985 waxing nostalgic about his P-51, that's how long ago it was. Steam gauges and a 64kb computer. And a big missile coming to hose you.
@@jennyfury4674 - No. The last F-15 gun kill was in the 1980's by an Israeli, I believe. Missiles today are too good. No one will fly through a missile envelope to enter gun range by choice.
Agree I love the Eagle. Even the natural name sake are magnificent creatures. The commentary in the clip was very average. This is one of the most versatile and successful planes ever built. Not many planes dominate for so long.
Most? F no. It's a beautiful bird to be sure, but let's get real, the SR-71 is the Sistine Chapel of aircraft. That thing look otherworldly magnificent today,
@Blake Brown Wohou, are you sure? Hey, I like chocolate! (other guy comes in) Look, here is another chocolate, now you have two of the thing's you like! Comment I was responding to is clearly from somebody who likes the vehicle, since he is able to quote rather interesting features of it. Then I add an another interesting trivia. This is what people who enjoy the same stuff do. It creates a discussions and friendships if done in person, it's fun. The "Celestial" modification is rather interesting indeed, people who like F-15 almost by definition are interested in it, for it's the only aircraft with a confirmed space skill. Peace friend, or afterburner on maximum!
From a Russian: The F-15 is an incredible aircraft and the radar controls, avionics, and fire control are state of the art for its time. One of the best flying machines ever made. Its like the F-14 took steroids and cut extra carbs from its diet. Indeed, a worthy opponent. Its amazing how clearly you can see the influence of all the relevant technical achievements implemented in the airframe - both foreign and domestic. I say always take best of both worlds.
It should not be an "Opponent". Our people should be on the same side. Your people haven't had an even break in decades. You work so hard and are an intelligent culture and your women are so smoking hot. One of them is our First Lady. How cool is that?
@@456swagger F-15 is an excellent fighter jet plane and I hope that it will never be used against Russians or another civilized nation. I must correct you, the first lady is Slovene from Slovenia and not form Russia. Slavic ladies are really beautiful :-)
The F15 is a totally different breed. Back then I could only imagine how scary it was to the opposition to have what was basically the first supermaneuvrable fighter jet
MoeJae86 -nah, the Tomcats motto will always be “Anytime Baby!” USAF & USN NAVAIR are so different culturally. The joke was that the USAF was “catholic school” while NavAir was “animal house”. Lol Navy ships are expensive and naval aviation never had the appropriations blessings from the Pentagon like the USAF “darlings”. Ever since SAC the AF was simply better at gaining funding for its needs compared to USN aviation. It was not for a lack of trying...funding simply was biased in favor of the US Army and USAF for decades. As such these “sister or brother” aircraft were nothing of the sort. They were in fact products of this inter-service rivalry involving competing aviation firms attempting to meet challenging service branch requirements while often risking the company’s future. Much was battled over, won and lost in these contracts. Truly these aircraft were symbols of the rivalry and dis-unity of the system. Each of these aircraft borrowed technology form preceding ones but that of course is the nature of progress. Grumman brought innovations from its work on the F-111 to its F-14. MD tapped F-14 innovations for the F-15 and added state of the art electronics and engines to produce a world leading air superiority fighter. Without the weight and complexity needed for Carrier Operations the F-15 was lighter, far more reliable and nimbler. Funding for continued upgrading resulted in an airframe vastly superior with age. The F-14 also gained upgrades and they truly made it a great interceptor but the program always suffered from tight budgets and less modernization than the F-15 program. As front line forces ready to project American power when needed, NavAir just had to make do with less, make it work and get the job done. We did that for decades and still do today. Maybe that’s where some of the bravado comes from. There’s not much glitz in Naval Aviation. You live in cramped berths on the boat. An old boat like my Connie (CV-64) was pretty rough around the edges. Gritty staterooms, grease, steam, heat, no women (back then), no internet, no base housing, no pools, no golf courses, no bar to get a beer, etc etc.
As a Retired Principle Scientist, I grew up in AWE about The "eagle" saw it in person in airShows in Canada. Studied in passion every square inch of its design, bought a book about it. Very Few people Know the secrets of its Lifting Body design and The LAST Figther to be produce with a Neutral Pitch Center of Gravity to Aligned with the lifting Surface of the Main Wings. The Two Closely Spaced Engines were to increase the Roll Rate. Later, I flew Several Thousands of Hours in a simulator called the F15-E Strike Eagle. Super Graceful In Flight Its A Big Bird, but Carries a Punch like No Other, Still Today. Yes The Silent Eagle would be a great choice for Canadian Skies Because Its the Only one (with conformal fuel Tanks) able to have the RAnge to cover a Desolate Territory Twice that of the USA with 1/10 the population. I WAS so Elated That General Chuck Yager Was Given a Back Seat Ride As a Salut to His Service as "One Of the Top Test Pilot" in American History... Yes People Bitch about its unit costs... I simply reply: WORT EVERY PENNY.. Prooven millions times Over.
Thanks for another excellent video. The Japanese point to their F-15 fleet as an item of national pride. It has also enabled Mitsi to develop its own fifth-gen aircraft. This thing is still top of the hill and will be around longer than people think. Good Stuff!
@@stebnalang2824 Which didn't come out until 13 years after the plane was designed, which in no way invalidates the "Not a pound for air-to-ground" design philosophy. That it could be turned into an adequate strike fighter is a testament to just how good the original design was.
@@vladolubenov9484 one of only 2 planes confirmed to ever manage the feat, the other being my second favorite aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. I've heard stories about the F-14 doing likewise, but then again, computer simulations have shown that it could likely fly with both wings missing, but would have to be on full afterburner the whole way, so that carrier had better be pretty close. Perfect Organism There were LOTS of challengers, just none of them were ever good enough to bring the Eagle down. If the cold war had ever gone hot, the SU-27 would likely have been a very major contender with its thrust vectoring and their R-73 "Archer" missile. At that point, I think it would have come down to training and experience of the pilots.
It was the Tomcat that started my love affair with military aviation, due to my dad, an air force officer, taking me to see Top Gun when it came out when I was ten. I didn't think I would find another plane as awesome until I found out about the Eagle. It is just a beautiful machine.
I grew up around those machines, from the f101, to the eagles, glad to have witnessed so much. When I watch these videos i always see my dad standing at the starboard bow of the F4. Keep up the good work.miss you POP!
I know these newer planes are more advanced and time has moved on but the F-4 phantom was the king during Vietnam. Arguably, it still looks the most intimidating of fighter jets and struck fear in the enemy's eyes when that scream of its engines blasted overhead. I wish they could build a 5th generation fighter that had it's look.
@@jlandon6028 apparently halfway through the war some dudes got so pissed they just slapped a gatling gun in the form of a gun pod on the belly of the plane.
Had a few up close and personals with this aircraft. First was at arms length in a maintenance hanger at Luke Air Force in the early 1980s and a few days later seeing one do a takeoff roll and go vertical and disappear (my brother and his wife were stationed there). My next encounter was in 1988 while rail fanning the Southern Pacific Jawbone north of Edwards Air Force Base. My friend and I were inspecting a railroad trestle when with warning an F-15 flew over at tree top level at several hundred knots. Both of us came close to needing to check are shorts. Defiantly an impressive experience.
I was an air traffic controller stationed at Scott afb (kblv) just across the river from the production site of the f15. They came over and practiced instrument, radar and visual approaches. This aircraft could perform any maneuvers asked. Rapid turns or climbs. They used their radar quite a bit to spot traffic in a high density environment. Often calling"guns". If I remember correctly the call sign was mac blue. Av8 was mac green. F18 I think was in initial testing and went by mac red. All were a controllers dream. The pilots were perfect and would do anything to display the a/c performance! Truelly remarkable! I would feel sorry for any adversaries. BE.
Former F-15E Crew chief here. I do miss my jet 91-0316. I served @ RAF Lakenheath UK. My jet was a pleasure to work on. I have several medals for keeping that jet 99.8% mission ready. I miss seeing my name on my bird when I walked out to the HAS every day.
You’ve hit on what I want to do when I graduate high school. I love the F-15. But I also love the H53 Sea Stallion, Kiowa and the Blackhawk. I’ve flown many hours now in a helicopter.
I've read where they might bring the F-15X out. Obama did away with the Kiowa I heard, and I think the Blackhawk might be going away too. I worked on the F-15 in the Air Force, and then became a contractor working on the Army helicopters. My favorite to work on was the Blackhawk, but I liked the Cobra and Huey also. Good luck at whichever you choose.
The f 15 is one of the best fighter jets of all times. I thought the f 14 was bad ass. The f 15 eagle will go down as the top gun jets in history. My 2 cents
The F-15 hown at 07:14 is from the Kingsfley Field ANG Base, which is home to the nation's primary F-15 training program, where my dad was stationed as a Flight Instructor for almost 30 years and taught students in the F-4, the F-16 and the F-15 before retiring.
I just love your writing and neutral analysis, and your slavic accent just adds personality to your channel. Keep it up. The best aviation format on youtube (you and mustard). Cheers. In fact you beat the 'dumbed down' analysis of 'Discovery' and others, I come to your channel when I'm bored. I appreciate Your work. Thank You.
When I was about ten years old I went to an airshow and was amazed by the F-15. It pulled up with what looked to me to be blow torches coming off the wing tips. The announcer talked about how it could accelerate going straight up and it went straight up with afterburners lit and went right out of sight. I was all excited and when I went home I told my father about it. He was already an old man when I was born and was a retired pilot. He looked at me with hatred in his eyes and voice and condescendingly told me that he had flown for 42 years and said that airplanes didn't accelerate going straight up. After 40 years I still remember that every time I see an F-15. Arrogant old fools like my father can burn in hell.
@@BenHenkel_wx F15 versus Russian hardware 104 - 0 hardly an equal fight and F16 is another nightmare for Russian fighters. The US made hardware has bulldozed the Russian since 1950 starting with Korean War.
@@barracuda7018 you are comparing 3rd to 4th generation fighters, russia and america are on roughly equal footing with F-15 vs. Su-27 and F-16 va. MiG-29 all those kills by the F-15 were against inferior MiG-21 and 23 platforms, not that it makes the F-15 a bad plane, but russia isn’t such a joke.
Retired in ‘94 and have flown the F-4, F-5 and several others, however, never got the opportunity to drive the 15 which to this day I truly regret. Thank you for posting this video!!
The F-15 reached the maximum capability of this type of fighter, and only needed updating through the years. Even now Boeing is working on a new version for limited number of aircraft. The F-22 and F-35 have a different purpose, and the F-15 is the Air Force's backbone fighter.
How so? Like appreciating it more or just understanding what you see every day? Man - these things are animals. Sort of wish we’d just run these things. I mean, cool to have F-22’s, but I’d think 3 15’s would be a better bargain. Undefeated.
Mike‘s World - I can’t argue because I just don’t know, but how do you figure? Or, better said, how are these things known without honest A to A combat? Is it simulations or like war games where a 22 goes against 15’s and it’s based on detection and lock-on? I ask because I feel like so often assumptions are proved false in real-life combat.
One of the best complements ever paid to the F15 came from a RAF Officer. After the nightmare that was the development of a air to air intercept from a ground attack aircraft in the RAF fleet, at the insistence of Parliament, which included the Blue Circle Radar joke, an RAF officer while being questioned about how long and how much this project costs said to Parliament "for what has been spend on this project how many F15C could the UK have bought"!
can't deny the records, but gotta wonder how it would of really stacked up vs say the mig-29 if the pilots had equal training, its fun to speculate about a lot of Russian aircraft seem like they should do a lot better then what they have actually done in combat, but again the countries these have been sold to don't really do the same training as the western allies do
@@kinggoten Well the thing is the pilots never had equal training... Soviet doctrine treated the pilot merely as a tool that would follow the commands given by ground control, whereas the US and most of the West trained pilots to follow mission guidelines but think for themselves in combat. Tactics in Soviet doctrine were taught to the ground controllers and commanders, not the pilots. But then there was the testing when Germany unified and brought MiG-29s to the West... The overall opinion was that the MiG-29 was more fun to fly, but far inferior in terms of usability and usefulness in combat. The MiG-29 had a slight maneuverability advantage if the pilot was good, and it had the R-73 which the US had no counter to at the time. The F-15 had superior cockpit ergonomics, superior acceleration, superior information systems (datalink, sensors etc), superior ECM, far superior combat range etc. The MiG-29 was basically a worse F-16.
Then it met the F22 and it's reign was over. 2 F22s took on 10 F15s and the F15s never got a shot off. The F15 pilots said they never even seen the F22s until they was dead and the F22 pilots was laughing at them.
@@foreal69tu50 Those are mocked dog fights just training not real combat nobody mentioned the F-22 Raptor the F-15 Eagle is the baddest fighter the world with a record of 104 to 0 in air to air combat
Might just be the most knowledgeable & well delivered, air-tech development commentay I've ever heard on Y-T.! -- with visuals smoothly cut to match it.
The F15 and the British harrier are the coolest planes ever. They are both still used and have evolved into the F35. But the F15 is great. 50 years and still has a place. Cost and ease of maintenance is good too. One F15 lost a wing and still landed. Any other plane would have had to eject and let it crash. Amazing brilliant plane that is under rated by many. Good to see you have done it justice Skyships.
I’m fascinated with the engineering of these aircraft and really appreciate your take on the subject, eschewing the flag-waving jingoism that insults my intelligence. Thank you for your work.
The F-15, and it's numerous variants, is an absolute Legend in the military aviation World. It deserves this title as it's a truly phenomenal machine, unrivalled and unchallenged in the 4th Gen category until the 4th+ and ++ aircraft appeared on the scene. It's still a formidable opponent for any aircraft but it isn't the King it used to be, you have the Typhoon, the Rafale and some of the later SU and Mig aircraft that pose such a serious threat to the F-15 that it isn't a first line aircraft anymore, more a second strike aircraft. The F-15's are still seen doing the Mach Loop impressively in Wales from their bases not far from me in Suffolk, England and they still look fantastic!
I have had a 34 year on/off, love/hate relationship with this fine aircraft. I maintained some of the earliest A and B models while on USAF active duty and continue as an overseas contractor to this day, maintaining Saudi F-15S aircraft.
im going in the USAF next month with that MOS, and the F15 is an airframe I can get, (F16 and A10 the others) post career, hows the cash for what you do, I was looking at lockheed or northrup. but am not shy at considering opportunities, I have 10 years already at DoD contracts for boat manufacturing, so maintainer, production line experience is already there.
@@philparnell757 Right on! Pursue your passion. It's been sometimes tough and yet rewarding career. You'll love it and you'll hate it at times. Your knees will hurt and your ears will ring. You'll get banged up and maybe even get an "Eagle bite" or two. Pay attention to your surroundings and keep your wits about you. Take care of your body and fill your mind with every bit of knowledge that you can absorb. This is an amazing aircraft and I am still a student of my craft. The Eagles are gonna be around for many more years to come. The money is pretty good for what I do. It ain't great but it ain't bad, either. All the best to you!
the f-15c eagle is a beast and i like after flying it so much in the recent ace combat video game skies unknown the f-15c was fun to fly and with lasers it was even better
Nice video but I was disappointed that you underestimated the huge impact of the F-15 in the Israeli Air Force and it’s total dominance of the skies in the region. A kill ratio of 80:0 in the early 1980’s against the Syrian Air Force, the first mig-25 kill and so many astonishing tasks.
The "80:0" ratio is a myth. It's lies being spread by a guy named Tom Cooper. He is biased and registers every Israeli claim as "confirmed" and every Syrian claim as "unconfirmed". There is ZERO evidence of Israeli F15s shooting down 80 Syrian aircraft for no losses. Syrian Mig 21s, 23s and 25s have all shot down F15s.
pacus123 Your ignorance is astonishing! As a person that went through this period of time as an adult with (and I underestimate) my PERSONAL connecting to the Israeli Air Force, that you are not only ignorant to the facts but also ignorant in reality. Have a blissful life 🤣
@@pacus123 The 1982 Bekaa Valley air skirmishes involved 38 A2A kills for Israeli F-15A/Bs, and 44 A2A kills for their F-16As. This is not a myth, as we have HUD footage and radar tapes of each of the shoot-downs. USAF was able to see this data in that time. Also, civilians on the ground and camera crews took photographs and video of many of the shoot-downs, including the wreckages of Syrian AF MiGs and Sukhois, which littered the area. There has never been footage of Israeli F-15s or F-16s shot down in that campaign, whereas the Israelis acknowledge all of their F-4E and A-4E shoot-downs.
I say build more of them! Lots of them! The bugs are all worked out. They've got it down. Perfect for defense of any kind, fast, reliable, dangerous! Not to mention gorgeous!
I first saw the F15 in Saudi Arabia (RSAF F15s) and I fell in love with it since then. It looks awesome and imposing, even in the the ground. Then came the Desert Storm and the USAF came, bringing along all sorts of planes including the F16 which looks lighter and sleekier. However, it looks obviously less powerful when seated beside the then newly minted F15E.
When I look at the US Air Force’s varied inventories of the 50s and 60s, and how aircraft would only be in service for about 15-20 years, it absolutely blows my mind that the mighty Eagle has been going strong for 45 years. Great video. I worked on them for 13 years. Loved/hated them at the same time
I remember building model aircrafts as a kid in the late eighties, and this plane quickly became one of my favorite airplanes ever.. Simply on appearance. Ironically I also loved the Mig 29 just as much. I had them hanging side by side as best friends from the ceiling on thin fishing line, along with Zeros, Messerschmitts, etc etc. A clusterfuck, but great machinery does not need to be politicized l, just admired. A little bit of romanticism of war machines doesn't hurt anyone I guess.😊 Great video as always!
"Reader's Digest: Defense Contractor's Edition" is not a topic I generally care about, but you present the material well and succeed in holding my interest.
Thank you for all your hard work in creating this video. Right up there with the F-14 Tomcat as the two most beautiful aircraft ever produced. In my opinion, of course. :)
Whenever they mention the history of the f15, they always bring up the mig25. Yet, whenever they mention the history of the mig25, they never mention the A-5 vigilante, which was the starting point for the mig. First introducing itself at France airshow, the soviets panicked when they first saw the A-5, advertised as a close to mach 3 nuclear strike attack bomber, and collected as much intelligence about it as they possibly could. Considering the original concept had duel rudders, its not hard to see the likenesses between the two
@CR the mig-25 was designed, built, and flew before the test prototype xb-70 ever got off the ground. Its targets would've still been the U-2, sr-71, and nuclear capable A-5.
@CR hence, "some say". Meaning speculation, hearsay, conjecture. The xb-70 was not known about during the Mig-25's (pre-)development, because it didn't exist. The Mig-25 was modelled after, and developed, to counter the A-5 Vigilante. A nuclear strike (mach 2 plus) attack bomber, not the Xb-70. To this day, its still the fastest jet to ever launch off a US carrier deck.
@CR uninformed? Historically, its not. Historically, its common knowledge (not by today's standards). Because most aren't aircraft historians, much gets lost to time. This is where you have to read history, watch old documentaries, listen to historical accounts, look for source material. Wikipedia does not have that, let alone any blueprints of initial mig-25 concepts, nor prototype photos/skematics/ blueprints of the original A-5 with dual vertical stabilizers. Fact is, the soviets built the best espionage agency the world has ever known. And they notoriously used it to their advantage. They've always followed basically what the west did. The climate back then was one of paranoia, and for good reason, all things considered. You don't go from the mig-21 to the mig-25 with no pedigree to base it on. More importantly, Mikoyan himself admitted the A-5 was the starting point for the mig. During a Paris air show, the A-5 made it first public appearance, to the Soviets dismay. Mikoyan ordered that as much intel be collected on the A-5 has possible, so they photographed nearly every inch of its design, especially its landing gear since it was to be carrier based. As a result, to this day, the best information you can get on the A-5 is mostly russian sources. Lastly, the eyes don't lie. Increase the proportions all around on the A-5 in the typical 'bigger is better' russian ideology and you basically get a mig-25.
@CR so I don't have the liberty to share my thoughts? Are we not striving for the same thing here, or are you taking this personal. Freedom of speech is freedom of thought. And not to contradict/offend you but other sources, not Wikipedia, have confirmed it. If I were you, I'd want to know Wikipedia isn't always the best source of information.
It wasn't even the final product Boyd envisioned. The F16 is more representative of his thoughts on what the USAF needed. He hasn't been proven wrong!!
The Fighter Mafia had nothing to do with the F-15. They wanted short-range, radar-less, cheap gunfighters that could, at best, swarm targets. Frankly, they treated the pilots of the damn things as being as expendable as the aircraft itself. Meanwhile, the F-15's design was quite the opposite: long range, powerful sensors, packing a crapload of missiles, and not particularly cheap, at least at first. Naturally, it was by far the superior option.
It's quite fitting that the F-15 test aircraft were the platform chosen to design, test and evaluate the thrust vectoring system on the truly beautiful F-22 Raptor.
These videos are really interesting and I was wondering if you were planning on doing any videos on jets from other countries. It's fine if it's not a 20 minute video for each jet, but a general overview of all mig, su, mirage, dassault, eurofighter, chengdu, and other companies would be really cool.
Flew the F-15 in the '80's, it was king of the sky. When we got the new F-100 engines with DEECS (digital fuel control) we were in heaven, could slam throttles to and fro without damaging the engine, plus more thrust. ALWAYS, more thrust is good. They never emphasize the radar in these videos, we could sort and shoot before the bad guys because of the narrow beam width and power of the radar. I can't imagine the joy of the now common AESA. I'm becoming an old man now. I feel like a WW2 pilot in 1985 waxing nostalgic about his P-51, that's how long ago it was. Steam gauges and a 64kb computer. And a big missile coming to hose you.
I realy want to know more about the story man
Did you get any gun kills?
@@jennyfury4674 - No. The last F-15 gun kill was in the 1980's by an Israeli, I believe. Missiles today are too good. No one will fly through a missile envelope to enter gun range by choice.
@@kurtbjorn3841 ok I actually had a dream once where I flew a South Korean F-15K slam eagle got multiple gun kills in that dream
And also what variant of the F-15 were you flying?
The F -15 was the most aesthetically beautiful aircraft in the world when it first debuted in 1976 and it still is in 2020.
Agree I love the Eagle. Even the natural name sake are magnificent creatures. The commentary in the clip was very average. This is one of the most versatile and successful planes ever built. Not many planes dominate for so long.
Russian fighters take that credit
I agree the it’s the vertical tail and engine intakes for me
Most? F no. It's a beautiful bird to be sure, but let's get real, the SR-71 is the Sistine Chapel of aircraft. That thing look otherworldly magnificent today,
Not anymore. F-22 Raptor
The F-15 is one of extremely few aircraft with a thrust-to-weight ratio above 1.0 enabling it to actually accelerate in a vertical climb.
F-15A Celestial climbed at 65 degrees at mach 1.3 up to 33k altitude.
@Blake Brown Wohou, are you sure?
Hey, I like chocolate!
(other guy comes in) Look, here is another chocolate, now you have two of the thing's you like!
Comment I was responding to is clearly from somebody who likes the vehicle, since he is able to quote rather interesting features of it.
Then I add an another interesting trivia. This is what people who enjoy the same stuff do. It creates a discussions and friendships if done in person, it's fun.
The "Celestial" modification is rather interesting indeed, people who like F-15 almost by definition are interested in it, for it's the only aircraft with a confirmed space skill.
Peace friend, or afterburner on maximum!
Well, the dude was talking about the F-15, then Jan put a comment about the...F-15. What's wrong here ?
Blake Brown are you one of the few remaining lobotomies? How is that tidbit about the f-15a not related?
The daddy of thrust to weight ratio was mig 29.
From a Russian: The F-15 is an incredible aircraft and the radar controls, avionics, and fire control are state of the art for its time. One of the best flying machines ever made. Its like the F-14 took steroids and cut extra carbs from its diet. Indeed, a worthy opponent. Its amazing how clearly you can see the influence of all the relevant technical achievements implemented in the airframe - both foreign and domestic. I say always take best of both worlds.
It should not be an "Opponent". Our people should be on the same side. Your people haven't had an even break in decades. You work so hard and are an intelligent culture and your women are so smoking hot. One of them is our First Lady. How cool is that?
@@456swagger F-15 is an excellent fighter jet plane and I hope that it will never be used against Russians or another civilized nation.
I must correct you, the first lady is Slovene from Slovenia and not form Russia. Slavic ladies are really beautiful :-)
That su 35 doe 🤗🤗🤗
@Ted Carruthers hi teddies, yugo gull
@Ted Carruthers hi teddies, so bwave , so wong
I remember my first Eagle sighting in 1976 and I was totally impressed. I was an F-4 maintainer at the time. (USAF '72-'97)
The F15 is a totally different breed. Back then I could only imagine how scary it was to the opposition to have what was basically the first supermaneuvrable fighter jet
Were you at Luke AFB? I was there 74 to 79! 461 fighter squadron! F-15.
Thanks!
Heads rolled at P&W for F-100 falsification.
@@germanfornine I was at Seymour Johnson AFB '73-'76 when a newly assigned F-15 from Langley AFB flew in for a show and tell. :D
I was honored to have worked on the F-15, an amazing aircraft!
The latest revision of the F-15 is still one of the best strike fighters in the sky.
The F-15. The undeniable GOAT
As a kid always saw the F14 and F15 as brothers.
@bongo155 Yah they both grew up together with two different dreams one "Aim High, Fly-Fight-Win" and “Forged by the Sea”
hi M...
'
F-16 and F-18 are sisters, tooo...
but F-22 and F-35 are new babys
MoeJae86 -nah, the Tomcats motto will always be “Anytime Baby!”
USAF & USN NAVAIR are so different culturally. The joke was that the USAF was “catholic school” while NavAir was “animal house”. Lol
Navy ships are expensive and naval aviation never had the appropriations blessings from the Pentagon like the USAF “darlings”. Ever since SAC the AF was simply better at gaining funding for its needs compared to USN aviation. It was not for a lack of trying...funding simply was biased in favor of the US Army and USAF for decades.
As such these “sister or brother” aircraft were nothing of the sort. They were in fact products of this inter-service rivalry involving competing aviation firms attempting to meet challenging service branch requirements while often risking the company’s future. Much was battled over, won and lost in these contracts. Truly these aircraft were symbols of the rivalry and dis-unity of the system. Each of these aircraft borrowed technology form preceding ones but that of course is the nature of progress.
Grumman brought innovations from its work on the F-111 to its F-14. MD tapped F-14 innovations for the F-15 and added state of the art electronics and engines to produce a world leading air superiority fighter. Without the weight and complexity needed for Carrier Operations the F-15 was lighter, far more reliable and nimbler. Funding for continued upgrading resulted in an airframe vastly superior with age.
The F-14 also gained upgrades and they truly made it a great interceptor but the program always suffered from tight budgets and less modernization than the F-15 program. As front line forces ready to project American power when needed, NavAir just had to make do with less, make it work and get the job done. We did that for decades and still do today. Maybe that’s where some of the bravado comes from. There’s not much glitz in Naval Aviation. You live in cramped berths on the boat. An old boat like my Connie (CV-64) was pretty rough around the edges. Gritty staterooms, grease, steam, heat, no women (back then), no internet, no base housing, no pools, no golf courses, no bar to get a beer, etc etc.
bestamerica The F22 was designed in the 80’s. It’s technically an old bird.
They are
I remember watching these perform at air shows. They are so loud and intimidating. Gave me goosebumps every time.
Have a go at watching about Atlas Cheetah. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.
Isn't it amazing that these modern day fighters(not counting the f22 and 35) were designed in the60s and 70s
Like fr, I look some of these fighters up and see how old they actually are and it blows my mind, they look so modern and new.
@@IronsightErik and still kicking ass!
The F-15 will easily be flying in someone's airforce, somewhere in the world, when the design turns 70.
@@baronvonslambert it's not amazing just because funding wasn't an issue? Lmao ok 👌
@@baronvonslambert which makes it all the more amazing.
As a Retired Principle Scientist, I grew up in AWE about The "eagle" saw it in person in airShows in Canada.
Studied in passion every square inch of its design, bought a book about it.
Very Few people Know the secrets of its Lifting Body design and The LAST Figther to be produce
with a Neutral Pitch Center of Gravity to Aligned with the lifting Surface of the Main Wings.
The Two Closely Spaced Engines were to increase the Roll Rate.
Later, I flew Several Thousands of Hours in a simulator called the F15-E Strike Eagle.
Super Graceful In Flight
Its A Big Bird, but Carries a Punch like No Other, Still Today.
Yes The Silent Eagle would be a great choice for Canadian Skies
Because Its the Only one (with conformal fuel Tanks) able to have the RAnge to cover a Desolate Territory Twice that of the USA
with 1/10 the population.
I WAS so Elated That General Chuck Yager Was Given a Back Seat Ride
As a Salut to His Service as "One Of the Top Test Pilot" in American History...
Yes People Bitch about its unit costs...
I simply reply: WORT EVERY PENNY.. Prooven millions times Over.
Appreciate that,detail man
I've never seen one live and I think they are the best looking plane ever built
Thanks for another excellent video. The Japanese point to their F-15 fleet as an item of national pride. It has also enabled Mitsi to develop its own fifth-gen aircraft. This thing is still top of the hill and will be around longer than people think. Good Stuff!
The Saudis seem to love them too. A cornerstone of their air inventory.
We Koreans also love F15k the most.
The A10 plays a huge role in keeping South Korea safe
@@1STGeneral BRRRRRRT
s s .. oh... i really loves the F-15 bro... I am a Malaysian...
@@diddy_dante shhhhhhh that's the sound the onboard cameras make also
@@wesondesit9418 same, but i love the SU-30MKM and the F-18 Super Hornet
The F-15, greatest fighter ever built, "Not a pound for air to ground!"
"Not a pound for air to ground!"... except for the F-15E which has many pounds of air to ground.
@@stebnalang2824 Which didn't come out until 13 years after the plane was designed, which in no way invalidates the "Not a pound for air-to-ground" design philosophy. That it could be turned into an adequate strike fighter is a testament to just how good the original design was.
almost 5 times the payload of a B17...and just short of 2 B29's, just say'n
@ATCkeepsUsafe I remember the Israeli pilot who landed successfully his F-15 with a missing wing - brilliant flying, brilliant machine...
@@vladolubenov9484 one of only 2 planes confirmed to ever manage the feat, the other being my second favorite aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. I've heard stories about the F-14 doing likewise, but then again, computer simulations have shown that it could likely fly with both wings missing, but would have to be on full afterburner the whole way, so that carrier had better be pretty close.
Perfect Organism There were LOTS of challengers, just none of them were ever good enough to bring the Eagle down.
If the cold war had ever gone hot, the SU-27 would likely have been a very major contender with its thrust vectoring and their R-73 "Archer" missile. At that point, I think it would have come down to training and experience of the pilots.
It was the Tomcat that started my love affair with military aviation, due to my dad, an air force officer, taking me to see Top Gun when it came out when I was ten. I didn't think I would find another plane as awesome until I found out about the Eagle. It is just a beautiful machine.
I grew up around those machines, from the f101, to the eagles, glad to have witnessed so much. When I watch these videos i always see my dad standing at the starboard bow of the F4. Keep up the good work.miss you POP!
A few years ago one buzzed my house shook the hell out of it and the sound was incredible
Man I always get excited like a kid in a candy store every time I see new videos
The F-4 Phantom brought a lot of us back in one piece... Amen
My favorite plane
Amen to that brother!
I know these newer planes are more advanced and time has moved on but the F-4 phantom was the king during Vietnam. Arguably, it still looks the most intimidating of fighter jets and struck fear in the enemy's eyes when that scream of its engines blasted overhead. I wish they could build a 5th generation fighter that had it's look.
If it only had some machine guns with the rockets. But it was a beautiful bird.
@@jlandon6028 apparently halfway through the war some dudes got so pissed they just slapped a gatling gun in the form of a gun pod on the belly of the plane.
Saudi Arabia has more than 221 F-15’s in there fleet! It’s the backbone of our Air Force! Greetings from Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦😁✋💪💪💪
Had a few up close and personals with this aircraft. First was at arms length in a maintenance hanger at Luke Air Force in the early 1980s and a few days later seeing one do a takeoff roll and go vertical and disappear (my brother and his wife were stationed there). My next encounter was in 1988 while rail fanning the Southern Pacific Jawbone north of Edwards Air Force Base. My friend and I were inspecting a railroad trestle when with warning an F-15 flew over at tree top level at several hundred knots. Both of us came close to needing to check are shorts. Defiantly an impressive experience.
I was an air traffic controller stationed at Scott afb (kblv) just across the river from the production site of the f15. They came over and practiced instrument, radar and visual approaches. This aircraft could perform any maneuvers asked. Rapid turns or climbs. They used their radar quite a bit to spot traffic in a high density environment. Often calling"guns". If I remember correctly the call sign was mac blue. Av8 was mac green. F18 I think was in initial testing and went by mac red. All were a controllers dream. The pilots were perfect and would do anything to display the a/c performance! Truelly remarkable! I would feel sorry for any adversaries. BE.
Former F-15E Crew chief here. I do miss my jet 91-0316. I served @ RAF Lakenheath UK. My jet was a pleasure to work on. I have several medals for keeping that jet 99.8% mission ready. I miss seeing my name on my bird when I walked out to the HAS every day.
"Lethal 15"
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Thoroughly entertaining, as are all your videos
You’ve hit on what I want to do when I graduate high school. I love the F-15.
But I also love the H53 Sea Stallion, Kiowa and the Blackhawk. I’ve flown many hours now in a helicopter.
I've read where they might bring the F-15X out. Obama did away with the Kiowa I heard, and I think the Blackhawk might be going away too. I worked on the F-15 in the Air Force, and then became a contractor working on the Army helicopters. My favorite to work on was the Blackhawk, but I liked the Cobra and Huey also. Good luck at whichever you choose.
The f 15 is one of the best fighter jets of all times. I thought the f 14 was bad ass. The f 15 eagle will go down as the top gun jets in history. My 2 cents
F15 and Topgun?
hi 9 K...
'
both F-14 / F-15 are the great airplanes...
both F-F are not cents at all
my father was a mechanic for this air craft at langley va in the 80s this plane is the best the air force has long live the king aim high everyone
104-0. Unequalled and unrivaled in aviation history. Long live the mighty Eagle.
Ratio wise, the british Harriers matched it, sort of. Both undefeated anyway lol.
I appreciate your detailed history of so many aircraft. Always appreciated 👍👍
The F-15 hown at 07:14 is from the Kingsfley Field ANG Base, which is home to the nation's primary F-15 training program, where my dad was stationed as a Flight Instructor for almost 30 years and taught students in the F-4, the F-16 and the F-15 before retiring.
I've always liked the F-15. Thank you again for a great vid.
I just love your writing and neutral analysis, and your slavic accent just adds personality to your channel. Keep it up. The best aviation format on youtube (you and mustard). Cheers. In fact you beat the 'dumbed down' analysis of 'Discovery' and others, I come to your channel when I'm bored. I appreciate Your work. Thank You.
Sky this vid was very informative and entertaining
lots of details. Well done!
I actually learned some things I didn't know before, so nice work!
When I was about ten years old I went to an airshow and was amazed by the F-15. It pulled up with what looked to me to be blow torches coming off the wing tips. The announcer talked about how it could accelerate going straight up and it went straight up with afterburners lit and went right out of sight. I was all excited and when I went home I told my father about it. He was already an old man when I was born and was a retired pilot. He looked at me with hatred in his eyes and voice and condescendingly told me that he had flown for 42 years and said that airplanes didn't accelerate going straight up. After 40 years I still remember that every time I see an F-15. Arrogant old fools like my father can burn in hell.
Ahh the F-15.
Whenever I see this beauty, it immediately reminds me of the Belkan War from AC Zero.
Such a fun childhood memory.
Good... I love AMERICAN... ILove USAF
What american jets and russian jets say to each other: "Finally, a worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary!!"
Right up until the Russian jet gets shot down :)
@@BenHenkel_wx that’s what we think but in reality they both get shot down
@@BenHenkel_wx F15 versus Russian hardware 104 - 0 hardly an equal fight and F16 is another nightmare for Russian fighters. The US made hardware has bulldozed the Russian since 1950 starting with Korean War.
@@BenHenkel_wx Exactly... The history shows.. Unprecedented victory of F15 and F16 over Russian made crap...
@@barracuda7018 you are comparing 3rd to 4th generation fighters, russia and america are on roughly equal footing with F-15 vs. Su-27 and F-16 va. MiG-29
all those kills by the F-15 were against inferior MiG-21 and 23 platforms, not that it makes the F-15 a bad plane, but russia isn’t such a joke.
Thanks, Sky! Great vid, as always.
Retired in ‘94 and have flown the F-4, F-5 and several others, however, never got the opportunity to drive the 15 which to this day I truly regret. Thank you for posting this video!!
The F-15 reached the maximum capability of this type of fighter, and only needed updating through the years. Even now Boeing is working on a new version for limited number of aircraft. The F-22 and F-35 have a different purpose, and the F-15 is the Air Force's backbone fighter.
Well the AF went back to old habits of trying to make one plane do everything.
@@gnranger *Pentagon, not necessarily Air Force.
@@clr4tkoff1 yeah true. Then you have Congress constantly shoving money up the Pentagon's ass for these joint branch projects.
F-15EX!! It's already being delivered.👍🇺🇸
Excellent video, Sky! I especially enjoyed seeing the prototype concept art you found
Such a solid looking fighter, gone through many combat tested scenario and is already battled harden since first put to the sky.
Watching this gave me a whole different view on my job, I work on f-15e, and let me say I see this jet in a whole different way.
How so? Like appreciating it more or just understanding what you see every day? Man - these things are animals. Sort of wish we’d just run these things. I mean, cool to have F-22’s, but I’d think 3 15’s would be a better bargain. Undefeated.
"Lethal 15"
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Mike‘s World - I can’t argue because I just don’t know, but how do you figure? Or, better said, how are these things known without honest A to A combat? Is it simulations or like war games where a 22 goes against 15’s and it’s based on detection and lock-on? I ask because I feel like so often assumptions are proved false in real-life combat.
MUDHEN
Well done my friend. Bravo.
One of the best complements ever paid to the F15 came from a RAF Officer. After the nightmare that was the development of a air to air intercept from a ground attack aircraft in the RAF fleet, at the insistence of Parliament, which included the Blue Circle Radar joke, an RAF officer while being questioned about how long and how much this project costs said to Parliament "for what has been spend on this project how many F15C could the UK have bought"!
The RAF flying F-15s would be pretty droolworthy.
F-15 Eagle the baddest U.S. fighter ever built today the eagle has an air to air kill record of 104 wins to zero losses the Eagle is truly unstoppable
"Lethal 15"
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can't deny the records, but gotta wonder how it would of really stacked up vs say the mig-29 if the pilots had equal training, its fun to speculate about a lot of Russian aircraft seem like they should do a lot better then what they have actually done in combat, but again the countries these have been sold to don't really do the same training as the western allies do
@@kinggoten Well the thing is the pilots never had equal training... Soviet doctrine treated the pilot merely as a tool that would follow the commands given by ground control, whereas the US and most of the West trained pilots to follow mission guidelines but think for themselves in combat. Tactics in Soviet doctrine were taught to the ground controllers and commanders, not the pilots.
But then there was the testing when Germany unified and brought MiG-29s to the West... The overall opinion was that the MiG-29 was more fun to fly, but far inferior in terms of usability and usefulness in combat. The MiG-29 had a slight maneuverability advantage if the pilot was good, and it had the R-73 which the US had no counter to at the time. The F-15 had superior cockpit ergonomics, superior acceleration, superior information systems (datalink, sensors etc), superior ECM, far superior combat range etc. The MiG-29 was basically a worse F-16.
Then it met the F22 and it's reign was over. 2 F22s took on 10 F15s and the F15s never got a shot off. The F15 pilots said they never even seen the F22s until they was dead and the F22 pilots was laughing at them.
@@foreal69tu50 Those are mocked dog fights just training not real combat nobody mentioned the F-22 Raptor the F-15 Eagle is the baddest fighter the world with a record of 104 to 0 in air to air combat
Might just be the most knowledgeable & well delivered, air-tech development commentay I've ever heard on Y-T.! -- with visuals smoothly cut to match it.
This channel is underrated. You need more subscribers!!!👍❤️
This channel sucks... what exactly is a "MiG-25th"? Give me a fucking break. He cant even pronounce it correctly.
So proud to work on these bad ass birds
I was greatly expecting the STOL/MTD to come up. Gorgeous machine
The F15 and the British harrier are the coolest planes ever. They are both still used and have evolved into the F35. But the F15 is great. 50 years and still has a place. Cost and ease of maintenance is good too. One F15 lost a wing and still landed. Any other plane would have had to eject and let it crash. Amazing brilliant plane that is under rated by many. Good to see you have done it justice Skyships.
Great video, so much information and detail. You've really outdone yourself! Thank you :)
I’m fascinated with the engineering of these aircraft and really appreciate your take on the subject, eschewing the flag-waving jingoism that insults my intelligence. Thank you for your work.
I know there may be many aircraft to better it now, but still my absolute favorite fighter.
Not many though.
Thanks, enjoyed the program.
Another GREAT video yet again.! Love your videos mate. A real viewing pleasure. Keep up the good work. :-)
Worked on this jet from 1981-85, Ashop Radar, and HUD, loved my job and the dogfights.!!
The F-15, and it's numerous variants, is an absolute Legend in the military aviation World. It deserves this title as it's a truly phenomenal machine, unrivalled and unchallenged in the 4th Gen category until the 4th+ and ++ aircraft appeared on the scene. It's still a formidable opponent for any aircraft but it isn't the King it used to be, you have the Typhoon, the Rafale and some of the later SU and Mig aircraft that pose such a serious threat to the F-15 that it isn't a first line aircraft anymore, more a second strike aircraft.
The F-15's are still seen doing the Mach Loop impressively in Wales from their bases not far from me in Suffolk, England and they still look fantastic!
Great video (as per Skyship standards) with a very thorough introduction providing some context.
I have had a 34 year on/off, love/hate relationship with this fine aircraft. I maintained some of the earliest A and B models while on USAF active duty and continue as an overseas contractor to this day, maintaining Saudi F-15S aircraft.
im going in the USAF next month with that MOS, and the F15 is an airframe I can get, (F16 and A10 the others) post career, hows the cash for what you do, I was looking at lockheed or northrup. but am not shy at considering opportunities, I have 10 years already at DoD contracts for boat manufacturing, so maintainer, production line experience is already there.
@@philparnell757 Right on! Pursue your passion. It's been sometimes tough and yet rewarding career. You'll love it and you'll hate it at times. Your knees will hurt and your ears will ring. You'll get banged up and maybe even get an "Eagle bite" or two. Pay attention to your surroundings and keep your wits about you. Take care of your body and fill your mind with every bit of knowledge that you can absorb. This is an amazing aircraft and I am still a student of my craft. The Eagles are gonna be around for many more years to come. The money is pretty good for what I do. It ain't great but it ain't bad, either. All the best to you!
Absolutely fell in love with this aircraft when I was a kid, and the design still looks so sexy to this day
My all time #1 favorite jet fighter
Brilliant production and commentary. So insightful and so witty. Love it!
The greatest machine made by man! Long live the King!
saleem waheed You forgot the Ford Mustang
The narration is hilarious in parts. So informal.
Loaded AIM 9's and AIM 7's on these badass fighters at Bitburg Air Base West Germany 1977 -1979. What a thrill to see them fly daily.
"Lethal 15"
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F-15 is the best fourth gen. fighter jets. None other could match it's capabilities.
I worked, structural maintenance, on those three years when I was in the Air Force stationed at RAF Lakenheath.
k
Thanks bud for you service.
My compliments to the narrator, this video was informative and most enjoyable.
One of the best f-15 vids I have ever watched!!!!
the f-15c eagle is a beast and i like after flying it so much in the recent ace combat video game skies unknown
the f-15c was fun to fly and with lasers it was even better
Nice video but I was disappointed that you underestimated the huge impact of the F-15 in the Israeli Air Force and it’s total dominance of the skies in the region. A kill ratio of 80:0 in the early 1980’s against the Syrian Air Force, the first mig-25 kill and so many astonishing tasks.
The "80:0" ratio is a myth. It's lies being spread by a guy named Tom Cooper. He is biased and registers every Israeli claim as "confirmed" and every Syrian claim as "unconfirmed".
There is ZERO evidence of Israeli F15s shooting down 80 Syrian aircraft for no losses. Syrian Mig 21s, 23s and 25s have all shot down F15s.
pacus123 Your ignorance is astonishing!
As a person that went through this period of time as an adult with (and I underestimate) my PERSONAL connecting to the Israeli Air Force, that you are not only ignorant to the facts but also ignorant in reality.
Have a blissful life 🤣
@@pacus123 The 1982 Bekaa Valley air skirmishes involved 38 A2A kills for Israeli F-15A/Bs, and 44 A2A kills for their F-16As. This is not a myth, as we have HUD footage and radar tapes of each of the shoot-downs. USAF was able to see this data in that time. Also, civilians on the ground and camera crews took photographs and video of many of the shoot-downs, including the wreckages of Syrian AF MiGs and Sukhois, which littered the area. There has never been footage of Israeli F-15s or F-16s shot down in that campaign, whereas the Israelis acknowledge all of their F-4E and A-4E shoot-downs.
pacus123 That’s a lie!! The legendary F15 is 152-0 in combat!!!!! The best fighter jet the world has ever seen
@@TheDude-yw4kn 104:0
Thank you - best F15 vid I’ve seen
"...ominous silence..." Gotta love this guy!
Very well put together presentation. Thanks for the work you put into this video.
I say build more of them! Lots of them! The bugs are all worked out. They've got it down. Perfect for defense of any kind, fast, reliable, dangerous! Not to mention gorgeous!
They are. 144 brand new F-15EXs. Much more powerful than current C and D models.
The thing is, it's expensive to maintain mainly because of the engines having a shorter lifespan than everything else we have in the US inventory
Amazing documentary! Thank you very much!
Love Americans 💙❤️❣️❤️🇺🇸
Love from Russia 😃
i wish our countries could work together more 🇺🇸🇷🇺
Hello, I like to make fun of Russia sometime, but I also love Russia. I hope Russian do not take our joke seriously.
Russia and USA
One happy family,,,
Always been...
Always will be...
..viral this to China 👈
@@charlesstewart5233 With politics between Russia and the US is very unlikely. It's possible but unlikely. Especially with Putin being an ass hat
My favorite youtube channel. One of the few where I watch every video put out.
Great video! 👍 F-15 is easily the most badass fighter of all time! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I first saw the F15 in Saudi Arabia (RSAF F15s) and I fell in love with it since then. It looks awesome and imposing, even in the the ground. Then came the Desert Storm and the USAF came, bringing along all sorts of planes including the F16 which looks lighter and sleekier. However, it looks obviously less powerful when seated beside the then newly minted F15E.
When I look at the US Air Force’s varied inventories of the 50s and 60s, and how aircraft would only be in service for about 15-20 years, it absolutely blows my mind that the mighty Eagle has been going strong for 45 years. Great video. I worked on them for 13 years. Loved/hated them at the same time
Because there isn't a competing world power. If china surpasses and seriously threatens the west then you can bet things will move faster
I remember building model aircrafts as a kid in the late eighties, and this plane quickly became one of my favorite airplanes ever.. Simply on appearance. Ironically I also loved the Mig 29 just as much.
I had them hanging side by side as best friends from the ceiling on thin fishing line, along with Zeros, Messerschmitts, etc etc. A clusterfuck, but great machinery does not need to be politicized l, just admired.
A little bit of romanticism of war machines doesn't hurt anyone I guess.😊
Great video as always!
"Reader's Digest: Defense Contractor's Edition" is not a topic I generally care about, but you present the material well and succeed in holding my interest.
Holloman AFB 78 to 82 f15 salute you
Wow, glad I found this channel, that video has so many great things about it. New subscriber!!!!!
Pure art! Great machine!!
"Lethal 15"
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Nice videos! Great pics of the Eagle!!!
Thank you for all your hard work in creating this video. Right up there with the F-14 Tomcat as the two most beautiful aircraft ever produced. In my opinion, of course. :)
TheMathius78 Whats up with the F-16 or the Mirage III or the SR71 ?
@@chrisgear the F-16 and Mirage are both amazing aircraft in so many ways.
What about the 747 or f4u
It just looks so badass! It's time may have finally passed, but it's beauty has not.
Whenever they mention the history of the f15, they always bring up the mig25. Yet, whenever they mention the history of the mig25, they never mention the A-5 vigilante, which was the starting point for the mig. First introducing itself at France airshow, the soviets panicked when they first saw the A-5, advertised as a close to mach 3 nuclear strike attack bomber, and collected as much intelligence about it as they possibly could. Considering the original concept had duel rudders, its not hard to see the likenesses between the two
@CR the mig-25 was designed, built, and flew before the test prototype xb-70 ever got off the ground. Its targets would've still been the U-2, sr-71, and nuclear capable A-5.
@CR hence, "some say". Meaning speculation, hearsay, conjecture. The xb-70 was not known about during the Mig-25's (pre-)development, because it didn't exist. The Mig-25 was modelled after, and developed, to counter the A-5 Vigilante. A nuclear strike (mach 2 plus) attack bomber, not the Xb-70. To this day, its still the fastest jet to ever launch off a US carrier deck.
@CR ua-cam.com/video/4gwOPubdSOw/v-deo.html
@9:30 actual history!
@CR uninformed? Historically, its not. Historically, its common knowledge (not by today's standards). Because most aren't aircraft historians, much gets lost to time. This is where you have to read history, watch old documentaries, listen to historical accounts, look for source material. Wikipedia does not have that, let alone any blueprints of initial mig-25 concepts, nor prototype photos/skematics/ blueprints of the original A-5 with dual vertical stabilizers.
Fact is, the soviets built the best espionage agency the world has ever known. And they notoriously used it to their advantage. They've always followed basically what the west did.
The climate back then was one of paranoia, and for good reason, all things considered. You don't go from the mig-21 to the mig-25 with no pedigree to base it on. More importantly, Mikoyan himself admitted the A-5 was the starting point for the mig. During a Paris air show, the A-5 made it first public appearance, to the Soviets dismay. Mikoyan ordered that as much intel be collected on the A-5 has possible, so they photographed nearly every inch of its design, especially its landing gear since it was to be carrier based. As a result, to this day, the best information you can get on the A-5 is mostly russian sources.
Lastly, the eyes don't lie. Increase the proportions all around on the A-5 in the typical 'bigger is better' russian ideology and you basically get a mig-25.
@CR so I don't have the liberty to share my thoughts? Are we not striving for the same thing here, or are you taking this personal. Freedom of speech is freedom of thought. And not to contradict/offend you but other sources, not Wikipedia, have confirmed it. If I were you, I'd want to know Wikipedia isn't always the best source of information.
Not mentioned, the Fighter Mafia didn't want radars on fighters believing they weren't necessary.
USAF has ordered brand new F-15 airframes as of '20. F-15X
Learned allot about the eagle from this video
fighter mafia: only specialists can succeed!!!!
>proceeds to create arguably the greatest multirole fighter of all time
It wasn't even the final product Boyd envisioned. The F16 is more representative of his thoughts on what the USAF needed. He hasn't been proven wrong!!
And again, the Eagle was not multirole, it was a pure fighter
The Fighter Mafia had nothing to do with the F-15. They wanted short-range, radar-less, cheap gunfighters that could, at best, swarm targets. Frankly, they treated the pilots of the damn things as being as expendable as the aircraft itself.
Meanwhile, the F-15's design was quite the opposite: long range, powerful sensors, packing a crapload of missiles, and not particularly cheap, at least at first. Naturally, it was by far the superior option.
It's quite fitting that the F-15 test aircraft were the platform chosen to design, test and evaluate the thrust vectoring system on the truly beautiful F-22 Raptor.
Thanks for this awesome avaition youtuber. Tom cruise will thank you to. :]
Well done. Great portrayal of a fabulous bird.
These videos are really interesting and I was wondering if you were planning on doing any videos on jets from other countries. It's fine if it's not a 20 minute video for each jet, but a general overview of all mig, su, mirage, dassault, eurofighter, chengdu, and other companies would be really cool.
F15 and F16 are 40 years old yet still the best.