The Illinois National Air Guard came to RAF Wildenrath in the 80s for a couple of weeks of NATO exercises with their F15s. I was on 19 Sqn at the time equipped with F4s. The Americans were great and hosted loads of social ( ok…..drinking ) events for us Brits. I marvelled at their level of equipment and professionalism and had to keep reminding myself that these guys were the equivalent of the U.K. Territorial Army…..but with aircraft…..and what an aircraft. We were green with envy.
I wasn't born in the US, but I always wanted to be an F-15C pilot since I was 6 years old. It was created the year I was born and I have always had a close dream relationship with the Eagle. Till today, it's still my top fighter of all time. I live in the states now, and have been to dozens of airshows, especially Nellis Open House events, which is every fighter enthusiast's dream location. Long live the F-15 Eagle. I built my first plastic model in 1982; it was a 1/72 scale Hasegawa F-15C with Eglin markings. I was so hooked.
I used to watch the 128th as a kid in the 80s at Dobbins AFB! Spent lots of summers at the fence on hwy 41. Saw them go from last F-105 to F-4s and then the F-15s. Great times!! Sad day when the peaches closed operations.
A most excellent Aircrew Interview with Murph! Murph brings a bit of a different look and feel to your conversations with aircrew. He is professional and enthusiastic about being a fighter pilot, but also provides some scholarly insight into flying and performing the mission the right way and performing it even better the next mission. It's not just stick and rudder...it's THINKING and IMPROVING....EVERY TIME. In fact, Murph's take away quote for me was, "The debrief is almost as important as the flight itself" (31:14). So, kudos to Aircrew Interview for asking Murph about briefing and debriefing! They are fundamental technologies for aviation....and, I would argue, should be utilized by all organizations...PLAN -> BRIEF -> EXECUTE -> DEBRIEF. Sierra Hotel!
Did you fly with "Mac" Mc Connell? He took me up on an F-4D flight in 1986. The 116th also had an (informal) F-15 demo team around 1987. COL Bill Ridley got the rear seat ride for me. Thank you for serving...
Watching this interview is a great coincidence. Like Jim, I finished playing college baseball earlier this year and am now studying for the AFOQT. Currently, working as a manager at Amazon out of college, but like he said about sales it’s just not as fulfilling as expected. I’m working towards joining the 446th AW. Nothing like being on a team with high performance mindsets.
Because drug runners often used aircraft, and the airborne radar of the F-15A would likely be able to see things that ground radar couldn't. F-15A/B pilot Steve Mosier described his counter-narcotics deployments to Central and South America in a publication for the USAF, stating "Under the auspices of the USAF’s 12th Air Force, we took four F-15Bs down south to provide augmented air surveillance in the Caribbean as part of the grand plan to interdict drug running out of Colombia up in to Mexico and points north. Our deployment was not too long before the ousting of Noriega as the head of the Panamanian government, so we went into a time and area of turbulence and unrest. The transit from Howard across the Panama Canal to the Southern Command headquarters was still not advisable after dark. Dangerous, not really, but caution and vigilance required - not everyone liked the Yankees. We took the B-models, fondly known as “tubs” since they had a rear cockpit where an instructor or passenger could hop in for a flight. We were going to be flying almost exclusively at night, over water and outside of land, using a very early version of Night Vision Goggles, NOGS. The second crewmember was aboard pretty much as a safety observer, since the Eagle cockpit was not set up for using NOGS in terms of displays and cockpit lighting. If we ever had the chance to intercept a drug running aircraft, it could be a Learjet at 30,000 feet scooting up to an airfield in the North. It would most likely be a light aircraft, like a Cessna, Piper or Beech, flying low and relatively slow. We also knew these guys were good pilots, used to this environment, and we had intel they might have Fuzz Buster gear on board to warn of any radar surveillance. There was clearly a chance when we went down and slowed down for an ID, we’d see some evasive action, and disorientation using NOGS could be possible. The “passenger,” either another Eagle driver, or our flight surgeon who was on the trip to get some insight into this environment, would be a nice insurance for someone getting mesmerized with NOGS and a low altitude intercept to get the ID of a potential drug runner. As it turns out we adapted to the NOGS pretty well, and later versions were much more friendly for jet fighter and attack aircraft. But nothing wrong with caution at this stage of our proficiency. We did one other thing to prepare for the CD mission. We scared up Eagles that were modified with a High Frequency Radio. Once upon a time there was a potential to deploy Eagles with an anti-satellite rocket (Laugh you may, but it was exercised once, and hit and destroyed a “dead” satellite-surprised everyone, since the satellite in question was not really meant to be killed!) and the launch basket was often well outside of the 200-mile or so UHF radio range. We intended to use the HF to reach back to 12th Air Force, our operational headquarters in Texas, for target updates and other intel. Our HF experience was pretty poor. Seems like there is more black art to HF communications than either fighter pilots or voices from Texas were willing to fool with. But it was a thought, anyway.... We were the first; other fighters followed, but all of us were expensive to operate, had limited endurance and not really suited for following a Cessna 206 for hours as it headed to a blacked-out strip in Central America or into Mexico where we could not follow. But it was our mission - we did it safely and might have caused some change in the tactics of the airborne druggies for a period of time."
The Illinois National Air Guard came to RAF Wildenrath in the 80s for a couple of weeks of NATO exercises with their F15s. I was on 19 Sqn at the time equipped with F4s. The Americans were great and hosted loads of social ( ok…..drinking ) events for us Brits. I marvelled at their level of equipment and professionalism and had to keep reminding myself that these guys were the equivalent of the U.K. Territorial Army…..but with aircraft…..and what an aircraft. We were green with envy.
Wildenrath, my dad was based there in the 70’s
The IL Guard never flew Eagles. They flew the Phantom at that time.
@@jasonc9027 sure looked like F15s, sounded like F15s, flew like F15s. I think they were F15s. 😀
I wasn't born in the US, but I always wanted to be an F-15C pilot since I was 6 years old. It was created the year I was born and I have always had a close dream relationship with the Eagle. Till today, it's still my top fighter of all time. I live in the states now, and have been to dozens of airshows, especially Nellis Open House events, which is every fighter enthusiast's dream location. Long live the F-15 Eagle. I built my first plastic model in 1982; it was a 1/72 scale Hasegawa F-15C with Eglin markings. I was so hooked.
We're losing our F-15C next year... Being replaced with the F-35A... I am not happy about it, but I'm sure the guys in the 104th FW are thrilled.
Nice. Looking forward to part 2
Cheers
I used to watch the 128th as a kid in the 80s at Dobbins AFB! Spent lots of summers at the fence on hwy 41. Saw them go from last F-105 to F-4s and then the F-15s. Great times!! Sad day when the peaches closed operations.
I’m jealous you got to watch F-105s. One of my favorites. That’s just too cool.
A most excellent Aircrew Interview with Murph! Murph brings a bit of a different look and feel to your conversations with aircrew. He is professional and enthusiastic about being a fighter pilot, but also provides some scholarly insight into flying and performing the mission the right way and performing it even better the next mission. It's not just stick and rudder...it's THINKING and IMPROVING....EVERY TIME. In fact, Murph's take away quote for me was, "The debrief is almost as important as the flight itself" (31:14). So, kudos to Aircrew Interview for asking Murph about briefing and debriefing! They are fundamental technologies for aviation....and, I would argue, should be utilized by all organizations...PLAN -> BRIEF -> EXECUTE -> DEBRIEF. Sierra Hotel!
Cheers
Solid interview! Quite an interesting path into F-15s.
Thanks!
Crack up blast from the past. I flew as a T-38 IP with that guy when he was in UPT.
Another excellent and immersive interview. Cheers guys... the Eagle rocks
Cheers
Did you fly with "Mac" Mc Connell? He took me up on an F-4D flight in 1986.
The 116th also had an (informal) F-15 demo team around 1987.
COL Bill Ridley got the rear seat ride for me.
Thank you for serving...
Another great interview. Great channel and great guests.🙏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Cheers!
I’ve drank a Singapore Sling in Singapore! 30-something years ago in my time in the RAN. Love that country!
Watching this interview is a great coincidence. Like Jim, I finished playing college baseball earlier this year and am now studying for the AFOQT. Currently, working as a manager at Amazon out of college, but like he said about sales it’s just not as fulfilling as expected. I’m working towards joining the 446th AW. Nothing like being on a team with high performance mindsets.
Blows my mind that Alphas are still flying.
Cool!
What I wonder is - exactly how does an F-15A help fight the war on drugs?
Look-down pulse Doppler radars with programmable velocity gates.
Because drug runners often used aircraft, and the airborne radar of the F-15A would likely be able to see things that ground radar couldn't.
F-15A/B pilot Steve Mosier described his counter-narcotics deployments to Central and South America in a publication for the USAF, stating "Under the auspices of the USAF’s 12th Air Force, we took four F-15Bs down south to provide augmented air surveillance in the Caribbean as part of the grand plan to interdict drug running out of Colombia up in to Mexico and points north. Our deployment was not too long before the ousting of Noriega as the head of the Panamanian government, so we went into a time and area of turbulence and unrest. The transit from Howard across the Panama Canal to the Southern Command headquarters was still not advisable after dark. Dangerous, not really, but caution and vigilance required - not everyone liked the Yankees. We took the B-models, fondly known as “tubs” since they had a rear cockpit where an instructor or passenger could hop in for a flight. We were going to be flying almost exclusively at night, over water and outside of land, using a very early version of Night Vision Goggles, NOGS. The second crewmember was aboard pretty much as a safety observer, since the Eagle cockpit was not set up for using NOGS in terms of displays and cockpit lighting. If we ever had the chance to intercept a drug running aircraft, it could be a Learjet at 30,000 feet scooting up to an airfield in the North. It would most likely be a light aircraft, like a Cessna, Piper or Beech, flying low and relatively slow. We also knew these guys were good pilots, used to this environment, and we had intel they might have Fuzz Buster gear on board to warn of any radar surveillance. There was clearly a chance when we went down and slowed down for an ID, we’d see some evasive action, and disorientation using NOGS could be possible. The “passenger,” either another Eagle driver, or our flight surgeon who was on the trip to get some insight into this environment, would be a nice insurance for someone getting mesmerized with NOGS and a low altitude intercept to get the ID of a potential drug runner. As it turns out we adapted to the NOGS pretty well, and later versions were much more friendly for jet fighter and attack aircraft. But nothing wrong with caution at this stage of our proficiency. We did one other thing to prepare for the CD mission. We scared up Eagles that were modified with a High Frequency Radio. Once upon a time there was a potential to deploy Eagles with an anti-satellite rocket (Laugh you may, but it was exercised once, and hit and destroyed a “dead” satellite-surprised everyone, since the satellite in question was not really meant to be killed!) and the launch basket was often well outside of the 200-mile or so UHF radio range. We intended to use the HF to reach back to 12th Air Force, our operational headquarters in Texas, for target updates and other intel. Our HF experience was pretty poor. Seems like there is more black art to HF communications than either fighter pilots or voices from Texas were willing to fool with. But it was a thought, anyway.... We were the first; other fighters followed, but all of us were expensive to operate, had limited endurance and not really suited for following a Cessna 206 for hours as it headed to a blacked-out strip in Central America or into Mexico where we could not follow. But it was our mission - we did it safely and might have caused some change in the tactics of the airborne druggies for a period of time."
FIRST!