Warbirds Thread

[ShadowArxxy]

So I guess some Soviet knock-off B-29's are still puttering around as AWACS for the CCP.

Nah, that has to be an old picture or a replica. The Chinese only ever made one prototype of the KJ-1, and it's not even a Chinese knockoff; they borrowed an actual Tu-4 and modified it (badly).

It looks like they slapped the engines from a Bear onto the thing, and then stuck raydomes all over the fuselage.

Close but not quite, they slapped the engines off an An-12 on it.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Sad. No B-29 AWACs with vacuum tubes then. 😞

Would've fit right into Fallout.

 

[Bacle]

Sad. No B-29 AWACs with vacuum tubes then. 😞

Would've fit right into Fallout.

Well, it gives the Boomers something else to shoot for with the other bits of B-29 left over after they completed the Pearl.

 

[Bacle]

Very nice soundtrack.

 

[Husky_Khan]

The first production run of F-15's.



No prototypes ordered. What a random fact. Seemed to work out in the end...

 

[Sailor.X]

The first production run of F-15's.



No prototypes ordered. What a random fact. Seemed to work out in the end...

The best Jet Fighter the USAF ever had. Suck it F22.

 

[Spartan303]

The best Jet Fighter the USAF ever had. Suck it F22.

Considering an F-22 defeated 7 of them in under 5 minutes...

 

[Sailor.X]

Considering an F-22 defeated 7 of them in under 5 minutes...

The F-22 only real Air to Air kill is a Chinese Spy Balloon...... Meanwhile the F-15 has been putting warheads on foreheads for nearly 50 years. The F-22 flies around looking pretty. The F-15 has been the one putting in the work for 5 decades.

 

[Spartan303]

The F-22 only real Air to Air kill is a Chinese Spy Balloon...... Meanwhile the F-15 has been putting warheads on foreheads for nearly 50 years. The F-22 flies around looking pretty. The F-15 has been the one putting in the work for 5 decades.

 

[Husky_Khan]

The best Jet Fighter the USAF ever had. Suck it F22.

Yes... but actually no.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

The first production run of F-15's.



No prototypes ordered. What a random fact. Seemed to work out in the end...

Just to fill in the details, the initial order for the F-15 Eagle was for ten single-seat "Category I" development F-15As (these first ten are sometimes called YF-15As, but this was never official), two single-seat TF-15As, and eight "Category II" development single seat F-15As. Under Air Force aircraft development procedures, Category I testing is carried out by the manufacturer's in-house test pilots using formally undelivered aircraft, whereas Category II testing is carried out by Air Force pilots using formally delivered aircraft. In practical terms, all twenty developmental aircraft were delivered to Edwards Air Force Base and all flight test activity occurred there.

Post-trials, two of the Category I F-15As were later transferred to NASA as testbed aircraft; these were serial number 71-281 and 71-287.

• 281 was only used to test Space Shuttle thermal protection tiles, was later returned to the Air Force without having ever been assigned an "official" NASA number, and is the one that's now displayed outside Langley Air Force Base.

• 287 was utilized for a wide variety of test projects and was fitted with an upgraded digital control system, making her the only "fly by wire" Eagle until the much later F-15SA and F-15X programs. She is still at Edwards to this day, but has been retired and is used as a parts mule for the slightly newer F-15B (74-141) that is still in service.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

Yes... but actually no.

It's worth pointing out that a solid majority of the F-15's commonly cited 104 kills are Israeli. Surprisingly hard to find a fully detailed breakdown, but it does appear that the USAF had few-to-no Eagle victories until the 1991 Gulf War, and hasn't had any more since the end of the Iraq War.

 

[Husky_Khan]

It's worth pointing out that a solid majority of the F-15's commonly cited 104 kills are Israeli. Surprisingly hard to find a fully detailed breakdown, but it does appear that the USAF had few-to-no Eagle victories until the 1991 Gulf War, and hasn't had any more since the end of the Iraq War.

It's worth pointing out there was an F-15 lost in combat as well when MiG-29's under the control of Radek loyalists attempted to down a just recaptured Air Force One over Kazakhstan. One of the F-15's had to intercept a Russian air to air missile that was about to impact Air Force One with its face. 😔



Never forget...

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Ah the F-15. Not the flashiest or the most powerful warplane, but she is the backbone of American might.

 

[Tiamat]

Ah the F-15. Not the flashiest or the most powerful warplane, but she is the backbone of American might.

Requires a LOT of maintenance to keep the birds worthy though. Former F-15 avionics tech here, doing work on the radar dish alone could be a nightmare at times. Then again, that radar dish has look down/shoot down capability with a range of over 100 miles, easy. An F-15 has, or rather had back before the newer generation of fighters showed up, no problems finding targets before said targets found them. "They call it the Eagle because it flies high and then swoops down to nab it's prey", as one former sergeant told me back in the day. And don't let the size of the F-15 fool you either, it's not as nimble as say, the F-16 or the newer fighters like the F-22, but it can still turn and burn hard in a dogfight.

 

[Sailor.X]

Requires a LOT of maintenance to keep the birds worthy though. Former F-15 avionics tech here, doing work on the radar dish alone could be a nightmare at times. Then again, that radar dish has look down/shoot down capability with a range of over 100 miles, easy. An F-15 has, or rather had back before the newer generation of fighters showed up, no problems finding targets before said targets found them. "They call it the Eagle because it flies high and then swoops down to nab it's prey", as one former sergeant told me back in the day. And don't let the size of the F-15 fool you either, it's not as nimble as say, the F-16 or the newer fighters like the F-22, but it can still turn and burn hard in a dogfight.

The F-14 and the F-15 are my too favorite Jet Fighters. With the Superhornet in second place for me.

 

[Tiamat]

The F-14 and the F-15 are my too favorite Jet Fighters. With the Superhornet in second place for me.

Had the Cold War gone hot in a conventional sense, almost guaranteed the F-15 would have taken the throne of "MIG killer" from the F-4.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

Had the Cold War gone hot in a conventional sense, almost guaranteed the F-15 would have taken the throne of "MIG killer" from the F-4.

Undoubtedly. As I understand, the Soviets were scared half to death of the Eagle. The Mig 29 was born to try and counter it.

 

[Tiamat]

Undoubtedly. As I understand, the Soviets were scared half to death of the Eagle. The Mig 29 was born to try and counter it.

Yes, they in fact were. The F-15 was originally designed for one purpose: Kill MIG's, everything else like ground attack came later because it's just that damn good a plane. The MIG-29 is by no means a slouch, especially with it's helmet-mounted display, but the F-15 "drivers" (as some of us called them back then) I had a chance to speak with said they trained A LOT against simulated MIG 29's, partly as they saw them as the most numerous and about comparable aircraft they would fly against, though they seemed to actually hold the SU-27 Flanker as a more comparable threat as opposed to the MIG-29.


The irony in all this, is that the F-15 was originally developed as a counter to the MIG-25 Foxbat, when little was actually known about it and it was presumed to be this new supersonic fighter that could not just outrun, but also outmaneuver and outfight most other aircraft of the time. The truth however was a bit different when they finally got their hands on a MIG-25 from a Soviet pilot that defected. It was actually meant to be an interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft, and not much else.

 

[Lord Sovereign]

though they seemed to actually hold the SU-27 Flanker as a more comparable threat as opposed to the MIG-29.

I’m no expert, but if memory serves the Flanker is a beefy boy. I suppose it has a bit more room for juice and engines than the Mig 29.