F-15 Eagle (Special Edition)

Video from the channel Phil Cipher about McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 37:47. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A 1991 documentary, produced by Network Projects and Pacific Arts Video, about the genesis, development and service of the F-15 Eagle. It combines footage from the aircraft's official rollout, interviews after the first flight, maintenance scenes at the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing and a long section devoted to the Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base.

According to the documentary, after the Korean War the prevailing theory held that close-range combat was obsolete. In Vietnam, dogfights against MiG-17s and MiG-21s disproved that idea: missiles often failed and engagements ended up at close range. That, together with the appearance of the MiG-25 Foxbat, led the USAF to commission a fighter dedicated solely to air superiority, something it had not done since the F-86 Sabre.

The rollout describes an aircraft 63.8 feet long with a 42.8-foot wingspan. It features variable-capture-area air intakes, a large dorsal airbrake, AIM-7F Sparrow and AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles, a tail made of boron composite material, extensive use of titanium and two Pratt & Whitney F100 engines. The first flight took place on 27 July 1972; the test pilot recounts that it was flown at 12,000 feet and four days before the contract deadline. The first example reached a squadron in November 1974, and deployments to Bitburg (West Germany) began in 1977. The shortage of maintenance personnel was gradually resolved, and by late 1979 the USAF reported 80% availability.

384 F-15As and about 60 F-15Bs were built. The C and D models added fuel capacity and avionics, and some examples were fitted to carry cluster bombs. The 25 mm cannon with caseless ammunition was cancelled and the M61 Vulcan was fitted instead. The pulse-Doppler radar tracks targets at 50 feet above the ground and detects them at 100 miles. The aircraft sustains Mach 2.2, exceeds Mach 2.5 in a dash, and has a ferry range of more than 2,800 miles.

The documentary also presents the F-15E Strike Eagle; its rollout ceremony mentions that the factory had produced 1,030 Eagles, 831 of them for the USAF. It closes with a forecast of 1,266 aircraft for the USAF by the mid-1990s and with sales to Israel (51), Saudi Arabia (72) and Japan (187, 173 of them built domestically).