Eagles like to nest at the top of trees. 14AUG1986.
Rome Air Development Center-Newport Measurement Facility (New York), aka USAF Super Lab, aka Newport Research Site-Griffiss Institute, aka Griffiss Air Force Base.
A pole dancing F-15 Eagle? Researching the tail number I came across info that says it is an F-15A (72-0113). It is mounted upside down on a pedestal at the Rome Air Development Center’s (aka USAF Super Lab) Newport, New York, test site. A radar warning system pod mounted on the fuselage is being compared to the onboard radar warning system, 06OCT1988.
I’ve read the official 1991“in-house report”on Super Lab activities and it made no mention of the pole dancing F-15A, it talks about the late 1970s pole dancing F-111, and middle 1980s F-16 (which took place at about the same time as the F-15 testing).
Information that was issued with the publicly released photos incorrectly says this Eagle is a F-15C!
Photo via Rome Air Development Center.
F-15A 72-0113 was one of the first production Eagles. Interestingly it was quickly retired, after only a few years of testing over Edwards Air Force Base in California, to The Bone Yard (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) in 1977. Then, in 2005 it was reported as being “preserved on a pole” in Newport, New York!
Photo via ‘USAF Super Lab’.
Supposedly, F-15A tail number 72-0113 was spotted still hanging around the USAF Super Lab, in 2016. Unfortunately, Newport Research Site-Griffiss Institute’s website doesn’t give any information about the F-15.
U.S. Air Force photo, 24SEP1979.
Photographic evidence shows that #72-0113 was delivered to the Rome Air Development Center in September 1979.
An F-15 Eagle pole dances while a YA-10 waits its turn.
The elaborate ‘antenna test site’ use several different height, 3-axis position, towers. The site tests the effects of radar, electronic jamming and the effectiveness of experimental electronic countermeasures.
A July 1986 photo showing 72-0113 on top of the Irish Hill tower. The info that came with the photo incorrectly states that it is in Rhode Island!
Photo via ‘USAF Super Lab’.
The aircraft that have been tower mounted, so far, are the YA-10, AC-130, F-4, F-16, F-15, F-18, F-22, F-35, MH 60 SEAHAWK and sections of the B-1B, EC-135 Snoopy, and others.
F-15A number one rolled out of the Saint Louis, Missouri, factory. Notice it does not yet have the DayGlo orange paint applied. McDonnell-Douglas photo, 26JUN1972.
McDonnell-Douglas F-15A number one gets packed aboard a Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, for its trip to Edwards Air Force Base, California.
McDonnell-Douglas photo of the first flight of F-15 number one, 27JUL1972. DayGlo paint not yet applied. Notice the shape of the wings and stabilators.
The first F-15A, #71-280, unveiled publicly after its first flight, July 1972, it now has the DayGlo paint applied. It was never called the YF-15 as several interweb sites say. From the beginning it was F-15 Eagle.
USAF promotional video, by Airman First Class Moses Taylor:
71-280 F-15A number one is now serving museum duty on Lackland AFB, Texas. However, it is painted to represent a different F-15.
This B-52 is carrying a 3/8th-scale F-15A drone, back then called a Remotely Piloted Research Vehicle (RPRV), 23OCT1973. This was done to test the possibility of stall-spins, before the real F-15A Eagles began their test flights.
The 12 contractor F-15As were used in Category I pre-production T&E, the eight USAF F-15As were used in Category IIpre-production T&E. They were never officially designated as prototypes or even called YF-15 (as some online sites say), they were officially called McAir F-1 (for the F-15A single seaters) and McAir F-2 (for the TF-15 two seaters). The Category I phase was later re-named Contractor Development, Test & Evaluation, the Category II phase was renamed Air Force Development, Test & Evaluation.
Installing a F-15 style intake on a J85 nacelle. NASA photo, 1975.
Photo via Edwards AFB photo shop. NASA’s F-15A 71-287 in 1976, testing the FMD version of Pratt & Whitney’s F-100. 287 would go on to test the HIDEC system, in the early 1990s.
I took this photo with a crappy little fixed focus 110 camera, in 1977.
This photo shows a T&E Eagle (possibly number one) with the straight edged stabilators. McDonnell-Douglas photo.
This photo shows the smaller speed/dive brake of pre-production aircraft F-15A number five (71-284). It was apparently the first F-15 to get the 20mm Vulcan gun, obviously not at the time this photo was made (due to lack of gun port). McDonnell-Douglas photo.
The pre-production T&E Eagles can be distinguished from later production Eagles by the shape of the wing tips, the shape of the elevators (officially called ‘snag stabilators’) and the size of the speed/dive brake. T&E F-15As had squared-off wing tips, stabilators that did not have a ‘dog tooth’, and had a smaller more rectangular speed/dive brake. However, several T&E F-15 Eagles were quickly updated with the snag stabilators, yet retained the original wing tips and small speed brake.
This photo shows one of the T&E Eagles updated with the snaggle toothed stabilators. USAF photo via the Edwards AFB photo shop, I got it in the mid-’70s but exact date it was made is unknown.
One of the T&E F-15s transferred to NASA, with original configuration wing tips and stabilators.
For kit builders, the first issue 1:72 scale Hasegawa, Revell U.S.A. and Monogram kits were based on the Category I McAir F-1 Eagles.
They were quickly revised once the final changes were established for the production F-15s.
The same T&E F-15, with the squared-off wing tips, but it has been updated with the dog-tooth elevators. NASA photo, 24FEB1978.
Development of the F-15A actually started in the late 1960s, it was designed as a pure dog-fighter, intended to replace the F-4 Phantom-2 in that role. The design was based on U.S. air combat experience over Viet Nam, and on incorrect assumptions about Soviet fighter development, especially the MiG-25 Foxbat.
The defected MiG 25P. This is the photo that inspired the artwork on Minicraft/Hasegawa’s black bordered box issue of their MiG 25 kit, in the late-1970s.
Before the defection of a Soviet pilot in a MiG-25P, to Japan in 1976, the ‘experts’ in the U.S. Department of Defense thought the Foxbat was a dog-fighter. The MiG-25 was actually a straight line Mach 3 bomber interceptor, it carried four long range anti-bomber missiles, and had no guns. Fortunately, the incorrect assumptions resulted in a still potent modern day dog-fighter (proven by the Israeli Air Force) that has also proved it excels at other forms of aerial combat.
TF-15A #71-290. Photo via the Edwards AFB photo shop. 290’s final mission would be as the NF-15B ACTIVE in the late 1990s.
I got this photo from the Edwards AFB photo shop in the mid-1970s. It is TF-15A/F-15B 71-291, which would go on to become the ‘demonstrator’ (mock-up) of the F-15E concept.
71-291 all gussied-up for the Bicentennial in July 1976, and flying over its birthplace of Saint Louis, Missouri. McDonnell-Douglas photo by Pat McManus.
Also in 1972, a combat capable trainer version was created called the TF-15A, but it was soon re-designated F-15B. The improved F-15C single seater, and the improved F-15D two seater, were created in 1979. Visually they all look the same as the improvements are internal.
Bare metal Streak Eagle, named because it was naked, not fast. In the 1970s there was a fad called streaking, which meant you got naked and ran as fast as you could through a public gathering. The insignia on the vertical tail was removed for the high speed runs.
Between 16JAN1975 and 01FEB1975, a bare metal F-15A nicknamed Streak Eagle, broke eight time-to-climb world records. It was then donated to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, in 1980, where it was painted to protect from corrosion:
The F-15 is used by Israel, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.
The second F-15A Eagle (71-0281) was turned over to NASA in February 1976. It was used in no less than 25 experiments which not only benefitted the USAF and NASA, but also the civilian airliner industry.
NASA F-15A #281 over the Mojave Desert, California, 03MAR1978.
This NASA F-15A Eagle was used to compare actual in-flight aerodynamic data to data collected from models in wind tunnels, 17MAY1978.
This is a NASA image showing what their proposed F-15-2D/STOL/MTD would look like, using NASA’s F-15B Eagle. The project would morph into the NF-15B ACTIVE program in the late 1990s.
Somewhere over NATO Norway, the Sun is setting on an F-4E Phantom-2, while its replacement, an F-15B Eagle flies in formation. USAF photo by Master Sergeant Edward Condon, 08MAR1982.
Potential satellite killer. An F-15 armed with the ASAT missile, sometime in 1983. USAF photo.
On Bitburg AFB, West Germany, an F-15D Eagle blows off steam, at full throttle in a ‘Baker Sound Suppressor Unit’. USAF photo by Jose Lopez Junior, November 1984.
An F-15A Eagle gets armed with an AIM-9 Sidewinder anti-aircraft missile, while taking part in wargames over Australia, 01OCT1985. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Marvin D. Lynchard.
An F-15B Eagle taxis past the then new air traffic control tower on Edwards AFB, sometime in the mid 1980s (1987?).
A pole dancing F-15C Eagle? It is mounted upside down on a pedestal at the Rome Air Development Center’s (aka USAF Super Lab) Newport, New York, test site. An external radar warning system pod mounted on the fuselage is being compared to the onboard radar warning system, 06OCT1988.
The ground attack F-15E Strike Eagle began service in 1989, however, the first production F-15E (86-183) came off the assembly line in 1986.
86-183, the first production F-15E.
At first it was just called the F-15E Dual Role Fighter, no Strike Eagle. They stenciled on the nose F-15E No. 1, to be clear that it is the first F-15E.
F-15E Strike Eagles, and a F-15C Eagle, are flanked by F-16s as they fly over burning oil wells, during Desert Storm in early 1991.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
NASA’s HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) F-15A (NASA #835, USAF #71-287), Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California, February 1993.
A 53rd Fighter Squadron F-15C Eagle returns to Aviano Air Base, Italy, after a No-Fly-Zone mission over Bosnia-Herzegovina. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant David Mcleod, 12APR1993.
A 10% scale wind tunnel model of the F-15E Strike Eagle, used to test the viability of ‘pneumatic forebody controls’, September 1994.
Size comparison between USAF F-15C Eagle & E Strike Eagle, and a Slovak MiG-29 Fulcrum. According to the USAF, this was the first time F-15 Eagles and MiG-29s flew together. Photo by Technical Sergeant Brad Fallin, 25MAY1996.
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Esteban Esquivel, of Israeli F-15I Ra’am operations on Uvda Air Base, Israel, May 2017:
A Ukrainian flag behind the windshield of a California Air National Guard (CANG) F-15D Eagle, 26OCT2017. A Ukrainian General is in the front seat while a CANG Lieutenant Colonel is in the back seat, it was a flight promoting the military partnership of California and Ukraine. CANG photo by Senior Master Sergeant Chris Drudge.
Somewhere in the Middle East (South West Asia), September 2017 USAF video report about F-15E Strike Eagle operations against so-called Islamic State:
California Air National Guard (CANG) video, by Staff Sergeant Christian Jadot, of historical moment when for the first time California’s 144th Fighter Wing lands their F-15C & D Eagles on Starokostiantyniv Air Base, Ukraine, 06OCT2018 (it should be noted that it was not the first time for California to send aircraft to Ukraine, in 2011 the CANG sent F-16 Falcons):
On 04MAY2021, U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, based on the United Kingdom, conducted an “Independence Flyover” of the tiny NATO country of Latvia. Short video of F-15E getting refueled enroute to Latvia by Technical Sergeant Emerson Nuñez:
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Danielle Sukhlall, of Japanese F-15J Eagles operating from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, 07JUN2021:
A November 2021 USAF promo video, by Staff Sergeant River Bruce, states the F-15 series of aircraft has a long way to go before retirement:
In January 2022, at least six F-15E Strike Eagles (from Seymour Johnson Air Base, North Carolina) were deployed to NATO Belgium, for so-called air policing missions against Russia. Video via NATO:
February 2022:
Ämari Air Base, Estonia, U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Megan M. Beatty, 01FEB2022.
Members of the 2953rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron arrive on Davis Monthan Air Force Base (The Boneyard), Arizona, for Exercise NIGHT TRAIN/GLOBAL SHIELD, April 1984. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
On ‘The Boneyard’ (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona), Night Train ’84 tested the Airmen’s ability to quickly repair battle damaged B-52 bombers, which included the use of experimental manually operated tools and a ‘Battel Damage Infliction Gun’.
The battle damage infliction gun is offloaded. The gun was provided by the Foreign Munitions Test and Evaluation Group of the Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
From left to right, 30mm fragmentation, 20mm high explosive, 20mm incendiary, and 20mm armor piercing. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
The BDIG. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
The BDIG was aimed at various parts of the sacrificial B-52. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Loading a 30mm frag round into the BDIG. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
A blast shield consisting of a steel framed bunch of wood 4x4s was used to reduce the spread of shrapnel. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
The BDIG is unleased. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
A 20mm high explosive round tears through the left wing tip of a mothballed B-52, April 1987. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
The damage done to the left wing tip area, the entry wound is smaller than the exit wound on the top of the wing, a lot of internal damage. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Airmen work to repair the internal damage. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Repair work was 24 hours, the exercise was simulating a combat situation, specifically a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
20mm projectiles punch through the B-52’s elevator. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Entry wound on the front main wheel bay. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Working in the massive wheel bay. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Building a shipping crate for a B-52’s main landing gear door. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Since the exercise was about a running nuclear war with the Soviet Union, Airmen had to perform their jobs in full MOPP (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) gear for NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) warfare. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Having been there done that myself, I can tell you that working even for a short time in full MOPP is a…… frustrating to say the least. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
An engine nacelle, damaged by the BDIG, had to be replaced. The Airman not wearing MOPP gear is an observer, grading the others on their performance. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Under cover of darkness, a sheet metal worker patches a large hole in the pylon holding the engine nacelle, made by the BDIG. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
At the time, this was an experimental manually operated ‘blind fastener’ installation kit used to repair sheet metal. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
Manually operated tools are gold during a nuclear war. Nuclear explosions create EMPs (electro magnetic pulses) which knock out any electronics, and electric power. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Rob Marshall.
B-47 engine nacelle at the Glenn Research Center Altitude Wind Tunnel, Ohio.
1953, crew of B-47A pose for photo after 1000th test mission.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) B-47A, August 1953.
NACA B-47A, Edwards Air Force Base, August 1953. Nose probe for measuring airspeed, altitude, angle-of-attack and angle-of-sideslip, and an optigraph behind cockpit for measuring the movements of target lights on the wing and tail.
According to Boeing, only the XB-47, B-47A and B-47B had rocket assisted take off (RATO, officially and incorrectly called JATO jet assisted take off, they were rockets not jets).
Silent USAF film of RATO by B-47Bs during the National Air Show, from August to September 1955, over Pennsylvania:
Photo via Boeing.
Silent U.S. Air Force film, glass nosed B-47A gets refueled by KC-97:
Silent USAF film of refuel demonstration by KC-97 during the National Air Show, from August to September 1955, over Pennsylvania:
1000th B-47, an E model.
USAF film explaining how changes made to B-47E elevator trim tabs played a role in a crash, however they still blame the pilot:
Silent USAF film of formation flights during the National Air Show, from August to September 1955, over Pennsylvania. I left in scenes of three B-52s to show similarity of the silhouette:
Silent USAF film of landings by B-47Bs & Es during the National Air Show, from August to September 1955, over Pennsylvania:
RB-47E refuels from KC-97.
Silent USAF film, B-47 loses control while landing, crashes and burns:
YDB-47B carrying GAM-63 Rascal missile.
Pinecastle AFB, City of Winter Park wins Strategic Air Command competition, November 1957.
Old Blue, McKoy AFB, October 1959.
Hunter AFB, WB-47E City of Savannah Hurricane Hunter I, September 1963.
Very quick silent USAF color film of cockpit view from B-47 refueling from KC-135:
Spirit prepares to leave Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake on its final flight, 17JUN1986, photo by Technical Sergeant Michael Haggerty.
Final flight B-47E Spirit, 17JUN1986, photo by Technical Sergeant Michael Haggerty.
Spirit inbound to Castle AFB, 17JUN1986, photo by Technical Sergeant Michael Haggerty.
B-47E Spirit, 17JUN1986, photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Gillette.
The show is over for B-47E Spirit, 17JUN1986, photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Gillette.
Davis Monthan AFB, October 1988, photo by Senior Airman Alan R. Wycheck.
2018 USAF video, Little Rock Air Force Base does short history of B-47:
If you had enough money you could get a ride in the B-17G bomber. Notice the K-Max firefighting helicopter in the background, lots of smoke in the air.
In March 2018, Sentimental Journey took part in CAF’s Tora, Tora, Tora display, over Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Tyler J. Bolken.
02OCT2012, at the War Eagles Air Museum, Doña Ana County Airport, New Mexico. Photo by Sergeant Jonathan Thomas.
U.S. Air Force video by Sergeant Adam Ross, getting ‘sentimental’ over the B-17, October 2012:
My immediate family’s connection to Sentimental Journey began in Summer 1986, when the restored flying fortress visited Edwards Air Force Base, California. Photos by my father William Lewis Hutchins.
My baby brother Ernst F. Hutchins.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Simons.
From 27APR1986, over Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, during the Gathering of Eagles ’86 tour.
According to CAF, the B-17G that became Sentimental Journey spent the last few months of World War Two over the Pacific. After the war it was converted to serve as a boat carrying Search And Rescue plane out of Florida. In the 1950s it was used as a drone controller during nuclear weapons tests. In 1959, it went to the Bone Yard in Arizona, but shortly after that it was purchased by a firefighting company in California. Sentimental Journey still uses the registration number assigned while it was a fire fighter. In 1978 the B-17 water bomber was donated to the Arizona chapter of the CAF. The name Sentimental Journey was the result of a local newspaper holding a contest for the name. The Arizona CAF members restored Sentimental Journey to its World War Two bomber configuration. Amazingly, Sentimental Journey was fully restored as a bomber and flying air shows by the end of 1985/beginning of 1986.
1982, half hour long documentary explaining the reason for the Confederate Air Force-Ghost Squadron:
1981, British made hour long documentary explaining that the Confederate Air Force-Ghost Squadron was led by a totally made-up Confederate officer named Colonel Culpepper, and why the CAF was originally created. Notice that at the beginning of the film one of the members says “…we shouldn’t apologize to anybody in the world for what we are or what we’ve been.”:
Divestiture, disposition, or whatever is the latest official term for retiring a U.S. military aircraft, the end of the life of the CH-46 Sea Knight was a slow death, taking almost a decade.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Jason Jimenez.
An HH-46D Phrog, officially named Pedro, joins other rescue Phrogs on their final journey from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, 25SEP2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Andrea Cleopatra Dickerson, 2013.
Between August and the end of September 2015, the last of the Phrogs made their final official flights.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Orlando Perez.
Helicopter Marine Medium-lift (HMM) 774 says goodbye to its Phrogs, 05AUG2015, MCAS Cherry Point.
04AUG2015 U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) video report by Sergeant Kathryn K. Bynum, in which its revealed the final Phrogs will not be scrapped but sold to the highest bidder:
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Cuong Le.
Made by Boeing-Vertol, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) nicknamed it The Phrog. It began its USMC career in 1964, and flew missions during campaigns in Vietnam, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.
USMC photo by Corporal Cuong Le.
On 01AUG2015, HMM-774, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing Marine Corps Forces Reserve, flew their flag-ship Phrog to the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia.
USMC photo by Corporal Cuong Le.
It took just short of a decade, but slowly the CH-46 was replaced by the Bell-Boeing MV-22B Osprey.
2015 USMC video report by Corporal Cameron Storm, history of CH-46:
USMC photo by Corporal Owen Kimbrel.
29OCT2014, an HMM-364 ‘Purple Foxes’ Phrog takes its final flight to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (boneyard), in Arizona.
USMC photo by Corporal Owen Kimbrel.
USMC photo by Sergeant Keonaona C. Paulo.
On 31MAR2014, HMM-364, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), conducted a mass-fly-over (aka Flying the Barn) of San Diego, California.
USMC photo by Sergeant Keonaona C. Paulo.
USMC video, by Corporal Raquel Barraza, of a Plague of twelve Phrogs flying over the metro-area of San Diego:
In 2014, the U.S. Air Force issued a premature video report declaring the Phrog retired:
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Natalie M. Rostran.
On 30SEP2013, on Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan, HMM-262 ‘Flying Tigers’ conducted final flights of their CH-46Es. This is a look at their tiger striped flag ship; 00.
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Donald Peterson.
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Christopher Johns.
In February 2013, on Camp Pendleton, California, eight enlisted Marines became the last to be trained as CH-46 Crew Chief maintainers.
USMC video report by Lance Corporal Elizabeth Case, at the end of November 2012, HMM-265 shipped-off their CH-46Es:
USMC photo by Sergeant Justin M. Martinez.
In May 2012, First Lieutenant Zerbin Singleton became the last pilot to attend CH-46 flight school.
U.S. Navy photo dated 01SEP1987, an HMM-263 Phrog aboard USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).
The first USMC Phrogs to get deactivated were those of HMM-263, in March 2006. HMM-263 then became Vertical Marine Medium-lift (VMM) 263, the first USMC unit flying the MV-22B Osprey.
The U.S. Navy retired its final Phrog in September 2004, in favor of the MH-60H Sea Hawk.
On 03MAR2021, a mummified civilian airliner was hauled off to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, drafted for use as an emergency response trainer for the U.S. military.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
The 40 miles trip from Wilmington Air Park took three days. Its new home is the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
N798AX was a 767-200 series, last used by Germany’s DHL, first used by Japan’s All Nippon Airways, then Hokaido International Airlines, then by ABX Air in the United States before being leased to DHL. DHL used the 767 for just under a year before its retirement, N789AX was just over 34 years old when ‘retired’. In November 2020, N789AX was broken-up at Wilmington Air Park, Ohio.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
It is not a Boeing 707, or a KC-135 (which itself is not a 707). It is a Boeing 767, and will be used to mimic the military version of the 767; the KC-46.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
The zombie 767 will join a zombie KC-135, which was delivered to School of Aerospace Medicine at the end of March 2020, to train flight nurses, medevac technicians and critical care air-transport team members in the movement and treatment of patients onboard aircraft.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
The School of Aerospace Medicine also uses a zombie C-130, and five other aircraft, for the same training.
“This plane was built for the Cold War. It serves as the link between the national decision makers and the nuclear triad.”-Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Penington, Task Force 124, July 2007
U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.
U.S. Navy E-6B from Tinker Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma, flies over Colorado, 23AUG2019.
U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.
The E-6B has a greatly strengthened airframe/wings/landing gear compared to its E-6A incarnation, due to greater weight caused by lots of electronic gear and extra fuel capacity. By 2003, the entire E-6A fleet was converted to B standard.
U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.
E-6B Mercury refuels from a KC-135. The KC-135 and E-6B are not the same type of aircraft. The E-6B is based on the Boeing 707, the KC-135 is not. While the KC-135 is based on the same prototype-predecessor it was developed independently from the 707, and airframe parts are not interchangeable.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
E-6B Mercury, assigned to Strategic Communications Wing 1 at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, taxis on the flightline of Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 15JUL2019.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
Notice what looks like a drogue type refueling system at the tail-end of the plane, it is reportedly a type of VLF antenna that’s five miles (8km) long when fully reeled out!
U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger, 03OCT2017.
Panel removal from E-6B Mercury engine nacelle, 03OCT2017, Offutt AFB. The U.S. Navy (USN) has its own maintenance unit on Offutt AFB, for the purpose of maintaining aircraft used in Airborne Command Post (AbnCP, aka Looking Glass), and Take Charge and Move Out (TaCaMO) missions.
U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger, 02OCT2017.
A worn out E-6B Mercury training aircraft on Offutt AFB, under USN guard, while waiting for turn-around inspection, 02OCT2017.
USAF photo by Josh Plueger.
USN E-6B Mercury takes flight from the USAF base of Offutt, Nebraska, 28AUG2015.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
In 2007, E-6Bs with Task Force 124 were also serving as airborne radio relay stations over Iraq: “Our role here is basically as a convoy relay. When the convoys are moving and they can’t get a hold of someone to report something or even perform a radio check, they can contact us. Because we’re so high in the air we have a greater line of sight and therefore can communicate with all convoys and reporting authorities.”-Lieutenant Junior Grade Amy Simek, TF-124 battle staff mission commander
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
USN photo, November 1984.
Take Charge and Move Out (TaCaMO) operations began in early 1960s, using EC-130s, for the purpose of directing nuclear ballistic missile launches from submarines.
U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant John McRell.
On 11MAR2021, Boeing delivered the first production F-15EX to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, for testing and evaluation.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John McRell.
The 96th Operations Group 40th Flight Test Squadron, and 53rd Wing 85th Test & Evaluation Squadron, will put the F-15EX (aka EX1) through the mill.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John Raven.
Can you spot EX1?
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John Raven, 11MAR2021.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant John Raven.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joshua Hoskins.
The F-15EX is hard to distinguish from the F-15E Strike Eagle. A couple of ECM ‘ears’ protruding on the sides of the cockpit. The blade antennae are different. The pods on top of the tail fins are now symmetrical. Some ECM bumps protruding from the rear.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joshua Hoskins.
F-15EX arrives, parks next to F-15E, video by Jennifer Vollmer:
Official USAF video report, reveals that while it is a two seater it actually needs only one crew to operate:
Official USAF music video:
EX2 is also expected to make an appearance over Eglin AFB, soon.
On 10MAR2021, just short of six hundred Connecticut National Guard personnel deployed to ‘The Horn of Africa’. Now that Joe Biden is President, it’s his war now!
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Steven Tucker.
New England Patriots football team airliner, a Boeing 767-300ER, is used to transport more than one hundred Army National Guard infantry, from Bradley Air National Guard Base in East Granby, to somewhere in East Africa (after a short diversion to Fort Bliss, Texas, for deployment training).
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Steven Tucker.
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Steven Tucker.
Video interview, by Timothy Koster, where Command Sergeant Major Daniel Morgan and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Tantillo respond to questions about deploying under the pandemic panic-attack restrictions of CoViD-19:
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Steven Tucker.
The Patriot’s airliner was one of several ‘silly-vilian’ contracted airliners that were used to deploy the state militia.
Connecticut National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Katie Grandori.
Connecticut National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Katie Grandori.
F-15 EAGLE NOW 50 YEARS OLD
