The F-15 Streak Eagle was extensively modified, with as much weight reduction as possible, to carry out his mission.
When McDonnell Aircraft was chosen to compete in the second phase of the US Air Force’s FX competition in 1967, the company developed the concept for the F-15. Faced with the F-4 Phantom II, which was becoming known as a formidable fighter, McDonnell applied lessons acquired from the Vietnam War on the changing nature of jet-age air-to-air combat for his competition against Fairchild Hiller and North American Rockwell. Following over two years of rigorous testing and assessment, the Air Force awarded McDonnell Douglas the contract for the F-15 Advanced Tactical Fighter on December 23, 1969. Out of the three competitors, the McDonnell Douglas team had the lowest contract price and placed first in each phase of the competition.
The F-15 proved to be an extremely useful test aircraft in addition to being the world’s greatest air superiority fighter.
The 19th pre-production aircraft, airframe 72-0119, was involved in one of the most interesting experimental programs of the Eagle. The F-15A was designated as “Streak Eagle,” and the name perfectly captured the type of flights the aircraft would have performed: breaking the previous F-4 and MiG-25 time-to-climb records while setting new ones. In order to complete its mission, the Streak Eagle underwent extensive modifications to minimize its weight.
According to Steve Markman and Bill Holder’s explanation in their book One Of A Kind Research Aircraft: A History Of In Flight Simulators, Testbeds & Prototypes, all superfluous components were taken out of this F-15, including the radar, cannon, tail hook, utility hydraulic system, flap and speed brake actuators, and missiles. Additionally, the aircraft gained an additional 40 pounds by not being painted.
The aircraft also had some instrumentation installed, including a nose boom equipped with alpha and beta probes to measure sideslip and angle of attack, as well as specific battery packs and controls. The aircraft also had a restraint device inserted in place of the tail hook. Additional special tools included a camera mounted over the shoulder, a G-meter, a standby attitude gyro, altitude verification equipment, and ballast.
After making these modifications, the Streak Eagle saved 2,800 pounds of fuel, compared to the 3,000–6,000 pounds of fuel carried in each record attempt. Three USAF F-15 pilots—Major Roger Smith, Major W.R. Macfarlane, and Major Dave Peterson—who flew the Streak Eagle from January 16 to February 1, 1975, achieved the eight new records for altitude and time stated below.
3,000 meters (9,843 feet) 27.57 seconds
6,000 meters (19,685 feet) 39.33 seconds
9,000 meters (29,685 feet) 48.86 seconds
12,000 meters (39,370 feet) 59.38 seconds
15,000 meters (49,212 feet) 77.02 seconds
20,000 meters (65,617 feet) 122.94 seconds
25,000 meters (82,021 feet) 161.02 seconds
30,000 meters (98,425 feet) 207.80 seconds
When compared to the upward numbers, the Streak Eagle reached 9,000 meters in less than a minute, but a Boeing 727 takes over 15 minutes. The National Museum of the US Air Force now has the F-15 Streak Eagle on display.
The story of the F-15 Streak Eagle record flights is presented in the video below.
One-of-a-kind Research Aircraft A History Of In Flight Simulators, Testbeds & Prototypes is published by Schiffer Military and is available to order here.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
