Final F-15A Eagle Retired by the Air Force

Final F-15A Eagle Retired by the Air Force

142nd Fighter Wing
Story by Staff Sgt. John Hughel
Date: 10.09.2009
Posted: 10.09.2009 08:11

http://www.dvidshub.net/img_show.php?id=211421
http://www.dvidshub.net/img_show.php?id=211423

PORTLAND, Ore. - On a clear late September day, Lt. Col. Steve Beauchamp strides from the flight operations' building toward one of many F-15's parked on the Portland Air National Guard Base ramp. Master Sgt. Mark Billmyer greets Beauchamp with a hand shake and conversation as he arrives for his mid-morning flight; both make their way toward a waiting "Redhawk" jet where Tech. Sgt. Andrew Shown has already begun to prep the aircraft. As typical as any daily mission flown by one of the officers from the 142nd
Fighter Wing can be, on this day one element of the routine is unusual. The journey that Beauchamp will be flying is a one way trip, as aircraft 77-098 will retire when they reach Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., later in the afternoon. What is also unique about this flight is that aircraft, tail number 77-098 is the last F-15A/B models in the active United States Air Force inventory.

"I thought I was going to ride off into retirement when the last of these 'A models' would be retiring," said Beauchamp.

The A and B models of the F-15 have been slowly fazed out of the Air Force inventory over many years. In total only 384 of the single-seat fighters were built from 1972 to 1979. The Air National Guard has held onto the original productions until the active Air Force began to receive the F-22 Raptors and turn over their C and D models to the Air National Guard.

"It seems strange to stand here and look at this terrific airplane and know I am taking it out of service," said Beauchamp.

Aircraft 77-098 first arrived in Portland on August 1st, 1994 and was one of the original Airplanes that came to the 142nd Fighter Wing during the second conversion period from the F-4 Phantom to the F-15 Eagle model. The 142nd converted to the F-15A/B aircraft in 1989-90, with most of those planes coming from the 318th Fighter Interceptor Group at McChord Air Force Base, which was being disbanded. The mission of the 142nd Fighter Wing has been to carry on as the primary air defense capability for all of the Pacific Northwest and western Canada.

During their 20-plus years of service with the 142nd, the A/B model aircraft have seen many unique missions other than just their air sovereignty alert mission.

In recent years the durability of the aircraft has been put the test with deployments to Operation Northern Watch in Iraq, as well as Saudi Arabia, Iceland and Singapore. Additional training deployments such as Red Flag in Las Vegas, Weapons Evaluations System Program exercises at Tyndall and Hill Air Force Bases sharpened the skills of the pilots flying the F-15A/B models.

The current conversion process from A and B models to the newer C and D models began in early May 2007. Beauchamp and Col. Steven Gregg, then wing commander, flew the first two C model jets from Kadena Air Base in Japan to their new home in the Pacific Northwest. During this U.S. Air Force extensive conversion process all F-15 A-E models were grounded for nearly two months worldwide in November of 2007 after a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C came apart in flight and crashed on November 2nd, 2007.

After the investigation, the Air Force found a flaw in the upper longerons of the airframe and many of the F-15C models that were to replace the older A models. More than 15 percent of the F-15 fleet inspected never returned to flight status; the rest were cleared to fly in early 2008. This slowed the conversion process and pushed back the life cycle of these older F-15A models.

As the F-15A models began to leave, the maintenance and crew chiefs had to give up airframes that had been with the unit for more than 10 to 15 years. One Aircraft in particular, tail numbers 73-089 had more than 35 years of total active service before it was retired earlier in 2009 and now will be refurbished for its new and permeate home at the Evergreen Aviation Center in McMinnville, Ore. Yet as many of the 142nd airplanes found their way to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center in Tucson, Ariz., in the
past year, the F-15C models that arrived from other active duty installations needed a great deal of attention.

"When we picked up the Kadena jets, our team had two weeks in Japan to get these planes ready", said Maj. Joseph Harris, 142nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander. These two week acceptance inspections helped find immediate issues with the jets especially getting them ready to fly them all the way to Portland. Then in June 2007, the Air Force terminated these two week acceptance inspections. The focus on maintenance shifted back to the home unit once the newer C models arrived.

"We did receive and consume approximately 3000 man days to help us keep as many jets as possible flying. If we hadn't received these days, we would have had even less jets available to fly for several months longer," said Harris. "But once they have been through our inspection dock a few times this process gets better."

The inherit design of the newer F-15C models was one of the many challenges that the maintenance staff undertook when accepting these jets. "The learning curve went straight up," said Shown. "With the A models it was like we called ourselves the 'Maytag Repairmen' because of the condition we kept those jets in." For crew chiefs like Shown, the F-15A models were a way of life since he came to the 142nd nearly 20 years ago. This sense of ownership he and others in the Fighter Wing take on day after day, kept the fleet of
'A models' clean and in top notch condition all the time.

"We've have had visiting pilots and crews come in from other units from time to time in the past and fly our jet, and would routinely tell us they were the best F-15's they have ever flown. Period", said Shown.

But letting go of these older airframes is all part of the job too. "It was pretty tough to let go of good airplanes when the conversion first began", said Master Sgt. Mark Billmyer. "But we are gaining on the C models and where we did some inspections every 200 hours we now are pushing that to 400 hours." Billmyer first began working on F-14 Tomcats in the Navy before becoming part of the Air Guard and felt the F-15A models had a much higher technological advantage.

Yet as the newer C models arrive and the 142nd will see Golden Eagles make their way to Portland in the future, the sense of losing an old reliable friend was evident as the last careful preflight inspection on aircraft 77-098 was done by Beauchamp, Billmyer and Shown.

The morning was not lost on other members of the 142nd Fighter Wing either as many walked out to the flight line edge to watch the final F-15A take off into the luminous Oregon sky. "It's watching what we have put blood, sweat and tears into and taken great pride in over many years now leave. It's watching a part of us leaving too," said Harris.

Fargo 2009 Airshow

This year's airshow at Fargo proved to be one of the best. Combat aircraft at the show included F/A-18Fs from NSAWC (Top Gun) Fallon NAS, F-16C from South Dakota ANG, and performances by F-15Cs of the Oregon ANG and the F-15E demo and an F-4 heritage flight, as well as the F/A-18C of the Blue Angels. Also, 2 A-10s from Whiteman AFB were present and there was also a single flyby of a Minot AFB B-52H.

Other displays included a C-5 from New York ANG, KC-135 from Grand Forks AFB, C-21 from North Dakota ANG, T-6A, T-38C & T-1A from Columbus AFB, T-45 from NAS Kingsville, and the Predator and Global Hawk, as well as UH-60 Blackhawks and a OH-58.

Extra touches at this show included Mavericks on the A-10s and open gun panels to reveal the 30mm shells. Also one of the F-15Cs was towed into the crowd after its flight, and the cockpit was put on display

Increasing clouds forced the Blue Angels to do a flat show (once again, they were able to do a high show on Sunday). All of the performances seemed to be somewhat reduced in power, I don't know if this was because of the location of the airport in the city, but it was certainly quieter than other airshows.

Photo Set

Air Show History

Here's a bit of air show history, mostly for the benefit of supplementing my memory, but also to add some history to the deficient accounts of the dark pre-internet world.

Rochester, MN, June 26th, 1988

My first airshow, featuring  the USAF Thunderbirds. Static displays were an F-14, apparently from VF-74, and a C-130. In retrospect, this was my only encounter with the F-14 over twenty years, and I regret not seeing one in flight, such as at the 2003 Duluth airshow.

Eau Claire, WI, July 23rd, 1988 

This was a Blue Angels show and set a record for attendance.  I remember a massive amount of traffic. Static displays included an F-16 and F-18.  I've also seen references to an A-10, but I don't remember that one.


Cambridge, MN, August 16th, 1989

This was another USAF Thunderbirds show - a remote one. Strangely this show was on a Wednesday at 2 PM. Looking at the schedule for 1989, the Thunderbirds performed at a different location each weekend day, with apparently some weekdays shows. The show was originally sheduled for Stillwater, but I remember some controversy over it. Cambridge expected 25,000 people, but 60,000 showed up and gridlock got so bad that there was nearly a riot. I don't remember much of that though.

The show was promoted as including an F-14 demo and B-1 and B-52 flybys. The B-1 and B-52 never showed up [1] and I don't remember the F-14 either. But, looking at my photos there was an F-4 flyover, presumably from the Minnesota ANG in Hill II scheme. The advertised C-5 did flyover, from Travis AFB in Euro I camo, and there was a C-130, probably also from the MN AF Reserve.

Mankato, MN , June 6th, 2003

My return to airshows after 14 years was another Thunderbirds performance, a remote one, and probably the last of that type that I'll attend.  There's  just no point if there aren't jets for the static displays and not watching the takeoffs reduces the impact. I hope the Thunderbirds quit scheduling these kind of shows, as they refused a reappearance in 2009.  The weather started producing storms, which fortunately went around Mankato, but resulted in heavy clouds that forced a flat show (I believe there was a full high show on Sunday).  But, the weather forced changes in the flightplan and by the time the Thunderbirds returned to Minneapolis International they were very low on fuel, which is something they don't want to repeat.  The only other event of interest was an F-117 flyover.  Sadly this was my only time to see a Nighthawk before their entombment.  Like the F-14, I should have waited and gone to the Duluth Blue Angels show later in September, and viewed both of these aircraft in full glory before their extermination.


[1] Minneapolis Star & Tribune, 8/17/89 - Bill Sweetman

4th Generation Fighters

Well, it seems that any future funding for the F-22 is dead. Obviously we need to confine spending as much as possible and in as many areas as possible, but it seems that the concessions in the areas of strategic and tactical aircraft are grossly out of proportion. After all, these are what we have used to fight and win battles for the last fifty years. I don't agree with Secretary Gates' view of what our military needs and I believe he is the wrong person for the job. I recently saw the head of the Joint Chiefs agree with Gates, so the new thinking has spread far. Perhaps the idea of fighting two conventional wars is outdated, although given the geopolitics of the last ten years, I think the assumed locations of two wars is still viable. But, I don't think we have fought (or not fought if we are properly prepared) our last conventional war. I think better planning would be for one conventional war with a simultaneous unconventional conflict. Therefore we must continue to advance and procure systems necessary for the possible front-line military engagement.

As for the F-22, the latest controversies have been over 8-12 additional aircraft, in the range of 1 to 2 billion dollars. At a current defense budget of over 700 billion dollars, we are discussing a miniscule part of America's budget. 187 Airframes is simply not going to be enough to fully field the F-22 for several decades. I argue that we should actually procure 200 more. At a top cost of $137 million, we could build 20 per year at $2.7 billion. This is still less than 1/3 of 1 percent of the budget. Surely we can afford this for front-line defense. I believe since the F-22 is already operationally fielded, it should get first funding and the F-35 should be reduced significantly to reduce the overall AF budget.

I recently read an article in Combat Aircraft discussing the "Fighter Gap" by the commander of the Oklahoma Air National Guard. Since the current F-15s and F-16s are being retired so fast, there will not be enough for future Guard use. And since the F-22 and F-35 are so expensive and in small numbers, the Guard won't be seeing those either. His suggestion was one I have been saying for years- its time for new build F-15s and F-16s. They are relatively low cost, and developments over the last ten years could be incorporated into the latest models, making them first-class lethal fighters for several decades.

Whether or not the F-22 could be built in higher numbers, I think more 4th-Generation fighters is the answer, both for future effectiveness and lowering the current defense budget. Unless, of course, we are actually getting something else for our $700 billion. Perhaps the Air Force is actually acquiring rumored YF-24 fighters, or one of numerous other conjectured aircraft. If this is the case, then perhaps the DOD's case for ending the F-14, F-15, F-16, F-22 and the F-117 is accurate. But, that is something we won't know for many years and if we only have the obvious assets and we destroy F-22 tooling and end any hope of future F-15, F-16 or F-22 production, we will have done incredible damaged to our military structure. And the only fix may be starting from square one, a very expensive and lengthy option.

Eau Claire 2008 Airshow

Unfortunately the 2008 Chippewa Valley Airshow was a dismal failure.  The day started out cloudy, so the show was put on hold.  As the day progressed the rain got stronger and after fourhours the event was cancelled, with nothing flying. Very disappointing after driving 150 miles at $4 per gallon of gas.  Not a show I will be attending again.

The show would have consisted of the Blue Angels (F/A-18C), the F-16C Viper East Demo  and the F/A-18F Super Hornet Demo.  Static displays were F-15Cs of the Missouri ANG and a T-38 from Whiteman AFB.

SA-20

Apparently the biggest threat we face is the SA-20 . It seems strange to me that we would retire the F-117 while aware of this threat to 4th generation "conventional" aircraft. I can't help but think that the F-117 was retired because its already been replaced. And not by the F-22, which we simply don't have enough of, or the F-35 which isn't even in sight yet. The F-117 existed in our arsenal for nearly a decade before being revealed to the public. I imagine we have a similar situation now, with a second-generation tactical stealth attack craft available. If its not a F/A type plane, then I would think we at least have a highly capable (deadly) stealth UCAV ready.

As for the SA-20, its fortunate that we have purchased some for evaluation and that they are used in NATO exercises by former Eastern Bloc countries, so we at least have some kind of plan for defeating them.

B-52 begins retirement

The first of 18 B-52H's have been retired for funding reasons. I wonder if the Air Force will have any planes left by the time it gets the F-35.

Duluth 2008 Airshow

Full Photo Album


Ok, so this year didn't go as well as the last show. The Duluth organizers can't seem to get things right. In 2006 they had the wrong start time listed, so I was late - missing the B-2 and The F-16 demonstration. This time traffic at the gate was so congested, I was late again, missing the F-16 takeoff. This show also had less attractions, no B-2, B-52, KC-135 and only one demonstration - the A-10, (vs the F-15 & F-18E last time). This was compounded by bad weather, rain started before the Blue Angels started their performance resulting in a very short demonstration. I was also unable to take a number of photos I wanted to given the rain. Note: the Duluth weathermen are completely incompetent - they predicted clear weather for Saturday afternoon, with rain coming later and continuing through Sunday, but in fact Sunday was clear and they got the Blues' High show. I'm begininng to hate seeing these shows come and go, as the 2003 performers - the F-14 & the F-117- are now lost to history. Fortunately the MN government is working on getting the 148th new F-16s (Block 40) by 2014, so hopefully I'll have many more shows to get up close to their Vipers.

The End Continues

The Air Force retires the F-117

New Aggressor Squadron Activated

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/08/ap_sqaudronchange_070826/

The Beginning of the End

It seems like we're heading towards the end of the glorious fourth generation of fighters quicker and quicker. The first of the F-117s have now been retired. I still don't see how we're going to have enough F-22s to fill the role, since there won't even be enough to replace the F-15.

The Great Train Wreck

Surprise, The US Government finally figured out:


The Air force won't have enough fighters to replace its current force

I still think it would be a good time to buy a few Block 60 Vipers and maybe an upgraded version of the Eagle.

New Aggressors

It seems that we are returning to the combat training era of the 1980s as the Navy and Air Force activate new aggressor squadrons.

First, the Air Force reactivated the 65th AS at Nellis, using F-15s for the first time as an aggressor. Then, they announced a new aggressor squadron would be forming at Eielson AFB in Alaska:


Release No. 030706
July 28,2006

New Aggressor Unit Stands Up in Alaska

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Air Force will activate the 18th Aggressor
Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.

The mission of the 18th Aggressor Squadron is to provide realistic,
combat adversary training in air, space, and information operations.
Aggressor squadrons use enemy tactics, techniques, and procedures to
give a realistic simulation of air combat.

The unit will stand up with 18 F-16 Block 30s and will later expand to
24 fighter aircraft. The squadron will be ready to provide aggressor
training for Red Flag - Alaska exercises in Spring 2007. The squadron
will also support training and exercises throughout the Pacific region
and additional requirements of the 57th Aggressor Tactics Group at
Nellis AFB, Nev.

The designation of the 18th for this Aggressor Squadron continues its
long history in the Pacific.



On October 31st, the Navy created a new unit VFC-111 at Key West NAS, using a previous detachment from VFC-13.

Now, the Air Force is proposing increasing the 64th and 65th AS.

New life for the Raptor

Now that Rumsfeld is finally gone, there may be more hope for the F-22.

Here is an interesting article about the F-117 retirement and the F-22 which suggests exactly what I've been thinking, the F-117 should be upgraded and its service life extended to fill the stealth gap.



Also, the Air Force finally acknowledged the existence of an aggressor program using Soviet fighters:

PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Public Affairs

Release No. 071106
November 13,2006

AF Declassifies Elite Aggressor Program

WASHINGTON - After decades of secrecy, the Air Force today acknowledged that it flew Communist-built fighters at the Tonopah Test Range northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

From 1977 through 1988, the program, known as CONSTANT PEG, saw U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine aircrews flying against Soviet-designed MiG fighters as part of a training program where American pilots could better learn how to defeat or evade the Communist bloc's fighters of the day.

Brigadier General Hawk Carlisle, 3rd Wing commander at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, is a former member of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron who remembers the valuable training the unit provided.

"CONSTANT PEG afforded pilots an opportunity to learn how to fight enemy aircraft in a controlled, safe environment, without having to endure the risks of actual air combat," said Brig. Gen. Carlisle. "Typically a pilot would start with a basic familiarization flight to observe the enemy airplane and study its characteristics, practicing "one-on-one" defensive and offensive maneuvers against it, and finally, experience multi-bogey engagements high over the desert scrubland of the Nellis Air Force Base ranges.

As a result of marginal performance of American fighter forces in the skies over North Vietnam, CONSTANT PEG complemented other revolutionary training programs such as Red Flag, Top Gun and the Air Force and Navy-Marine aggressor squadrons. The program was also intended to eliminate the "buck fever" or nervous excitement many pilots experience on their first few combat missions. Historical experience indicated that pilots who survived their first ten missions were much more likely to survive a complete combat tour, and CONTSTANT PEG was intended to teach them the right "moves" to enable them to come out on top of any engagement.

The end of the CONSTANT PEG nearly coincided with the end of the Cold War, by which time some of its "graduates" had already proven themselves in actual air combat.

Threat aircraft flown by the Red Eagles spanned several decades and technical generations of capability. There was the MiG-17 Fresco, a small, agile single-seat transonic fighter placed in service just after the Korean War and used extensively over Vietnam and the Middle East; the MiG-21 Fishbed, a high supersonic fighter used world-wide in large numbers, and the swing-wing MiG-23 Flogger, likewise in global service, an attempt by the Soviets to match the sophisticated capabilities of the F-4 Phantom.

"Although it came too late to influence Vietnam, CONSTANT PEG training greatly influenced the success of American Airmen in DESERT STORM, who shot down 40 Iraqi fighters, many of which were Fishbeds and Floggers," said Brig Gen. Carlisle.

Note: There will be a press conference at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Nov 16 at 1 p.m. Media interested in covering the press conference should contact the Museum Public Affairs office at 937-255-4704, ext. 332, 333 or 330.

Yet Another F-22 Mission

This article revels yet another use for the F-22, which really does seem to have capabilities far beyond any predecessor. What I find inexplicable however, is that the Air Force expects the F-22 to fill all of its roles. (this is starting to remind me of the Navy and the Superhornet) It if works, great. But The Air Force is only expecting to get 183 airframes, and several of these are allocated to training and tactics development. So, to begin with the F-22 has to replace over 500 F-15Cs in the Air-to-Air role, then it has to support the F-15E and F-16 in the attack role. In addition, the USAF then decided it could take over the role of the F-117 (although, it now appears that the Nightwawk retirement will be pushed back a few years), and now it sees the Raptor assuming the EW role that was left vacant by the EF-111 ten years ago. I fail to see that the Raptor is THAT good, where it will be able to replace over 700 aircraft with these small numbers. My confidence in the DoD to deal with the forthcoming "train wreck" continues to erode.

The 148th Bulldogs

Here's an article I wrote for wikipedia about my "homestate" F-16 unit. After I originally posted it, someone tried to modify it, resulting in complete destruction of the article, but I've now restored it and hope that it stays intact.

Area 51?

Here's an interesting new article by Bill Sweetman about Area 51. Its good to see that Bill's still on the hunt for the elusive Aurora. Its obvious that there has been a fair amount of activity there in the 90s and 2000s, besides Tacit Blue,the Polecat and the Bird of Prey. We still don't know anything about the elusive YF-24 and YF-113G, and there are rumors of a FB-23 prototype, and/or a "Switchblade" fighter. Its interesting that Sweetman thinks that development could be continuing on the A-12, abandonded in 1991 with the $4 Billion prototypes never seen.

Tomcat Sunset

Now that the F-14 is officially and finally retired we move into a new era of aviation, probably the last era of manned fighters. I've been wondering why so many Tomcats were scrapped onsite at Oceana, and why so fast. Beside that apparent fact that many airframes are no longer airworthy, it seems th government is shredding the planes as soon as possible to prevent parts from being smuggled out to Iran. This does not inspire confidence that the F-14 legacy will live on in the form of Flyable airframes that can live on at airshows.

Weapons are not entertainment

This was the sloggan of the protesters at the 2006 Duluth Airshow.