March Field AirFest

To me, there aren’t many things cooler than watching an aircraft in flight…especially when that aircraft is one of the premiere fighter planes in the U.S. Air Force.

The F-15E Strike Eagle is, in my opinion, one of the coolest planes ever created. When I was a kid, I had a poster of an F-15E on my bedroom wall. Funny thing is, I’ve never actually seen one in flight, so I’m super-fired-up about the F-15E Strike Eagle demonstration during Air Fest 2010! Maybe I’m a bit of a plane nerd, but gimme a break. I mean, check out how awesome this aircraft actually is:

The F-15E is a dual-role fighter, which means it can perform air-to-air or air-to-ground combat missions. It can fight its way into a target over long ranges, destroy enemy ground positions, and then fight its way back out. That’s the Air Force definition of multi-tasking!

In combat, the F-15E can carry almost every weapon in the Air Force inventory, as well as several air-to-air missiles. It also has an internally mounted 20mm gun that can carry up to 500 rounds of ammo…plenty of firepower!

Not only is this plane a potent weapon in combat; it also has some big-time performance credentials. It has the capability to accelerate from idle power to full afterburner in less than four seconds! Its engines can produce up to 58,000 pounds of thrust…that’s an awful lot of horsepower. In fact, the F-15 was the first ever U.S. operational aircraft with the ability to accelerate while in a vertical climb straight up!

The F-15E is a two-seater aircraft, with a pilot and a weapons system officer in the cockpit. While the pilot is doing the flying, the weapons system officer is in charge of monitoring aircraft weapons status, selecting targets and using an electronic “moving map” to navigate.

The F-15E demonstration aircraft is flown by Maj. Mike “Cash” Maeder. In the backseat is the aircraft weapons system officer, Capt. John “Gizmo” Cox. These two fliers show off the mighty F-15E Strike Eagle to more than 7 million people at approximately 65 shows around the world…and this year, we’re lucky enough to see them strut their stuff at Air Fest 2010! And, I’ll FINALLY get to see this plane in the air! How cool is that?

Zach
4th Air Force Public Affairs | March Air Reserve Base