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The Mighty F-15 Eagle

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Valiant1:
The F-15 is one of a handful US fighters that we can all call a true air superiority fighting machine.  It's lineage- the P-51D Mustang and the F-86 Saber are the only two I can put in the same class as the F-15.  Yes, the US had other warbirds just as good - the F4U Corsair and P-47 Thunderbolt.  But the P-51 did encompass everything a fighter should be.

The F-15 came about because of Russia's Mig-25 Foxbat, which some Western analysts say it was loosely based on America's A-5 Vigilante Mach 2+ Recon jet. Maybe...maybe not.  The F-15 looks like it was loosely base on the Mig.  But regardless, what was born was a true fighter, one that is capable of extreme maneuvers that no fighter could have done before.  About the only fighter that could eclipse the F-15 was probably its large stablemate, the F-14 w/its variable geometry wings.

It seems to me the F-15 set that standards, pretty high, for a fighter. Everyone wanted the prize trophy as Top Gun.  Time and wear and tear has caught up with the Eagle. England, Germany, Italy and Spain have their Typhoon, a fighter I truly admire, such an amazing machine - my hats off to those who developed it.  France has their Rafale, Sweden has the Gripen and China has their J-10 (is that correct?) and the Russians have the Flanker line.

 But when I read an article, it's mostly about, whatever nation it is, "we have a plane that's as good or even better than the Eagle."  The way I interpret this is that nations wanted to build a plane that was like the Eagle in every aspect but equally as deadly or deadlier.    In a way, the US should be flattered.  But that should also serve as a sign of the importance of maintaining air superiority in any region because there are nations out there who aren't friendly to the US and are buying these very competent fighters.

It's a good thing that the US had the F-22 Raptor developed,  but is the price of over $100 million per copy worth it?   

Gripen:
alot of these new superfighters (raptor, gripen, rafale, eurofighter, the Russian planes) arent as tough as the Eagle..

I seen this story on some show about the eagle, and they interviewed this Israeli pilot. he was doing exercises and he somehow hit a F-4. the F-4 crashed and the F-15 landed, albeit very difficutly. the pilot looked at his plane and the whole left wing was gone, destroyed, vanished...GONE

so the people that designed the Eagle went to israel and they said that the plane could not have suffered that damage in the air, as it would not be flyable... after reviewing the info from the eagle they realised that the plane could handle things it wasnt meant to do......

Raptor:
Yes. I've seen the pictures of that event. The pilot looked very badly shaken. The wing looked... like someone took to it with a cannon.

The F-15's a great plane. It's regarded as THE best aircraft ever built. People go, like they did with the Sopwith Camel, etc.
'Hey, i've built a plane better than your Mustang'
now it's
'Hey, i've built a plane better than your Eagle! Whoa! I rock!'
Well, maybe not so expressive. With the Raptors coming into the theatre of Air combat, it's likely that the Eagle will in time be merely an export model of aircraft.

Already, the F-15SGs that we're purchasing will beat the living daylights out of and conventional F-15E Strike Eagle. Any day. So, what with new technology pouring into the different areas of the globe, from USA to India, i'd say many people will soon have the right to say 'Hey, i've built a plane better than your Eagle!'

Next up: 'Hey, i've got a plane better than your B-2 and F-22!!!'

Gripen:
when you say "regarded as the best plane ever built"...who does the regarding.. If its from an American person that said it then they could have prejudice against other planes

ask a russian person and they would say the Flanker is...

they need to work out a way of eliminating prejduices- like a majority vote of a commity or somethign!

Gripen:
ive heard that someone put a canard wing layout on a F-15 and called it the F-15MTD or something, it suposedly made it a lot more manuverable and faster??

and also ive heard they modified a F-16 with a delta wing and called it F-16X or somethign

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