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syscom3
Pacific Historian
The F15 Eagle turns 50!
On July 27, 1972, McDonnell Douglas Chief Experimental Test Pilot Irving L. Burrows made the first flight of the prototype YF-15A-1-MC Eagle, 71-0280, at Edwards AFB, California. The most successful fighter aircraft of all time in terms of lethality and longevity. F-15 Eagles, with considerable upgrades in avionics, weaponry, and engines, are still being built, and remain lethal opponents in the sky fifty years later. Eagles in air-to-air combat have shot down 104 opponents; the next Eagle to be defeated by an aerial opponent will be the first.
On July 27, 1972, McDonnell Douglas Chief Experimental Test Pilot Irving L. Burrows made the first flight of the prototype YF-15A-1-MC Eagle, 71-0280, at Edwards AFB, California. The most successful fighter aircraft of all time in terms of lethality and longevity. F-15 Eagles, with considerable upgrades in avionics, weaponry, and engines, are still being built, and remain lethal opponents in the sky fifty years later. Eagles in air-to-air combat have shot down 104 opponents; the next Eagle to be defeated by an aerial opponent will be the first.