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Feb. 1, 1975: the F-15 Streak Eagle reaches an altitude of 30,000 meters breaking vertical time-to-climb record
Under arctic temps that also bring ideal atmospheric conditions for flight, Maj. Roger Smith taxied a highly modified F-15A Streak Eagle with tail number 72-119 to the runway at Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB), North Dakota, with one goal in mind: to break vertical time-to-climb records.
As told by Lea Greene, 319 Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs, in the article 49 years later, the F-15 Streak Eagle record still a story of air dominance, it was Jan. 16, 1975, amid the Cold War as the Air Force sought to show off its technological superiority and air dominance to the world.
In 1969, it was announced that McDonnell Douglas had been selected as the prime airframe contractor of a new fighter for the USAF, the F-15. The F-15 is the dominant air superiority fighter in the world and its creation revolutionized the face of fighter design. The first F-15A flight was made in July of 1972.
The ‘Streak Eagle’ was the 19th preproduction F-15 called ‘F-17.’
Stripped of 50 pounds of paint, the bare “Streak Eagle” was powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100 engines producing more thrust than the aircraft’s basic weight. After removing all weaponry, noncritical systems and the tailhook, Project Streak Eagle crews revised the oxygen system, added support equipment for the full pressure suit worn by the pilots and fabricated an explosive bolt attached to steel cable. This innovative strap system held the aircraft down to the Grand Forks AFB runway until full afterburner before releasing — launching pilot Smith into rotation speed within 3 seconds.
F-15 Streak Eagle reaching an altitude of 30,000 meters
The changes meant that Streak Eagle was 1,800lb or 817kg lighter than a production F-15A and, to ensure the best performance, only the correct amount of fuel for the attempt would fill the Eagle’s tanks. It was estimated that the Streak Eagle had a thrust-to-weight ratio of around 1.5:1.
Even though there were several unsuccessful runs in between, perseverance won as the two-week series of climbs broke eight world records (Five of these records were held by the F-15’s predecessor, the F-4 Phantom II, from 1962, while the higher-altitude ones were held by the Soviets with their Foxbat). Finally, on Feb. 1, 1975, Smith reached an altitude of 30,000 meters (over 18.6 miles) within three minutes and 45 seconds, proving global air dominance.
By achieving these records under scrutiny of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the United States broadcast its technological superiority on a world stage. Project Streak Eagle wasn’t just about pride and recruitment, it was a psychological tool in a strategy of integrated deterrence.
On display at the USAF Museum
As told by Bertie Simmonds in his book F-15 Eagle, these records would prove to be a significant PR coup for both the USAF and McDonnell Douglas. So successful were the records set that they wouldn’t fall until the 1980s, when — between 1986 and 1988 — a similarly stripped Sukhoi SU-27/T-10 (or P-42 as it was known) bettered the records, apparently boasting an almost 2:1 thrust-to-weight ratio!
According to the article Flashback: McDonnell Douglas F-15A Streak Eagle By Dennis R. Jenkins, Air Force Materiel Command History Office, there was consideration given to further modifying Streak Eagle, including using more powerful production engines, and making another attempt, but this never materialized. Like the other Category II test aircraft, 72-119 was to have been brought up to production standards and sent to an operational squadron, however the sale of four of the eight aircraft to Israel, and the amount of work needed on F17, made this impractical, and the plan was abandoned.
Streak Eagle was turned over to the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) in Dec. 1980 where, to protect it from corrosion, it was painted in a Compass Ghost scheme utilizing two-tones of blue instead of the normal grey. Beginning in Jan. 2021, the aircraft began a full restoration into to the record flights configuration and was placed on display at the NMUSAF in 2024.
Grand Forks still pushing boundaries 50 years later
Nearly five decades later, air crews at Grand Forks Air Force Base still push boundaries of aircraft capabilities by utilizing the RQ-4B Global Hawk in new ways to collect and conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The 348th Reconnaissance Squadron set a new airframe and unit record when they stopped the clock at a record-breaking 34.8 hours in flight while conducting a tactics, techniques and procedures training sortie with an RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 40 on Apr. 3, 2024.
Pilots accomplished the longer flight time by executing small climbs and keeping the engine at an optimized burn rate. This technique allowed more loiter time on station, resulting in additional hours of collection for combatant commanders.
This flight’s time tops the unit’s previous endurance flight, also set by 348th RS on Mar. 29, 2014, with a 34.4-hour flight known as “Lady Hawk” which was conducted by an all-female crew in recognition of Women’s History Month. It also surpassed Northrop Grumman’s official Federation Aeronautique Internationale March 2001 record of 30 hours, 24-minute flight with an earlier model of the RQ-4.
F-15 Eagle is published by Mortons Books and is available to order here.
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force
