Holloman had just received the new F-15A Eagle and didn’t know how to use them yet, thus, the old hats in the F-4s cleaned house on them. Sadly, the markings did not stay on very long.
Originally taken by famous aviation author and photographer Bill Spidle on the NAS Dallas ramp shortly after VF-202 F-4N fighters returned from a detachment to Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), the unique photos in this post feature some Superheats Phantom with several F-15 kill marks.
Holloman had just received the new F-15A Eagle and didn’t know how to use them yet, thus, the old hats in the F-4s cleaned house on them. Sadly, the markings did not stay on very long.
Unfortunately, according to Spidle, the only story we got from the crews is that “They flew the Eagles like the Phantoms, no self respecting Phantom driver does not know how to defeat a Phantom.”
A reader of The Aviation Geek Club, who wishes to remain anonymous, pretty much said the same thing: “Bill Spidle shot those on the NAS Dallas ramp shortly after the jets returned from a Det to Holloman. HO had just gotten Eagles, and didn’t know how to use them yet, the old hats in the F-4s cleaned house on them. Markings did not stay on very long.”
Noteworthy this is not the first story that appears on this site in which pilots of the then new F-15 Eagle underestimated their opponents.
Several months ago, we reported of another interesting episode in which 2 experienced F-104 Starfighter drivers scored four simulated kills against a brand-new F-15B from 555th Fighter Squadron “Triple Nickel” based at Luke AFB in a single training sortie (you can read the whole story here).
Andy Bush, one of the Starfighter pilots and former instructor of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Fighter Weapons School (FWS) who took part in the dissimilar air combat training (DACT) sortie flown against Luke’s Eagle, recalled in the aftermath of the mock dogfight:
“The debriefing was a hoot. I especially liked the part where the Nickle guy played his recorder and we heard the backseater say “Break, we just got gunned again!”
“Of course, all of this should not have happened. The F-15 should have had us for lunch. But they didn’t, and it was all because they didn’t play to their strengths…and they severely underestimated their opponents. They didn’t do that again and that was a good thing.”
Photo credit: Bill Spidle
