Presentation Strike Eagle

[Old Viper Tester]

Around 2001, I was working in the F-15 System Program Office (in the USAF, the notorious SPO) we were responsible for the acquisition of F-15s and related upgrades. I was the chief of the test division. Like most units in the US military, parting gifts are bestowed to those leaving the office in good stead, be it retirement or transfer to another unit. Most units, as a minimum, give the departee what has become known as the "crumby squadron plaque", often a metal unit shield on a piece of wood with a brass plate engraved with the person's name and dates of service with the unit. For a long time, the F-15 SPO crumby squadron plaque was an 8"x10" framed mirror with half of a solid model F-15A affixed to the mirror with the appropriate brass plate. Certainly more distinctive than the unit emblem, which in our case was pretty weak anyway.

 

One of my test managers was leaving the office for the F-16 SPO (oh the gall), and I decided he deserved something more than a crumby squadron plaque. This was the result:

 

one of my prior crumby squadron plaques in the background...

 

It's a Revell 1/48 Kit with stores from the Hasegawa weapons sets. The white data instrumentation pod is a cut down AIM-9.

 

Orange is the typical color denoting a piece of equipment that has been modified for test purposes, in other words, don't mess with it unless you really know what you're doing. In the image above, the orange patches replicate the sheet metal coverings for the empty cannon bay on the actual aircraft. The orange portions on the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition below, indicate an instrumented weapon - usually one with inertial measuring devices and telemetry units to send data back to mission control.

 

 

The markings are home made, printed on Experts Choice laser decal paper. The unit markings are for a jet with the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin AFB.

 

The airframe itself is built OOB with the cockpit details omitted. The fuselage is filled with expanding insulating foam to give it some rigidity. A wooden block is epoxied inside on the keel  to give the brass pins in the acrylic stand something to hold on to.

 

All paints are ModelMaster enamels. The orange patches on the underside represent mounting plates use for carrying stores separation cameras.

 

Pin wash is Paine's Grey oils.

 

Of course after this, others in the office were asking me to make other models for people leaving. I did quite a few, and at one point I was making models for the office and not putting a dent in my own expanding stash. I eventually put a stop to it (after about ten years!) but I did do one just before I retired a couple of years ago, an F-15QA. I've got images of that around here somewhere!

 

Thanks for looking,

Sven

 

[Cookenbacher]

That's way better than a crumby plaque and I can see why your models enjoyed a decade of popularity - so cool. Let's see the F-15QA!

[Lord Riot]

Superb Eagle! And it sounds like you had possibly one of the best jobs imaginable! Just behind professional sport or designing paint and markings schemes for military jets.

 

Seriously though, that sounds amazing. Did you get to recommend how many F-15s the USAF could have? 

[Old Viper Tester]

20 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

Did you get to recommend how many F-15s the USAF could have?

I took care of F-15 testing almost exclusively. I either budgeted for testing or recommended to program managers what to budget for testing - finance stuff was probably the worst part of the job. People in my office, in conjunction with McAir/Boeing, determined the required scope and schedule of testing for all of the F-15 upgrades. In recent years these were mostly software upgrades to the aircraft and, more importantly, the radar.

 

Number of aircraft was pretty much up to Air Combat Command, and previous to that, Tactical Air Command. That's where all the negotiating took place between numbers of A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F-22s, and most recently F-35s. They also determine how long these aircraft will remain in service. It's all one big trading game bounded by how much funding is expected each year. Not as exciting as it sounds😄.

 

Being on the test side of things was great for an aircraft geek like myself to see what capabilities were being considered, what was actually bought, and then to see how it worked long before it went to the field. Still wasn't as exciting as actually executing the testing - that was between Boeing and the USAF test wing guys. I used to do that for F-16s and A-10s at Edwards AFB before coming to the SPO, but flying a desk is one of the draw backs of career progression. Being a glutton for punishment, and wanting stability for the family, when I retired from active duty, I came back to the same job as a civilian. As I used to tell my charges, it's rough when you find that all that you are qualified for is what you've been doing all along!

 

Apologies for the blather of a reply,

Sven

Edited November 1, 2018 by Old Viper Tester
added info

[Lord Riot]

Thanks Sven, it sounds like an amazing career. I hope the A-10, F-15 and F-16 are around for a good few years yet. 

[giemme]

1 hour ago, Cookenbacher said:

That's way better than a crumby plaque and I can see why your models enjoyed a decade of popularity - so cool. Let's see the F-15QA!

Totally agree with Cookie, on all accounts!  That includes the request of seeing the F-15QA

And as usual, I find your insights interesting and fascinating

 

Just one question about the model, if you don't mind me asking: why the choice of blanking out the canopy?

 

Ciao

[Old Viper Tester]

This post is a balk.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Old Viper Tester

[Old Viper Tester]

30 minutes ago, giemme said:

why the choice of blanking out the canopy?

A couple of reasons:

- People who flew these jets would be seeing them - don't need them picking apart the inaccuracies or out-of-date configuration of the Revell cockpit.

- Would have had to invest in crew figures. I could have recouped the cost for people in other divisions of the SPO, but I was paying for these myself when it came to people in the test division.

- The painted over canopy matched the other "desk" models that one often sees around the offices from the museum gift shop or the Boeing store.

- Going without the cockpit saved some time.

 

A couple of years ago I packed up about ten sets of F-15E innards and sent them to a guy on one of these forums. I usually only model 1/72 and didn't need a bunch of 1/48 stuff adding to my clutter.

 

I did do a cockpit on an F-4D for a program manager retiring out of Boeing a couple of years ago. He was an ex-POW and had been shot down in an F-4D. Couldn't believe Boeing couldn't come up with a Phantom model. Ended up doing the Monogram kit in the markings of the jet that was shot down. Test pilot from Boeing-St Louis calls me and says "I hear you build models...."

[giemme]

Thanks Keith, it all makes perfect sense

 

Ciao

[jefropas]

Awesome build! I just shot 185 in September at Volk Field for a few days, great looking jet! It's on my future build list as well.

 

Jeff

[whiskey]

Fantastic Strike Eagle Sven to go along with more of your amazing stories and pictures. We all really appreciate you sharing everything!

[Spitfire31]

A mightily impressive Eagle!

 

For this purpose, I even think that a blanked-off cockpit looks better.

 

Superb work, no doubt highly appreciated by the recipient.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[F-32]

Very cool indeed