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F-15C Eagle Could Be Scorching Treetops With Those Blazing Afterburners

People often get glimpses of military aircraft passing overhead, but most of the time they’re too far away to make an impression. For that, and some thrills, you can always make your way to an air show, or enjoy the images released by the U.S. Air Force (USAF), showing these machines in full combat overalls.
F-15c Eagle 14 photos
Photo: USAF/Staff Sgt. Christian Conrad
F-15E Strike EaglesF-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15F-15
That’s what you’re looking at here, in the main photo of this piece. You’re seeing a loaded F-15C Eagle deployed with the Kadena Air Base in Japan, taking off from the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska in mid-August.

That’s when fighter jets from the U.S. and Australia traveled all the way to the American north to take part in simulated air combat scenarios meant to “refine air tactics and joint operations.”

As usual when such exercises occur, while pilots were looking to mock-shoot each other down, others were looking to shoot all planes with cameras, and get incredible instances. Kind of like this one, showing the Eagle at treetop level, its afterburners at max power as the jet was just leaving the runway.

Those flames come at the end of the plane’s nozzles as they’re pushed by the two Pratt & Whitney engines fitted in there, capable of generating 29,000 lb (13,154 kg) of thrust with the afterburners blazing.

The same powerplants give the F-15 in general the capability of reaching a top speed of 1,875 mph (3,017 kph), which is close to two and a half times the speed of sound. The plane can keep going for distances of up to 1,381 miles (2,222 km) and at altitudes of up to 60,000 feet (18.2 km).

The fighter can carry an assortment of weapons that can be used in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. The F-15C variant, for instance, can carry AMRAAM, Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles, but also a 20 mm cannon.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows other F-15s.

About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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