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Fighting Cocks F-15C Eagles Put on a Peaceful Show Over Japan

It’s amazing how some machines that were designed to hunt and kill can look so serene when not engaged in battle. That’s probably the case with all predators, as even lions are cute and cuddly when not threatened or hungry, but you’d expect a human-made fighter to be much colder and visually unappealing.
F-15C Eagles over Japan 16 photos
Photo: USAF/Airman 1st Class Moses Taylor
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That’s not what’s happening with the two F-15C Eagles we have here, airplanes that look anything but deadly and cold when not engaged in battle, but flying instead in the partially clear skies they call home. The Eagle, initially designed by McDonnell Douglas, is in essence a tactical fighter, and we’ve seen some ugly machines designed for the same purpose, as beauty it’s not necessarily a battle-required trait.

It seems to be for the Eagles though, and their beauty is best seen when a camera captures the sleek silhouette of not one, but two such machines, slightly banked, with clear blue sky and white specks of clouds in the background.

The Eagles seen here are deployed with the 67th Fighter Squadron, also known as the Fighting Cocks. The unit, created back in 1941, is part of the 18th Operations Group and calls home the Kadena Air Base in Japan.

The Cocks are one of just two squadrons in the Western Pacific to fly Eagles and have been in the area since 1943. The squadron took part in fights since 1944, providing escort for allied transport and bombers, and later was saw action during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Over the years, the 67th used a variety of military aircraft, starting with the Seversky P-35 and Curtiss P-36 Hawk, and ending with the F-4 Phantom and the Eagle. The latter has been used by the pilots of the unit ever since it came into service at the end of the 1970s.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows the Boeing F-15EX.

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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