[Fantasy] "Fairchild-Republic F-15 Eagle"

[Robert]

If Fairchild had won the USAF FX competition instead of McDonnell Douglas, the F-15 Eagle would have been a rather different aircraft than the one we know. Here's my take on a "Fairchild-Republic F-15A Eagle."

 

[Antonio]

Love that fighter, thanks a lot!

Antonio

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Be nice to do the Rockwell design too (hint hint)

 

[Robert]

Be nice to do the Rockwell design too (hint hint)

Didn't Sentinel Chicken already do that?


Anyway, here's a two-seater prototype...

 

[Pioneer]

I have always loved (and preferred) the Fairchild-Republic FX design proposal (for what little info there is!!)
What about doing a two-seater Strike Eagle variant profile gents? ;D ;D

Regards
Pioneer

 

[flateric]

Forward fuselage profile reminds me something very much...

 

[Robert]

I might do a Strike Eagle, although I have something a bit different in mind...

Here's another two-seater, same aircraft but modified with LERX and 2-D thrust vectoring nozzles for the NASA ACTIVE program.

 

[Rickshaw]

An engine out on that design would be very interesting for the pilot.

 

[Robert]

Another two-seater, this time in the special Bicentennial paint scheme.

 

[sferrin]

An engine out on that design would be very interesting for the pilot.

Not much different than a Tomcat I'd think.

 

[sferrin]

Forward fuselage profile reminds me something very much...

Scoot the engines in some, cut the inakes back so they're beneath the fuselage and give it two tails instead of one.

 

[Ranger6]

Be nice to do the Rockwell design too (hint hint)

...And a couple in foreign colors (Japan, Israel, Saudi)!

R6

 

[frank]

Obvjously, it would've been designated F-15, but necessarily named Eagle, tho?

If Fairchild had won the USAF FX competition instead of McDonnell Douglas, the F-15 Eagle would have been a rather different aircraft than the one we know. Here's my take on a "Fairchild-Republic F-15A Eagle."

 

[Robert]

...And a couple in foreign colors (Japan, Israel, Saudi)!

R6

Here's two out of three: USAF 65th Aggressor Squadron, Royal Saudi Air Force and JASDF Aggressor.

 

[Robert]

Obvjously, it would've been designated F-15, but necessarily named Eagle, tho?

Correct, the F-15 designation was reserved for the winner of the FX program. Not sure off the top of my head where the "Eagle" name originated from, but I decided to stick with it; it started the short-lived trend of naming USAF fighters after birds of prey (Eagle, Fighting Falcon).

 

[frank]

And (Raptor)?

Obvjously, it would've been designated F-15, but necessarily named Eagle, tho?

Correct, the F-15 designation was reserved for the winner of the FX program. Not sure off the top of my head where the "Eagle" name originated from, but I decided to stick with it; it started the short-lived trend of naming USAF fighters after birds of prey (Eagle, Fighting Falcon).

 

[Abraham Gubler]

The F-15 was formally named the ‘Eagle’ in the lead up to its 1976 introduction into operational service. I would imagine, no evidence – just conjecture, that the name would have stemmed from the churning of nationalism in the lead up to the USA’s Bicentennial. In such an environment naming a new, impressive fighter after the national animal symbol, the Bald Eagle, would have been natural.

Source: http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avf15_1.html

The F-16 received its name courtesy of a name-the-plane competition being won by Tech Sgt Joseph Kurdell.

Source: http://www.f-16.net/articles_article10.html

The F-22 received its name as a suggestion by the then USAF CoS’s wife (Gen. Fogleman). Raptor was seen as a good generic name that would cover a range of hunting birds. Of course they didn’t realise that Steven Spielberg’s film Jurassic Park had changed the common meaning of the name Raptor to mean the dinosaur Velociraptor. Also Raptor or Raptus is Latin for ‘Thief’, ‘Siezure’ and ‘Rape’ which is probably what US appropiators think about its cost, and Lockheed Martin where Ben Rich famously suggested they would have made more money investing in CDs rather than the ATF program.

 

[Pyrrhic victory]

Would have made a good 'Thunderbolt II'. Well, better than the hog at least.

 

[frank]

My thought, too.

Would have made a good 'Thunderbolt II'. Well, better than the hog at least.

 

[Triton]

I wonder if Fairchild-Republic would have named the F-15 the Thunderbird or would this name have been rejected because it's the same as the USAF demonstration team? Thunderstreak II namded for the F-84F?

Question, does the Department of Air Force name aircraft or is it the manufacturer?

 

[CFE]

The F-16 received its name courtesy of a name-the-plane competition being won by Tech Sgt Joseph Kurdell.

Source: http://www.f-16.net/articles_article10.html

The F-16 program had progressed so long w/o an official name that the "Viper" moniker actually originated before the official "Fighting Falcon" name. Chalk that one up to the pilots' obsession with old-school Battlestar Galactica.

But "Fighting Falcon" wasn't the first attempt at an official name. "Mustang II" and "Condor" had both been proposed in the past. An issue of "Scale Modeler" magazine from the late 70's went so far as putting "F-16 Condor" as the title of its cover story. I hope we see the Condor name used again, although it's more apropos for a cargo or tanker aircraft (like the An-124's NATO reporting name of Condor.)

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Question, does the Department of Air Force name aircraft or is it the manufacturer?

The Chief of the Staff of the Air Force names the aircraft. This topic is covered by quite a few posts in the designations forum.

 

[PlanesPictures]

Now I'm playing with this project and I see it so. Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, McDonnel Douglas F-15 Eagle. Fairchild Republic F-15 ThunderEagle