“It died; I say died because that’s how it feels.”-Master Sergeant Charles Fleek, Oregon Air National Guard, talking about tail number 78-0511, one of the lucky F-15Cs that actually flew under its own power to The Boneyard, in April 2022

Just a few months before the 50th Anniversary of the first flight what is probably the best combat aircraft ever employed by the U.S. Air Force, the state of Oregon decided to cannibalize one of its F-15Cs.

It is no April Fool’s Joke, after stripping the F-15C of usable parts, on 01APR2022, personnel with Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing loaded the worn out Eagle onto a flatbed trailer, to be hauled-off to the ‘Boneyard’ of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Arizona.

On 13SEP2022, the Oregon Air National Guard revealed that, after 24 years of service, all its F-15C Eagles were on the chopping block!  Not all of them; on 11SEP2022, eight Oregon Eagles were transferred to the Israeli air force, under the guise of Foreign Military Sales (which are usually taxpayer subsidized).

In July 2022, tail number 78-0515 was sent to work for NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration). It is hoped that most of the Eagles will end up with the National Museum of the United States Air Force, for public displays, however, the reality is most will end up in the Boneyard.

Oregon’s 173rd FW has operated the A, B, C and D version of the undefeated-in-combat Eagle.  But wait, it’s not over for Oregon Eagles after all; the retiring F-15Cs are being replaced with the new build F-15EX.

Oregon Eagles:

PANDEMIC OVERFLIGHT, THE SANDMAN ENTERS

 NEW TAIL FEATHERS FOR OREGON EAGLE, B-17 BOMBER STYLE! PLUS, MINI-EAGLE, KAWAII!

Oregon deploys to Finland

F-15 50th Anniversary:  DESERT STORM FIRST BLOOD FOR USAF, THE NEVER ENDING TAR BABY CALLED IRAQ!