Silver anniversary of the Streak Eagle

On 16 January 1975, at Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota, Major Roger Smith taxied a highly modified F-15A in the arctic-like temperatures calculated to give the ideal atmospheric conditions for his flight.
This F-15A (actually the 19th pre-production aircraft, tail number 72-119) had been modified to become the one-off Streak Eagle. Stripped of paint (saving 50-lb in weight) the aircraft also had all weaponry, non-critical systems and even the tailhook removed. Project Streak Eagle engineers and groundcrews also modified revised the oxygen system, and added support equipment for the full pressure suit worn by the pilot.
The resulting Streak Eagle was powered by Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-100 engines that produced more thrust than the aircraft’s basic weight.
To ensure the most rapid take off, an explosive bolt was fabricated and attached to a steel cable ‘tether’. This innovative strap system tethered the aircraft to the Grand Forks runway until full afterburner was engaged, launching the pilot to rotation speed within three seconds.
The goal was to break a series of time-to-climb records, some of them set by the Soviet Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’.
Between 16 January and 1 February 1975, the F-15A set eight records. In setting the last of these, the Streak Eagle reached an altitude of 98,425 feet just 3 minutes, and 27.8 seconds after brake release, “coasting” to nearly 103,000 feet before descending.
By achieving these records under scrutiny of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the United States broadcast its technological superiority on a world stage. Project Streak Eagle wasn’t just about pride and recruitment, it was a psychological tool in a strategy of integrated deterrence.
As an early pre-production aircraft the Streak Eagle differed in internal structure and systems, and this made it too costly to return to operational service. After brief use as a test aircraft, during which McDonnell Douglas Corp. re-painted it in the then standard grey colour scheme of operational F-15As (to protect it from corrosion), the Streak Eagle was delivered to the National Museum of the US Air Force in December 1980.
Eleven years later, most of the Streak Eagle’s records were broken by a similarly stripped pre-production Sukhoi Su-27 (the T-10S-3), designated as the P-42.