The Eagle has landed: 1st ever F-15C inducted to Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
August 16, 2025
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has welcomed a McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle to its collection. It’s the first time an F-15 has been displayed in the collection, and it is a testament to the historical significance of this fighter jet.
The Smithsonian hasn’t inducted just any F-15C Eagle, but one with serial number 85-0114, which achieved two aerial victories against Iraqi MiG fighters during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
While the sleek, twin-tailed silhouette already commands the reverence of aviation aficionados, it’s the stories written into its skin that elevate it into legend.
For decades, this jet soared above the clouds with a single, unwavering mission: air superiority. But 85-0114 is more than steel, circuits, and supersonic power. It is a time capsule of courage, skill, and near-mythical precision.
The F-15’s journey from battlefield to museum floor
On March 26, 2025, the US Air Force officially retired the F-15C Eagle from its active-duty inventory, ending more than four decades of unmatched service. The announcement came from Kadena Air Base in Japan, where the Eagle had served as a cornerstone of air dominance in the Pacific.
“We are thrilled to accept the F-15C into the museum’s collection,” said Dr. Michael Hankins, modern military curator at the Smithsonian. “The Eagle is one of the most iconic American fighter aircraft of the last 50 years, and this particular F-15 has powerful stories to tell.”
How convenient when a new artifact can fly itself in! A McDonnell Douglas F-15C just arrived at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to join our collection.
— National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) August 13, 2025
The F-15 Eagle is one of the most historically significant fighter aircraft since World War II, in part because of its combat… pic.twitter.com/Q6TruYqnXa
On August 13th, the aircraft rolled into its new home at the Udvar-Hazy Centre, just a stone’s throw from Dulles Airport. It came not with fanfare but with solemn pride. Soon, it will go on public display, a gleaming testament to one of the most unbeaten aircraft in aerial combat history.
The F-15’s record speaks for itself: more than 100 enemy aircraft downed in air-to-air combat, and not a single Eagle lost to enemy action. The kind of perfection only a few machines and fewer men can claim.
And among those men is Cesar “Rico” Rodriguez.
A dream of flying a ‘badass’ plane
Long before he was duelling MiGs over the Iraqi desert, Rodriguez was a young airman who nearly didn’t make it through training. “You kinda suck,” one of his instructors bluntly told him after a particularly rough flight in a T-37 trainer jet.
But that same instructor didn’t give up on him. They devised a plan. Rico doubled down on training, endured the G-forces, and carved his way toward fighter pilot status.
The F-15 wasn’t of particular interest to Rodriguez until he went to an airshow and saw an Eagle up close for the first time. “I thought, ‘Wow, that looks pretty badass,’ and that became my goal,” he says.
Rodriguez eventually got his wings in 1982. The first time he started up an F-15, it wasn’t just a checklist moment-it was communion.
“You just started to feel this raw power… It talked to you,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “All the aerodynamics of the F-15 came to play, and you could feel it. It was really an amazing experience.”
By 1991, he was flying with the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron. War was no longer a hypothetical. Operation Desert Storm had begun.
January 19, 1991: Duel over the desert
In January 1991, Rodriguez found himself flying escort for a bombing mission when a call came over the radio: MiGs were incoming.
It was classic Cold War drama rendered in real-time. The Soviet-designed MiG-29 Fulcrum, Iraq’s most advanced fighter, was going nose-to-nose with America’s most formidable jet, the Eagle.
Rodriguez and his wingman, Captain Craig “Mole” Underhill, turned to engage. The F-15 was soon caught in a dogfight, the two aircraft chasing tails in a downward spiral. Travelling at nearly 600 miles an hour, the fight had begun at just 8,000 feet and was rapidly heading towards the desert floor.
As the MiG pilot tried a desperate Split-S manoeuvre to escape, he fatally miscalculated his altitude. The Soviet fighter slammed into the desert in a fireball. Rodriguez hadn’t fired a single shot. But he had won.
Exactly one week later, Rodriguez was back in 85-0114 and downed another MiG, this time with an AIM-7 Sparrow missile in a coordinated strike with his squadron.
“114 needs to be my jet”
Military pilots rarely get attached to a specific aircraft. Rotations, repairs, and operational schedules mean you fly what’s available. But Rodriguez couldn’t help but notice the pattern.
Both kills had been in the same jet. Rodriguez didn’t notice “until we got home and the crew chiefs put two stars on the airplane.” At that point, he thought, “Wow, 114 needs to be my airplane when we get done with this war!”
Later that same year, 85-0114 went back into the rotation. It would go on to serve with distinction in the Pacific theatre with the 44th Fighter Squadron, and later as part of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 114th Fighter Squadron. That jet was more than a number on a fuselage. It was a legacy in flight.
As for Rodriguez, he would earn a third kill when he took out a MiG-29 over Serbia in 1999, making him one of only four Americans since Vietnam to come within reach of the coveted “ace” status.
Now retired as a Colonel, Rodriguez doesn’t fly combat missions anymore. But standing next to 85-0114 at the Smithsonian, he still feels the bond. “Whenever I did get to fly 114, there was just that little extra spark, that little extra jump in my step,” he said.
“This aircraft isn’t just a fighter jet, it’s a story of teamwork,” Rodriguez said. “So many different individuals and career fields touched 114… loaders, maintainers, security. It should mean something to all of us, and I know it does.”
A piece of US Air Force history preserved for future generations
The F-15C Eagle is an engineering marvel.
With a top speed of Mach 2.5, twin engines that deliver thrust greater than its weight, and the capability to climb vertically while accelerating, it redefined aerial combat.
Its radar could track enemies from beyond visual range. Its avionics suite allowed pilots to fight without ever taking their eyes off the sky. It remains unbeaten in air-to-air combat.
But now, as the US Air Force retires the last of its F-15C fleet, the Smithsonian’s decision to preserve 85-0114 ensures that the story of the Eagle will remain alive, not just in textbooks or documentaries, but in full-scale, living history.
A little boy staring up at its sharp nose will ask his parent, “Did it really go that fast?”
A former crew chief might whisper under his breath, “I worked on that bird.”
And maybe, just maybe, a young cadet will look at its twin tails and think, “I want to fly something like that someday.”
Now encased in the reverent stillness of the Udvar-Hazy Centre, the F-15C Eagle doesn’t roar anymore. But make no mistake, it still speaks.
