F-15 West Coast Demo team kicks off season with historic practice

  • Published
  • By Chrissy Cuttita
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The F-15 West Coast Demo team recently took off for their 26th season with an air show practice and will land four shows later to mark the end of the of F-15 Eagle demo teams.

The demo team consisted of state of the art and historic military aircraft from around the country that flew at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. They attended the Air Combat Command's annual Heritage Flight Conference March 4-8. While there, they prepared for the upcoming air season, practicing with other teams, civilian and military.

"Each ACC Demonstration Team had the opportunity to practice a full demonstration flight, as well as a two-, three- or four-ship Heritage Flight, just as we will on the road this summer," said Capt. Sam Joplin, the F-15's team pilot who has flown in the conference before.

This conference gave the team an opportunity to fly alongside other ACC flying demonstration aircraft included the A-10 Thunderbolt II, the F-15E Strike Eagle, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-22 Raptor. The historic aircraft that flew were the P-51 Mustang, A-1 Sky Raider, F-4 Phantom II, P-40 Warhawk, and F-86 Sabre.

Along with the demo pilot, the team consists of a safety observer and nine maintainers. Four to five of those maintainers travel with the team for every performance.

For Captain Joplin, self-proclaimed aviation and Air Force history buff, the Heritage Flight represented both of his interests.

"Flying in precise formation with, for instance, a WWII-era P-51 is challenging, but the exceptional flying qualities of the F-15 make it very safe," Captain Joplin said. "The difficult part for me is the transition from the high-speed, high-g demonstration flight, to the slow and graceful Heritage Flight. I have to verbally calm myself down, take a breath, and relax."

According a story posted on Davis-Monthan's website, the base also hosted visitors from the base and surrounding community on one of the days so demonstration teams had an audience of approximately 300 people.

Currently all team members are getting military orders to other duty assignments as the team prepares to stand down with the last performance at the 33rd Fighter Wing Nomad Reunion May 1. After this event, the Air Force will no longer have an F-15C demo team.

For more information on the team, including demonstration schedule, go to www.acc.af.mil/aerialevents/westcoastf-15demoteam.