Spectacular F-15QA Tailslide: Extreme High Alpha Thrills!

#f15qa #f15 Farnborough Airshow, UK
Boeing will turn over four advanced F-15QA Ababil fighter jets to Qatar at the conclusion of Farnborough air show. (similar to the F-15EX Eagle II)
The newly assembled Qatar Advanced F-15s are participating in flying displays at Farnborough, after making an appearance at the Royal International Air Tattoo last week and at the Spirit of St Louis air show in June.
Boeing pilots are performing the F-15QA flying displays at Farnborough, after which QEAF personnel will take possession of the jets for transit to their home station in Qatar.
Boeing’s fighter production campus, which includes the F-15 assembly line, is located in St Louis adjacent to Lambert International airport.
Boeing is now producing combat configuration F-15EXs for the US Air Force, the first of which was delivered in June. Eight total F-15EXs have been handed over to the service, with two of those being combat configured aircraft.
The USAF currently plans to acquire 98 examples of the latest Eagle fighter, although the number has fluctuated repeatedly.

[@AdalbertSchneider_]

Eagle II, QA / EX... whatever, I never though I will see this big bird doing things like this 😎👍 I am from Slovakia, we had MiG-29s... But for some reason Eagle became my #1 beloved bird years ago.

[@leddyzee247]

A “Howling Eagle”…….just when you thought it was safe to return to the skies, “All Hail to the King”. Great capture and thank you for sharing

[@glaabaglooba]

Dude, the power. Firstly, it just jumps into the air. 11 seconds after throttle up its off the ground. Secondly, the best looking jet ever, loaded with 12 AMRAAMs looks just that much betterm Thirdly, the power again. On another video it does a loop into a high alpha pass into ANOTHER loop. Like, calm down, physics. Fourthly, I love your tracking. I watch a fair share of these, and yours is up there.

[@ElwynR]

Many thanks 👌

[@nickbarton9819]

As always,thank you Elwyn for the photography.

[@eagleone53]

Just Awesome camskills!! Eagles rule for ever!!!!!!!!!!

[@Pincer88]

What a treat! Thanks for posting. I'm beginning to believe the F-15EX simply is the step up to the NGAD. The Eagle still rocks!

[@alanwhiteside410]

You can thank the old engineers using slide rules back in the 60’s & 70’s at the old McDonnell Douglas plant in St.Louis, Missouri for designing the Mighty F-15 Eagle 🦅 🇺🇸

[@mauricelaidler4789]

Brilliant display of pilot skills, raw power and aircraft capability. And, of course, spot on framing and capture, as usual. Great to watch. Thank you.

[@ElwynR]

Glad you enjoyed it 👌

[@Hawkertempest1]

Second that. ❤😊

[@wamp9175]

As always, I'm humbled by your "eye". The QA has been the highlight of the last weeks, the RIAT performance was one of the best demonstrations I've ever seen. If we are building the Ababil for Qatar, how can we even GUESS what's on the horizon?

[@8888shooter]

Hi Elwyn, absolutely fantastic footage, mate!!!👍...this F15 is amazing, and the way the pilots throw it around is absolutely astonishing!!!!.....incredible display!!!..certainly an awesome bit of kit!!👌...brilliantly filmed as ever mate!!👍....I'm already looking forward to seeing your next video soon!!!..all the best Paul 😁✈️🍻.....I forgot to mention, that was a nice touch the filming iin the static / start up area!👍

[@ElwynR]

Thanks Paul, I just missed the very start but got most of it! like you say something a little different 👌

[@lawrencemartin1113]

Tremendous. Thanks for the great filming of this awesome display. Saw it on the Sunday too.....bonkers. 😊

[@Stealthman42]

I miss seeing this aircraft everyday when I was in the Air Force. Loved working on it as a fuel system technician. Thanks Elwyn!

[@chrisgronskei5416]

Undefeated in air to air combat, now that tells the story.

[@paulthomas3374]

How many 50 year olds can still pull the moves they could in their teens and even more so! What a jet 😮 superb fiming thank you Elwyn 👏

[@TheMrMused]

The QA/EX is a completely different airframe than the E and earlier versions. The outside is still in the form of an F-15, but that's where the similarities end. The E cannot perform near what the QA/EX can. Which is saying something, as the E is a very capable jet! Just one example of a completely different airframe; the QA/EX is artificially limited to 9G. The pilot can, in an emergency, disable this, at which point the airframe can perform out to 12G, dirty. The E is physically capped at 9G in a clean configuration. The A & C are a mere 7.3G clean. It's literally a completely different bird from nose to trailing edge of the elevators/hstabs.

[@jimroberts3009]

Not bad for an aircraft that first flew in July 1972, that's 52 years ago! The F-15E Strike Eagle is expected to continue operating in USAF into the 2030s. When a aircraft looks right it is right!

[@jamespruitt3159]

Great video! Eagle still #1 in my book!!

[@ArcturanMegadonkey]

Great footage, that tailslide was awesome

[@ElwynR]

Glad you enjoyed it 👌

[@Eyes_On_Sky]

Wow wow wow. As always great footage. Thanks

[@Verminator4]

Saw this in person at Fairford and I was shocked at the high-alpha stuff these new Eagles can now pull. Bordering on flanker-like performance.

[@sterlingarcher4989]

+12 AMRAAMs - what’s not to like?

[@christoph3805]

An engineering Masterpiece.This Disign is more than 50 Years old .WOW.

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

FBW makes a huge difference

[@historyg1940]

loved this display at Fairford Hope they come to Avalon next year

[@marklnz]

Cool flex to do it with that ordnance on the hardpoints too (even if they *are* just training rounds - still gonna have *some* weight, and will affect aerodynamic performance) ...not seen that done at an airshow before.

[@garryclelland4481]

is that what the multiple safety pins scrabble was about , yeah almost always clean as a whistle , some serious chops , quite astonishing , thanks for posting Elwyn .

[@5Ring]

12 AMRAAMS. I figured the blue tape meant they were inert.

[@marklnz]

@@5Ring yeah, correct, but they do still weigh something, and the aerodynamic effect also is going to be significant

[@32tfs]

Formidable. Thanks for this post Elwyn 👍

[@ElwynR]

You're welcome 😊

[@bobingram6912]

I get lost with all these different US classifications, to me it's an F-15 that flies a bit better than the original🤔Thanks Elwyn👍👍👍👍

[@jimroberts3009]

The QA stands for Qatari Advanced. It's a development of the Advanced Eagle for the Qatari Emiri Air Force.

[@bobingram6912]

@@jimroberts3009 Thanks for that info, I'm way out of touch with it all😂🙄👍👍👍👍👍

[@ste3627]

Fantastic love the vortex coming of the tips of the wings

[@ElwynR]

Thanks Ste 👌

[@ioogy]

Few will appreciate the size of this bird... which only lends to the spectacle of it maneuvering like this... with no LEFs! Just imagine what this airframe could do with full 3D thrust vectoring nozzles. Great camerawork my guy!

[@mikedebear]

The high alpha using fly by wire is really impressive, but to do all this with a full load out of white shots onboard is mind blowing.

[@robertradke8026]

great camera work there!

[@swright5690]

That camouflage on the top is dead sexy. Looks a bit like Vulcan bomber pattern imho.

[@mikeh2520]

A beauty of a display! Sure looks like a pilot's aircraft for sure. Bravo!

[@tonymarchant9083]

Brilliant once again 👍👍

[@stephonpheng5806]

Seen a LOT of displays in person. Rafales' shocked me, Raptor and the SU-30 MKM made my jaw drop, Gripen is soooo nimble, but this upgraded Eagle, with the unusual livery....just impressive. Great tracking too.

[@stuartrollings602]

Was that Tom Cruise…for real?😂 Howdy and thanks again for splendid video! 🤠🇺🇸🇨🇱🦅

[@JeffinLowerAlabama]

Elwyn amazing video of a great performance. Thank you Sir. Jeff in LA USA

[@ElwynR]

Your welcome Jeff 👌

[@abetancourt3]

Demo with twelve training missiles, adds to the impressive maneuvers!

[@bernardanderson3758]

Elwyn!!! R you still have the best of the best videos of all

[@Virvum_Juggernaut]

Astonishing upgrade. That’s nearly a Pugachev’s Cobra @ 3:30 and is indicative of the incredible manoeuvrability of the relatively large F-15QA now it has the benefit of the F-35’s advanced flight systems.

[@darylmorse]

Great video. This is such an awesome aircraft and it's only getting better with age.

[@s1914]

Wow, totally awesome! 😯

[@silviagasparova73]

Perfektné videá ❤👌🏻klobúk dolu

[@snowdogs01]

I KNOW that the takeoff roll was foreshortened by tele lens setting.... but still it JUMPED off the runway!

[@alanwhiteside410]

The F-15 doesn’t require much runway.

[@spiritdancer1699]

Love F15's , I have one as my screensaver. And it only needs 1 wing, is there any documented time's where another plane has got home with literally 1 wing? .

[@christianlebordelais]

Belles manœuvres du F-15 🙂👍

[@stephonpheng5806]

that spooling up sound....oof. Awesome access, sir.

[@boyvanurk9854]

You make fantastic video's!

[@misaelescobarruiz1193]

Que poderoso caza el f15

[@corrindion]

WOOOWWWW! Thanks Elwyn!

[@EnglishTurbines]

Technically, it wasn't a Tailslide....The aircraft has to drop vertically downwards at least its own length...At best, a controlled climb and push over the top...Great demo by the Pilot though....🤔😏🇬🇧

[@skyhorseprice6591]

K. I will tell ya straightup what impresses me is that this new Eagle can not only pull off maneuvers only previously seen done by the Raptor, F-35, and the Flankers...the new Eagle can pull those maneuvers with missiles hanging off the rails! Some of those moves- _most_ of them actually -were full on 9G! I have never seen any fighter jet capable of that much aggressive maneuvering with a load out like this. That is straightup Over G city but this Eagle pilot flies the whole routine like this. And I turned up the sound track so I could hear the crew chief screaming at this pilot...but damn, I couldn't hear a thing except Eagle roar. 😂😂❤

[@sullybiker6520]

She's still got it.

[@cryophile]

This is damn near F-22 levels of performance.

[@kiabtoomlauj6249]

Except this fucker could still fly with an entire wing blown to pieces. The mighty F-22 will go down, if it loses most of one if its wings. That's how structurally sound and sturdy the 1960-80 original design is. Of course, the method of FABRICATION for these high-end versions for the Qataris, Saudis, and Bahraini are modern-day, 2020 method and fabrication (including superior metal sheeting to metallurgy sciences), so they're probably structurally even more sound...

[@radicaldisconnect]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@kiabtoomlauj6249 not quite true, the Israeli F-15D that suffered a midair collision only had a stability window of +/- 20 knots and +/- 20 degrees based on wind tunnel testing. The aircraft survived was based on luck as much as its design. The new F-15SA, QA, and EX have a FBW that decouples the mechanical inputs from the HOTAS to the flight control surfaces and likely has different CG limits and allowances, which means that it’s no guarantee that the new Eagles can accomplish the same thing. No one knows what the stability modes are for other fighters like F-16, F/A-18, F-22, etc because they haven’t been in a similar accident. Structurally the F-22 is definitely sturdier than the F-15A-D, the wings were designed to survive a 30mm cannon impact and were live-fire tested for this.

[@digitalimager4946]

Nice camera work.

[@hisaddle]

I spent my first 45 years in St. Louis. Friends, Neighbors, Relatives worked at the plant building; F4's, F18's, F15's. Saw some info about the F15EX, how many are going to be built? ....and with foreign orders for other F15 models, how many are being completed each month. Years ago I went to an open house there with my Uncle who worked their, we mainly saw F18's being built, I think at that time they were completing 2 F18's a month. Long ago that plant employed 40,000 workers. I dont know how many work there now.

[@RedgeSanders]

To the best of my knowledge, 115 up to 140 F-15 EX Model's are currently being manufactured by Boeing.

[@MagicSkeleton]

Photograph is amazing. Can anyone explain ‘high alpha’ or whatever new thing this generation of Eagles can do?

[@MrSchwabentier]

"High alpha" refers to a high angle of attack (AoA) which put very simply is the angle between where the nose of the plane is pointed and the direction the plane is actually moving. For example when a passenger aircraft lands the nose points slightly upwards but the plane is still going down. Now if this angle becomes very high, the airflow towards the wings and control surfaces is very far from optimal. The airflow can completly collapse (Stall) and your aircraft becomes uncontrollable. But if you fly for example a tight corner, the AoA will become very high. To manage flying at a very high angle of attack without loosing control you need a very good flight control software or physical attributes such as thrust vectoring. Some wingdesigns help as well. Long story short: The new generation of Eagles received a much improved flightcontrol system utilizing computers to enable the aircraft flying at higher AoA without loosing control, thereby enabling better maneuverability. Hope this helps.

[@MagicSkeleton]

@@MrSchwabentier perfect, thank you!

[@victorparks5378]

Nice Display! But the Russians have the Cobra and Tail Slide down pat ...hands down the masters of these maneuvers with the old Su-27.

[@alanwhiteside410]

Those kind of maneuvers the tail slide, and the cobra they are very cool but useless in combat.

[@michaelmappin4425]

That's gotta earn a subscribe.

[@greganderson4446]

beefy ol gal still has some moves

[@RedgeSanders]

You mean, "Beefy NEW Gal".......because the QA & EX Versions are all Brand-spankin' New Aircraft.....!! Yes they are! Air Force ordered appx. 118 to 130 of these Models...!!

[@faizalhadifauzi-4290]

qatari airforce?do they use expat fighter pilots too?

[@danielh1708]

Nope, they're very capable on their own. Just like the Saudi's, Kuwaiti's, etc...

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

No, they have excellent pilots.

[@gower1973]

Always scares me when they start doing a loop, after that guy crashed a Hawker Hunter at that airshow, you can run out airspace really quick!

[@ElwynR]

That was pilot error and things have changed since then

[@drbichat5229]

I wish they could put new engines and FBW systems in the F14 Tomcats. That way Tom Cruise wouldn’t have to go to Iran to get one

[@ElwynR]

😂👌

[@jimbograves1576]

Where was this filmed & I assume these are Boeing test pilots (ex USAF guys)?

[@dsdy1205]

4:29 you can see the F15's twin tails fluttering

[@5Ring]

Planes usually fly slick at airshows. This one is packing 12 AMRAAMS.

[@richardknott2021]

This is American know how..can’t be beat.

[@michaelhorner6804]

What is the difference between a QA and EX variant? I'm guessing the USA version is slightly better?

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

Nearly identical except EX has EPAWSS.

[@southofhollywood4199]

Boeing does one thing right. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@alanwhiteside410]

Still built at the old McDonnell Douglas plant in St.Louis, Missouri Quality is much tighter at a Defense plant.

[@delph2000]

What were the hand signals at 1:27?

[@RedgeSanders]

Well, it seems to me that the U.S. Air Force learned an important lesson from the U.S. Navy: that is, When you have a MASSIVE Investment into a Matured Weapon System that can be upgraded AND improved upon, (ie., with Improved Engine's, Upgraded and/or next Generation Radar and Electronic's for the Pilot and the Weapon's Systems Officer).......then you DO IT!!! Verse's Scrapping ALL of your F-14D Tomcats and quite Literally Throwing your Whole Tomcat Weapon System out the door and onto the Scrap heap...!! But that is EXACTLY what the Genius's at the D.O.D. & The Dept. of the Navy.....Did..!! Brilliant..!! I suppose Air Force guy's are just a Whole lot Smarter than the Dump-ass's in the Naval Dept. I lay odds that the Navy guys' have lived to regret that Bombastic decision...! And Check ✅ this out....the F-14 Tomcat first became operational in 1974 where as the F-15 Eagle became operational in 1976...!! No kiddin', they're only separated by 2 yrs. from when they both became Operational...! But of course the American taxpayer won't care or even NOTICE......Right..? (Unless you explain to Everyone what NO One in the Pentagon, or the NAVY, will EVER say out Loud......That the Complete F-14 Weapon System was Already PAYED for IN FULL by the American Taxpayer......yet the Navy SCRAPPED the whole System anyway......YEAH, They'll Never say a word about THAT Little fact....!!). Yep..!!🤔🫣😱.

[@staceylpittman532]

I guess America is getting a few as well.

[@ElwynR]

I believe around 98 EX

[@staceylpittman532]

@@ElwynR The way things are going over here and elsewhere, we'll need them.

[@drbichat5229]

I wish they could put new engines and FBW systems in the F14 Tomcats. That way Tom Cruises doesn’t have to go to Iran to get one

[@青地秀通]

他の動画にも上がってるけど、凄いなあ…

[@spitfirekid1]

What I wouldn’t give to be in the second seat for this performance. I probably would puke three times but it would be worth it!

[@bat2293]

It would be interesting to know just what the takeoff weight was for a demo like this. Just guessing here but, 50 minutes of fuel (10 for taxi, 10 for the show, plus 30 for VFR reserve)? Also guessing - "static display" (dummy) missles that are much lighter than "live" rounds? Anybody know?

[@alanwhiteside410]

The missiles are inert, but are actual weight.

[@danielh1708]

Weight is fairly easy...full fuel load, and the CATM-120's are actual weight of the real deal.

[@ErnieShown]

Not too bad, for an "old" jet :)

[@cab6273]

12 AMRAAMS…. Cool

[@albionparrot5607]

Don’t recognize the rondelle… who’s is it?

[@delph2000]

Qatar

[@fordwrc2006]

Neurofen

[@tim7402]

Remember, it's "clean", possibly not full of gas, and tweaked for sales.

[@skyhorseprice6591]

And is carrying a bunch of AMRAAM's (12) while pulling huge G loads and NOT Over G-ing the jet. That is impressive; this Eagle behaved as if there were no missiles on rails at all!

[@touher6220]

Camera Lock the target .

[@hikakin_mania440]

F100エンジンの音だね

[@ut000bs]

Are there any better fighters than the F-15 yet? lol 🙂👍‍🇺🇸 Edit: I didn't ask flashier or prettier or stealthier or more bells and whistles, I asked better.

[@OSFGR4]

Saw them at RIAT, actually raptor like at times

[@GVB]

日本語で失礼。これってF22ラプターは要らなくないか？戦争が起きたらドローン戦になるのは明白だし、予算考えたらF15、F2（F16）のVerUPで十分かもな、、、と素人ながら思いましたｗ

[@gregorygaunt9353]

And so it did...a tail slide of sorts. OK then!

[@Maverickf22flyer]

That tailslide looks more like a joke. Stopping at with the nose on the horizontal after pulling the stick out of the tail slide looks kiddish. A nice tailslide would be started from almost 90deg, not some only 75 (don't get fouled to think it's more from the camera angle) and the pitch down acceleration (if talking about positive AoA tailslide) should be high enough to just overshoot a 90deg nose down attitude when keeping the controls neutral. But if course they don't dare doing that.

[@markypea]

It's just a shame that you edit the thumbnails in a clickbait way.

[@Aleksandrgunbin]

Why so smoked?

[@drbichat5229]

I wish they could put new engines and FBW systems in the F14 Tomcats. That way Tom Cruise wouldn’t have to go to Iran to get one