New F-15EX Eagle arrives at PDX

see for [Music] [Music] might I so i' building over here they just build [Music] see uh Steve where you want us anywhere behind this L probably all right that's out Sor I missed this br your for he w [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] you to help the stragglers do you want to help the stragglers as they make sure they don't cross theed around back got has r [Applause] are you other Pilots we are some of the other Pilots I just want to make sure I use the video I want yeah so who who Who's Next taking this thing on us great question as soon as maintenance lets us have our hands on now nobody knows what to [Music] do uh good track we thought you uh diverted in Grand Junction turns out it was turns out it was a flight of four f18s and we're like well it still could be I tried to Ste I tried to steal the new one sir I did a lot of work actually I actually we're you're going to see in the pictures we're on takeoff and I'm putting in points still Chang our clearance like on takeoff that was good canel super excited super excited Wiggles I called the fleet and said you finally made it to Wiz still late I know I know I know for the last 600 months yes hey Grant doing a picture for us you better make your taxi take down the end the back like you're the worst pilot I've ever seen you should have seen her Tinker join but I'll tell that story another yeah we had no radar so was all Vision rad swing all right I'll get a couple ALS I look that's ours really sorry guys fo you'll be right don't worry about that we made it it was like it was uh we didn't know like we had a tank right before take off I know Che it's like a post game interview yeah yeah know it's fine I know that's what I was thinking sure let me talk to my boss [Music] you want to talk either way yeah right awesome yeah how you doing nice to meet you microphone work great with flight suits great yeah what and can this go just anywhere can tuck like we just kind of like to hide the wire as best as possible maybe on this side yeah and I I'll keep the shot a little tighter okay and then I've been flying for about 15 years second we have about uh 35 pilots and it varies on they full it's a big deal the reporters do this aot we have a about five instructors there we go have you step back just a little bit okay and doing this all you got to do is just look at me worry about this I'm going to step over here just try and stay where you're at okay because I won't be a to adjust the shot um all right first things first can I have just a name and spelling please yep my name is Major Connor c o n n e r and uh um let's see Call Sign knife common spelling for knife common spelling for knif okay yeah and uh obviously F15 pilot and F15 ex that's correct yeah so I guess first of all I mean what was it like you flew you just flew across country yeah uh it was a little long it was about 3 and half hours is what it took us to get here from St Louis so uh not my longest storyy in the eagle but longer than we you know normally fly around here locally yeah I mean how long have you been flying the SE Legacy SE models so I'm actually a strike guy by trade so I flew strike eag on active duty so F15 e on active duty for 10 years and then uh last assign in act DD I was down an operational test down in Florida flying F15 e but also C's and EXs so I've got before I got here I had about 100 hours in the C model and about 100 hours in the ex so about 2 years of C model experience and about 2 years of V ex experience you got a good feel for it I guess for people at home who don't maybe understand like what's the big difference it's all it's an fft an F5 is f right what's what's the difference here pretty much everything other than the outer mold line is different uh it's got a new Backbone in terms of like avionics it's got bigger Motors it's got a better radar it's got more weapon stations it's got beefier landing gear it's got digital flyby wire controls it's got a new core processor it's got a new self-defense Suite so it's pretty much an all new airplane with just the you know the frame is the same or the the try andrue uh part of the airframe is the same everything else though is updated uh I suppose it's a very generalized statement I I've heard it is it is it safe to say one of the most advanced non stealth aircraft for sure yeah and it's here now it is it is this is the first one that we're getting and it's here yeah I mean how big of a deal is that it it's a huge deal um we're you know recapping this tail sitting next to us over here that's a F15 C model it's from 1984 so you got 1984 tail and a 2020 tail side by side these air frames have more life hours available to him than the sea models did so you this airframe is going to carry us forward uh through many many years of you know training exercises and combat with a currently top-of the line air frame uh and I guess what what do you think it says about the base the Personnel here that Big Air Force chose to station this year for the very first time yeah I you know I think they put a whole lot of trust in us you know defending the Pacific Northwest as part of the you know General layout of the Guard you know we're ready the infrastructure is ready the people are ready the mission is you know what it needs to be here and uh they thought we were ready for it and here we are great uh okay is there anything else we're missing any other okay good good yeah guys are yeah a little bit quieter and uh how how you doing I'm John nice to meet you nice to meet you this is Mike hi Mike m you have the cameras they want have Mission here that's going to be here for decades to come High defend country protect the Pacific Northwest it's just it's really really exciting my knowledge to all of our knowledge is the first time that the AAL guard has gotten a major weapon system the active so it's it's a huge very big deal thanks very yeah you bet my pleasure yep nice no we haven't all your predecessor okay well there you go let's see I guess flight suits are always tough with these guys okay okay he had his RIS on and everything [Music] okay we actually step over here you want to do y it's a pretty looking [Music] airplane gang you're up Thermo go in twice okay so because I'm by myself I'll say uh get in a comfortable stance so you don't have to move your feet I won't be adjam it's easier when we're in a two person team that's not what's going M check one okay uh start we doing this look me don't worry about all this stuff I'll hold on to the microphone uh and first things first going to have you just say and spell your first last name please yep Colonel Mike kerka Commander 142nd Wing k s d r Ka common spelling for Mike Mike am M yeah just got make sure uh well it's here yeah how are you feeling uh the excitement you can feel it if you look around the crowd there's hundreds of people on this base there were excited to see a single airplane land and if you look around the rest of the base not just on the fly line people are everywhere the excitement is palatable uh does it make sense that it's so exciting I guess like why why is it so exciting it does you know our our newest airplane that we have currently was built in 1984 this jet was built in 2020 our old airplane is analog this jet is digital it really takes us to where we have relevancy and mission for decades to come the reality is the the old sea model just wasn't going to be around that much longer and so it always had question about the relevancy of the 142nd wing and really all sea model units but with this airplane now we're back in the fight we're going to be here we're going to be relevant we're going to have great mission for decades and and that was going to lead to my next question yeah what just why is it so important that this aircraft is here now and also that the defense department chose this base this to be the first host yeah the uh the current f-15c with 1970s technology really uh it just can't really uh execute in the high-end fight anymore uh it's limited to really kind of Homeland defense type of roles anymore despite the fact that has 104 to zero alltime air to a record it was amazing back in Desert Storm but that's kind of when it was at its peak and since then technology has frankly just surpassed it this new airplane is has digital flight controls a better radar tons of survivability systems that allow us to survive to operate and to be extremely successful in the highest end fight anywhere in the world the 142nd is uniquely qualified for this for a couple reasons number one we are the only uh air defense Squadron in the Northwest so we have uh Aerospace control alert going on 247 365 here to protect not just the triet area but all the way over uh towards Colorado Montana and even into Northern uh California and sometimes even up into Canada so we need newer better more reliable airplanes to be able to allow us to prevent another 9911 type of incident additionally when you think about the National Security strategies that we have there's a focus on the Pacific what could be better than a than a squadron and a wing located here in the Pacific Northwest and when you think about the worldclass Airmen that we have on this base that are going to be able to maintain it fuel it Supply it and most importantly maybe not most importantly but equally important quiet uh there couldn't be a better selection than 14 second one yeah and uh of course it always good to ask these type of questions the money obviously and it's not or you know it's it's coming from federal dollars and stuff but still it's a huge investment it that in taxpayer money being made here like you how do you feel about that and also just you know making sure that that I guess money is looked after that investment is looked yeah the obviously the politics aside people can decide what they want about that but the reality is the F-15 C's are no longer relevant it's it's really there's some squadrons that are going to continue fly it and there's things that we can do to help uh enhance our National Defense but it's really tough particularly in a high-end fight this new airplane is the investment that we need it's America's newest fighter it's here at the 142 we couldn't be more excited about it and is it fair to say it's probably if not the most one of the most advanced non stealth aircraft in on the planet without a doubt non stealth so the stealth airplanes have Technologies both inside and outside that this Jet doesn't have but guess what this jet because it's not stealthy they're able to do things inside and outside this airplane that even the stealth airplanes can't do so 100% most advanced airplane that you could uh ever hope for we couldn't be more thrilled and uh had but I mean okay huge day so yeah huge day super excited uh I mean people are still hanging out here just watching the airplane get turned by the maintenance crew that doesn't happen day in and day out everybody's excited to be out here right okay uh great thank you over my pleasure y wa

Channel: KATU News

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Length: 37min 28sec (2248 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 06 2024