The back-seater must pull up his seat... or is he/she that small?

On 20 Feb'08, two F-15Cs, 81-0043 and this 79-0075 collided mid-air and were destroyed, some 44nm south of Tyndall AFB (FL). One pilot ejected safely, the other one was sadly killed. The mishap flight was flying in surge operations. The mission was planned as a high aspect basic fighter maneuvers training sortie. It proceeded as briefed and scheduled until the third high aspect pass of the first engagement. The primary cause of this mishap was pilot error, in that both mishap pilots failed to clear their flight paths and failed to anticipate their impending high aspect mid-air collision

With 33 Fighter Wing "Nomads" markings on the tail.

58FS F-35A gets airborne for a NL 22' sortie

An F-35A of the 58th FS Gorillas stands on the static display at the Wings Over Wayne air show in 2019.

The 58th Fighter Squadron "Mighty Gorillas" operated the F-15 Eagle from 1979 to September 2009 and then became the first F-35 Lightning II training squadron within the USAF. The squadron claimed the first Iraqi air force kill during Desert Storm on 17 January 1991 when a pilot of the squadron shot down an Iraqi Air Force MiG-29 with an AIM-7 Sparrow air to air missile, fired from his F-15C.

During 'Desert Storm' this jet shot down a MiG-23 and 2xSU-22's. Seen here landing at Nellis as the 58FS flagship still sporting it's 3 kills. In 2021 this aircraft is at the 159th FW known as the Bayou Militia who are part of the Louisiana Air National Guard. It has the nick name "Deaths Ace"