McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle – 493rd FS Grim Reapers, 48th FW, USAF, MiG Killer, Cesar Rodriguez, Kosovo, Operation Allied Force, March 24, 1999

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA4524: McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle #86-0169 of 493rd FS Grim Reapers, 48th FW, USAF , MiG Killer, Cesar Rodriguez, Kosovo, Operation Allied Force, March 24, 1999. Production run of 700 models.

Length 10.75 inches Wingspan 7.25 inches

Cesar Antonio Rodriguez is a former United States Air Force officer and pilot who served from 1981 to 2006. With three air-to-air combat victories, he joined Thomas Dietz, Robert Hehemann, and Robert Wright (all USAF officers) as the closest to becoming an air ace than any U.S. pilot since the Vietnam War. Rodriguez scored his first two kills in 1991, during the first Gulf War, against a Mikoyan MiG-29 and a Mikoyan MiG-23 of the Iraqi Air Force. His third kill came against a MiG-29 of the Yugoslav air force during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

Designed to meet US Air Force requirements for an air superiority fighter to replace the F-4 Phantom, the F-15 Eagle first flew on July 27, 1972. The Air Force needed a fighter that could engage long range targets, a skill the F-4 did not possess. The F-15 has a pulse-Doppler radar system, which can track small high-speed targets up to 120 nautical miles away and can lock its missile onto targets up to 50 nautical miles away. With more than 100 aerial combat victories, the F-15 is said to be one of the most successful modern fighters. It is expected to remain in service until 2025.