F-15C vs F-16C | Karl Gruner 

I spent 22rs. as the fighter maintenance officer and spent 3 yrs. at Bitburg, 3yrs HQ USAFE /LG for F-15s, F-16/A-10s. This was the 80s so I deployed with the F-15s, A-10s holding back the Russian Mongol hordes. The Ops guys always had a "tub" for me to deploy ahead of the packages. F-15s Bitburg AMU OIC, F-15s Alborg Denmark, TJs in Spain, A-10s at Bentwaters plus few other places less known. At USAFE/LG I was part of the Conventional Forces Europe (CFE) swapping old fighters for new. At Ramstein when Italian demos crashed into spectators. We had a nacho booth about 100 yrds. from crash site. Good-- 1 of 5 Reagan's escorts at Bit and really good-- helped make Berlin Wall smaller while drinking beer (lots of beer). Also, got into Acquisitions for all fighters which was really, really good.

Great interview as always. Also, Karl has an amazing office, with all the paintings, models (and sword!)

@ 04:35. This statement reminds me of an ex BAC Lightning pilot I used to know. He told me of when they did mock dogfighting with A4 Skyhawks, and he said that they were so hard to keep visual on.

I was at Hahn ab. 88-91. Was in the 10 amu as a crew chief

F-16 C with the big mouth engine is very formidable

I was at Bitburg 87-90.

Who cleans the models and the vitrines ?

F-16 in the hands of a good pilot is lethal in a dogfight.. The F-15 is a big airframe in comparison. The F-16 can sustain 9Gs.. It's very manoverable.

Cool stories! Karl, did the USAF Europe have dedicated adversaries around that time? In other words, were you or the Eagles ever tasked with fighting like a Mig-29 or Su-27 or was it just pure DACT? I know they had that Stateside, just curious about Europe. Must have been nice to have all that extra gas for fighting! :)

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