Here a little story about me and my drive behind this
website.
History
I grew up close to Soesterberg air base in the
Netherlands. This was during the cold war era. The 32nd TFS “Wolfhounds”was
stationed at Soesterberg and had just received their first F-15A’s.
Everyday I used to see the F-15’s flying over our village, it made an
everlasting impression. With time the passion grew and every spare minute I
had, I would visit the base to watch the Eagles fly. Sadly like many other
USAF units in Europe the squadron was disbanded in 1994. I sure miss that
howling sound of the Eagles.
To preserve the rich history of the many squadrons that
operate (and have operated) the F-15, I came up with the idea to set up a
website. Eagle Country is the first step. I hope that this website will grow
with information and history about the F-15.
I started working as a mechanical engineer. But being
infected by the flying virus, all I could think about was flying. In 2003 I
got the opportunity to start with my flight training. By coincidence my
first check was begin done by one of the first USAF F-15 pilots, who was
retired from the air force and started instructing and examining. I finished
my flight training on the 15th of July 2005, and I was the proud owner of a
CPL with a Multi-engine instrument rating. You think you got it made, but I
was helped out of that illusion quickly. Cause we all thought when we
finished flight training that we or the top of the ball. forget it, real
flying is what you learn on the line, and it comes of the years with
experience. Now the hardest bit came, finding a job with one of the
airline companies, and learning how to fly. I was very fortune to find a job
at a Corporate airline company. I am currently flying on the Citation III,
VI, VII.
Patch Collecting
Living close to an air base did not only got me
interested in flying, it also got me interested in USAF patches. It started
when I was a little kid. A neighboring F-15 pilot gave me his squadron
patch. This would be the start of my patch collection. I collect every USAF
flying unit patch. These include exercises,
competition, conflicts, flights, Friday, pocket and campaign patches.
If you have an extra patch left that you can spare, I
would be more than happy to add in to my collection. Any donation is warmly appreciated. Please contact me
at eagle@skytrailer.com
F-15 donated patches will be displayed with credits in the Eagle Country patch
gallery. Thank you for
visiting Eagle Country.
