Shadowing Practice: Flying the Most Advanced F-15 Ever Built - Learn English Speaking with Video
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This is the F-15EX, the US Air Force's newest fighter jet.
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But for the last 20 years, we've been told that the future of aerial combat is stealth and unmanned aircraft.
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So why does the future look like this?
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To answer that question, we're diving into this jet's history, getting rare access with an F-15 test pilot, and ending it all with one of the craziest flights of my life.
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All right, Sam, you want to go ahead and fly?
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Let's do it.
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All right, go.
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Absolutely incredible.
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So we're about to walk into building 75, which is Boeing's final assembly, where they finished manufacturing all of their latest aircraft to be delivered to the U.S military
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and allied countries all over the world.
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Now, it's one of the coolest hangars I've ever seen, and I want to show you why.
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All right, here we go.
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Safety glasses on.
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Now back behind me is the F-18 Super Hornet, and in front of me is an aircraft I'm seeing for the very first time, the T-7 Red Hawk, which is gonna be used to train fighter pilots for years to come.
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But over this way is the aircraft I'm really excited to introduce you to.
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It's what the subject of this video is all about, the F-15EX.
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It was built off the design of the F-15E Strike Eagle that first flew back in 1986, and if you put up a photo of the two aircraft side by side,
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through the untrained eye, it looked pretty similar.
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But that's about where the similarities end, because this EX is by far the most advanced and tricked out version of the Eagle ever built.
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To help us learn more about this platform, there's someone I want to introduce you to.
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His name is Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Oldey, callsign Kane, and he knows more about this aircraft and what it's like to fly it than just about anyone else.
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Lieutenant Colonel Oldey, great to meet you.
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Good to meet you.
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Now, I want to make sure the viewers understand your job because it's fascinating, right?
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So whenever Boeing rolls one of these new EXs off the production line, it first comes to you.
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You're an active duty Air Force pilot and you get to test this jet, right?
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Put it through the ringer to make sure it's ready to be handed off to the active duty Air Force, right?
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Do I have that correct?
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Effectively, yeah.
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After it comes off the assembly line, the Boeing test pilots fly it and then they hand it to me as the Air Force representative here with my backseater.
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And then we flip every switch, we take it to the edge of the envelope, restart motors at the edge of the envelope to make sure that it's ready to go to the United States Air Force.
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So a little bit later on, That is actually the flight.
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I'm gonna be in the back seat with Cain to see what that is like.
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But before we do that, I'd love for you to take us on a little bit
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of a walk around to learn what makes the EX so unique.
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Absolutely, let's go.
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The F-15 EX is the latest F-15 to be produced here at Boeing St. Louis for the United States Air Force.
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Previous versions of the F-15 were mechanical flight controls.
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So the pilot would actuate an input, the flight controls would be actuated in the direction that the pilot wanted.
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With fly-by-wire, the pilot has a vote.
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The computer takes that information and goes, I think that the pilot wants to move the jet in this way.
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And what that allows for is an incredibly maneuverable F-15, and you'll see that on our flight.
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So let's talk about this radar, because I know it's one of the most powerful radars to ever be in an F-15.
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What does that allow you guys to do?
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Yeah, ASA radar, it's an electronic beam that is manipulated and moved by the computer.
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And so you effectively turn the corner and you see the entire airspace, all the contacts.
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When we take off out of St. Louis, we're gonna level off and we're gonna see every airliner that's out there almost instantly.
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Moving on to the weapons on this aircraft, the M61A1 gun, 20 millimeter round that it shoots, multiple different kinds of rounds.
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It can also carry those 12 advanced missiles plus bombs.
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So I'm trying to do the math here.
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So for 12, what does that look like?
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How many on the wings?
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How many actually are underneath?
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So you're gonna have two on the outboard station, two on the inboard station there, that's eight total.
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And then you're gonna have two down here on the shoulder stations, and then two on the other side on the shoulder stations.
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So that's 12 total AMRAPs.
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The reason you can carry so many missiles is because you guys aren't trying to be stealthy.
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Absolutely, nothing carries more than the F-15EX.
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So we're now gonna take you for a look inside the cockpit, and this is where you can really see the advancements of decades of newer technology over the legacy F-15 Eagle.
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But I had to stop right here because look at that.
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That's what the Boeing team here surprised me with.
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We've done a lot of flights.
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I've never had my name actually on the side of the aircraft, which is pretty sweet.
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And I realized after we take a look inside, the next time I'll be on this ladder, the stairs walking up will be for my actual flight.
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So better get myself a little bit familiarized.
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All right, welcome to the front cockpit of the F-15 EX.
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It does not look like a legacy F-15 cockpit in any way.
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This 19 inch wide, large area display, 1080, all touchscreen.
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One of the checks we do is a roll emitter check
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and you slam the stick as hard as you can at Mach 0.95 at low altitude, so 10,000 feet.
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You're going to get, you know, 8.8, 8.9, 9.0 Gs.
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You're looking for the jet to protect itself.
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Never rip the wings off yet.
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Nice.
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It's probably a good time to ask about the backseat.
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What's the role of the backseater?
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Can it do everything you can do here in the front?
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So the backseat has full flight controls.
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The stick and the throttle in the backseat.
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The Wizzo in the back seat's gonna manage all the sensors, all the weapons with those two hand controllers.
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It's probably as comfy as a ride as you can get in a fighter jet these days, I feel like.
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I agree with you.
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You got space for some bags if you go cross country.
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I'm very blessed to be able to do this for as many years as I have, and I wouldn't change anything.
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Well, Cain, thank you so much for the tour of this aircraft, and I hope everyone can see just how impressive it is.
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But when talking about the EX, you have to go back and talk about the history of the legendary F-15 platform.
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And there's one record that's so insane, it will absolutely blow your mind.
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The F-15 has an air-to-air kill ratio of 106 to zero.
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That means the Eagle has shot down 106 enemy aircraft without
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being shot down itself over the last five decades since this plane first flew.
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That number is almost hard to comprehend today
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and is a stat that's made the F-15 known as one of the most successful fighter jets in history.
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But to understand why the newest version, the EX, even exists, you have to understand how a jet designed in the late 1960s became
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so dominant that over 50 years later, Boeing is still building the next evolution of it.
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The airplane we're unveiling today represents a major addition to our foundation of strength.
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The F-15A was the original single-seat version of the Eagle that was first introduced to the world back in 1972.
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I christen the Eagle and may you reign in your domain.
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This was just five years after the Soviet Union revealed its MiG-25 Foxbat,
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a high-speed, high-altitude interceptor aircraft that made the United States realize they needed an answer.
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And did they ever get one?
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For the first time, a fighter jet could spot enemy aircraft from far away, could shoot at them before they knew what was coming,
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could outrun almost anything that tried to escape and could outmaneuver opponents that tried to fight back.
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The F-15A was better at basically everything that mattered.
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Now in 1979, the single-seat F-15C variant entered production.
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It featured a more advanced radar, heavier payloads, and a game-changing piece of technology known as conformal fuel tanks
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that shaped the aircraft's body to add additional range without sacrificing maneuverability.
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In 1986, a new version of the F-15 entered the scene, the F-15E Strike Eagle.
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With massive conformal fuel tanks for huge range, a backseat weapons systems officer to manage sensors and targeting,
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and the ability to carry a huge bomb load while still defending itself in combat, the Strike Eagle turned the original F-15 into a true dual-role fighter.
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Which is when something interesting happened.
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Other countries who had been flying variants of the F-15 for decades expressed interest in a newer, more modern version of this aircraft with some major upgrades.
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We're talking about AESA radars, digital glass cockpits, fly-by-wire controls, and much more.
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These jets became known as the Advanced Eagle Variants.
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At the same time, back here in the United States, the US Air Force had a problem.
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Their fleet of F-15Cs were getting old.
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So instead of starting from scratch, they made a calculated decision.
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Take everything learned from the Strike Eagle, take everything learned from the Advanced Eagle Program, and put it into one jet.
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And that's how we arrive here with the F-15EX.
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Now if you were paying attention earlier during the walk around you may have noticed
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that there was one very important thing we left out.
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The engines.
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And I promise you that was intentional.
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You're about to see why.
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These are two General Electric F110-129 turbofan after burning engines which produce nearly 29,000 pounds of thrust apiece piece.
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So when combined, that's about 60,000 pounds of thrust, which is what allows the F-15 to accelerate to two
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and a half times the speed of sound and carry roughly 15 tons of weapons.
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Now to really feel that thrust, Boeing is going to show us something that I've never seen before.
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A full-up engine run with this aircraft strapped down right here in this hangar.
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Now they call this area the hush house
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because this is about 80 feet of hollowed out tunnel and right now we're directly behind the engines of the F-15.
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Now from what I've been told is that when they do the burner run, the plume of the engine of the afterburner actually extends about 20 feet, which is about right here.
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So I can't imagine how loud this is going to be, but we're going to find out.
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The anticipation, I'm nervous.
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I didn't even think you could stand this close to a fighter jet at full burner, but here we go.
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Oh, bleep.
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That was insane.
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Oh, bleep.
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Well, that was crazy.
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And from what I've been told, the only thing crazier than seeing an F15 engine run from up close is feeling it from even closer.
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So it's about that time.
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I'm ready to get briefed up, geared up, and strapped in for a backseat ride in the F-15EX.
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All right, air check.
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Hack, 1030.
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Welcome to Mack Flight.
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The weather's beautiful here.
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We've got a tap that shows a little bit low cloud.
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Today we're going to do what's called an acceptance check flight.
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We are going to run the aircraft through its paces, push it to the edge of the envelope, flip every switch, basically flush the aircraft out.
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Initially, you and I, we're gonna climb high.
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We're gonna do the Mach run.
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We're gonna spiral descent down into the Mach North.
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And then we're gonna go pull some Gs.
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We're gonna fly high AOA.
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We're gonna see more than 40 degrees AOA.
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By the end of the runway, we're gonna be fast.
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So it's gonna happen really quick.
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45,000 feet, we'll just point straight at the ground.
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And then we'll just spiral descent.
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We'll just kind of fall like a leaf.
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We're gonna be screaming.
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And then keep your legs out of the way because I'm gonna jam the stick over to the left.
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If you did that in a Legacy Eagle, it would bend the wings.
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It will knock you out.
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It will put you to sleep if you're not careful.
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What I think Sam can expect on this flight, I've watched his other videos, the Test Pilot School video, I watched the Viper demo video, and those are two extremes.
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But today, I think he's gonna experience like just pure joy of flying.
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We're gonna go out, it's gonna be a beautiful day in a clean eagle, and we're gonna go Mach 2, we're gonna go high OA, we're gonna do brake turns, we're gonna get some gas, and we're gonna do it all over again.
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So it's gonna be pretty cool.
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Viking north with an unrestricted climb up to 25 block 30 on request.
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Way to your fans.
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Let's roll!
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I planted a few fighters who are never on a commercial runway here.
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I know, you see the windows and I just hope that there's little kids in the windows looking and dreaming.
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With the Viking departure out of here, every single time we fly, we do an unrestricted climb.
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It's a rocket ship and the engines are operating at max thrust on
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that departure and so it's like nothing he's ever experienced before.
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EGT zero stabilizing.
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You ready to rock?
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I'm ready to rock.
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All right.
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Point three zero right.
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Clear forward takeoff.
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Three seven four.
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Clear forward takeoff.
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Three zero right.
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Remember heading.
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Welcome.
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It's 50.
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Woo!
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60. 100.
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Oh my god.
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Oh my god. And open out.
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Absolutely incredible.
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I flew 74, we're going to change the proofs to it.
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Wow.
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Look at the...
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And it's 277, we're at 2,000 feet.
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Wow.
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So just like that, we're at 41,000.
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I'll see center-lock with some boards in the under-shift climb.
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Pretty cool, huh?
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That was incredible.
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It feels like a Viking.
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It is nasty.
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I've always heard the F-15 is like a hard jet to fly.
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Is the EX easy or still pretty difficult?
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The F-15 takes a lot of finesse and technique.
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Certainly this one does too, but it is more forgiving, which is good because it allows you to focus on employing it as a weapon.
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First up on the checklist is a test of raw speed.
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We have to prove this new airframe can handle the intense stress,
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so Kane is about to push the F-15EX beyond Mach 2 to make sure it handles supersonic speeds without tearing itself apart.
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1.0, Hack.
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Alright, we're officially supersonic.
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Are you ready to get Mach 2?
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Let's do it.
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Alright, max AB.
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Coming up on 2, Hack.
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Alright, so I will bring the power back to min AB.
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Go on, decel.
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It's crazy, huh?
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With the speedrun checked off, Kane is taking us into the most unpredictable phase of the A deliberate spiraling freefall.
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We're dropping 20,000 feet straight out of the sky to prove
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that the jet's flight computers and engines can survive the absolute worst aerodynamic conditions.
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Pull up.
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Pull up.
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Pull up.
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Pull up.
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Pull up.
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Pull up.
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Pretty cool, huh?
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Yeah, it's not often you're pointed straight at the ground.
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Yeah, from 45,000 feet exactly.
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Remember I told you how this thing doesn't like to slow down?
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Alright man, the first one's gonna be the nose high low speed recovery, like we briefed.
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Okay.
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The nose high low speed recovery.
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Essentially, we're flying this 100 million dollar fighter jet into a dead stall.
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At this extreme pitch in low speed, the wings lose all lift, leaving our survival in the hands of the flight computers.
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Alright, you ready?
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Let's do it.
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Max.
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Ready.
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Ready.
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Now. With the jet recovering
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in what felt like the blink of an eye, it was then on to the next item on our checklist.
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Basic fighter maneuvers, also known as dogfighting.
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We'd be simulating flying slow, low to the ground, with an enemy right on our tail.
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To survive, Kane is going to intentionally upset the aerodynamics of the EX, snapping the tail to make the aircraft violently jerk and break the enemy's weapon tracking.
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Wow.
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Bingo, fuel.
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Bingo, fuel.
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Alright.
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Tally the tankers?
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Yeah man, just in time, we need some gas.
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Aerial refueling, one of the most critical capabilities in modern air power, and a vital system to test before signing off a new aircraft.
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It allows the F-15EX to stay airborne longer, fly farther, and reach the fight without stopping to refuel on the ground.
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So as we linked up with a nearby KC-135 strato tanker, it was time for Kane to show me exactly how it's done.
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Jake, get heavier if you take on a lot.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Yeah, that's a thousand.
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Work, thank you, just turn. Have a flying, boys.
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Appreciate that.
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We're gonna shut down a motor.
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You ready to shut down a motor?
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Alright, let's shut down an engine.
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Normally you don't want to hear that, but uh, that's what you guys gotta check for, huh?
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That's correct.
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All these are just crazy.
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It sounds like an insane idea, but as an acceptance test pilot, Kane has to prove that if an engine ever fails in combat, it can safely be restarted in midair.
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All right, go to the right side, left side's coming off.
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Fuel flow going down to zero.
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Caution.
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Caution. And 50%.
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Easy peasy, pretty benign.
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Step's coming up, fuel flows up, power cams up.
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Feel that motor kind of kick in.
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Yeah.
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All right, motor left side is now matched to the right.
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Alright, Sam, you wanna go ahead and fly?
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Let's do it!
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Alright, Sam.
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And red from blue, backseat's gonna fly for 15 minutes.
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You guys ready?
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Cuff that and back off.
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14,000 feet, about 320 knots.
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Urgent.
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Alright, I have the aircraft.
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Alright, roll left, man.
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Make sure we go left.
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Here we go.
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3, 2, 1.
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Harder, harder.
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There you go.
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Thanks.
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Last time I did that the thought was somebody to go slow.
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You were like, go harder, harder.
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Oh no, watch, watch.
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My jet.
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Your jet, your jet.
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Watch this.
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Watch this.
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Whoa!
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Okay, alright.
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Alright, show off.
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That's what you gotta do.
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A little harder.
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Alright, your jet.
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Alright, I have the aircraft.
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You have the aircraft.
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You want to try a brake turn?
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Yeah, walk me through it.
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Alright, about 400 knots, you're gonna roll about a 90 to 110 degrees of bank, and then you are going to pull as hard as you can straight back.
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Kane is telling me to pull back on the stick as hard as I can.
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In older jets, doing that could literally rip the wings off the aircraft.
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We're testing the Over G protection software, proving that no matter how hard or violently I wrench this stick, the flight computer will step in,
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cap the g-forces, and protect both the airframe in my life.
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At least that's what's supposed to happen.
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If there's a flaw, Kane and I are about to find it, the hard way.
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That was 8 Gs, not bad.
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Only about 8.3.
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That was a little bit fast.
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Wow. That was insane.
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I was like graying out.
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The onset's crazy.
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It's just like...
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It's almost instantaneous.
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I do it in the sim once.
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You don't feel the Gs.
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It's completely different.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Good job, though.
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Thanks.
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That was awesome.
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You could not have done that in an active eagle because you might have over-Ged.
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Yeah, I was going to say, normally it's not pulling as hard as you can.
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I was like, all right.
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So what role do you see the F-15EX playing in this era where we hear a fifth generation stealth fighter jets?
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This isn't that, but it's still pretty damn impressive.
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It's got wall-to-wall missiles plus air-to-surface bombs, gas for days, and with an incredible radar,
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all those things combined, it's going to be a formidable addition to the overall CAF fleet.
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DCMA is responsible for every step along the assembly line.
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I represent the 10,000 folks across the agency.
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Right.
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This is just one piece of that overall process of delivering the combat capability to the D.O.W.
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This jet's gonna go to my brothers and sisters in the fight, and we wanna make sure it is the right piece of equipment at the right time.
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I think that sums it up perfectly.
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I mean, it's a fun job, but it's a job with a ton of responsibility.
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So do you ever get tempted to fly through the arch?
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All the time.
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It was time to head back to base and call it a day, but before we touch down, Kane had one last surprise in store.
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Wow.
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Pretty fun, huh?
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Yeah.
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I bet that was loud on the ground.
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That's the point.
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So at the very beginning of this video, I said it was our goal to answer the question about why the future looks like this.
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It's true, this jet doesn't win by being stealthy or being invisible, but it wins by carrying more, flying faster, and outlasting pretty much everything else in the sky.
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Cain, that was incredible, man.
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So what do you say?
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Did this jet pass the test?
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Is the Air Force ready for it?
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We will buy it.
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Passed.
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Heck yeah, man.
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Well, I got one more thing for you.
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Figured I'd just do a little swap here, pull that off, put the Axis Granite patch on.
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Nice.
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We did it, man.
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Thanks so much for having me.
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Thank you.
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Hope you guys enjoyed.
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We'll catch you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Flying the Most Advanced F-15 Ever Built”. This video has 370 sentences and 3695 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:07. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| eagle noun | /ˈiːɡəl/ | Any of several large carnivorous and carrion-eating birds in the family Accipitridae, having a powerful hooked bill and keen vision. |
| radar noun | /ˈɹeɪˌdɑɹ/ | In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves… |
| cockpit noun | /ˈkɑkˌpɪt/ | A well, usually near the stern, where the helm is located. |
| thrust verb | /θɹʌst/ | To make advance with force. |
| variant noun | /ˈvæɹi.ənt/ | Something that is slightly different from a type or norm. |
| envelope noun | /ˈɛnvə(ˌ)loʊp/ | A paper or cardboard wrapper used to enclose small, flat items, especially letters, for mailing. |
| missile noun | /ˈmɪs.aɪl/ | Any object used as a weapon by being thrown or fired through the air, such as stone, arrow or bullet. |
| actuate verb | /ˈæktʃu.eɪt/ | To activate, or to put into motion; to animate. |
| airframe noun | /ˈɛɹ.fɹe(ɪ)m/ | The main body and structure of an aircraft (without the powerplant). |
| backseater noun | /ˈbækˌsitɚ/ | A navigator or other crewman who accompanies the pilot of an aircraft. |
| bleep noun | /ˈbliːp/ | A brief high-pitched sound, as from some electronic device. |
| checklist noun | /ˈt͡ʃɛklɪst/ | A list of tasks to be completed, names to be consulted, conditions to be verified and similar. |
| conformal adjective | /kənˈfɔɹməl/ | That conforms, especially to the shape of something. |
| stealthy adjective | /ˈstɛlθi/ | Characterized by or resembling stealth or secrecy. |
| supersonic adjective | Greater than the speed of sound (in the same medium, and at the same temperature and pressure). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pull up verb | /ˌpʊl ˈʌp/ | To lift upwards or vertically. |
| shut down verb | To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily. | |
| come off verb | To become detached. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| shoot down verb | To cause to fall by shooting. | |
| back off verb | To move backwards away from something. | |
| check off verb | To mark items on a list (with a checkmark or by crossing them out) that have been chosen for keeping or removal or that have been dealt with (for example… | |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do I have that correct?
- What does that allow you guys to do?
- Remember I told you how this thing doesn't like to slow down?
- You ready to shut down a motor?
- You want to try a brake turn?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've been told · I've ever seen · We've done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | we've been told · be delivered · was built |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Hawk, which is · aircraft, which is · thrust, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 115 contractions and reduced forms, such as gonna, we're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thrust /θɹʌst/, stealthy /ˈstɛlθi/, stealth /stɛlθ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: caution /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/, anticipation /ænˌtɪs.əˈpeɪ.ʃən/, flush /ˈflʌʃ/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/
- Long words — get the stress right: violently /ˈvaɪ(ə)ləntli/, capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, aerodynamic /ˌɛəɹəʊdaɪˈnæmɪk/, afterburner /ˈæf.tɚˌbɚ.nɚ/, similarity /ˌsɪm.ɪˈlæɹ.ɪ.ti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like eagle, radar, cockpit.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.