Note: This product is only available to US Customers with US addresses only. All other orders will be cancelled and refunded. Please do not place an order if you are not a US Customer with a US address.
10 March 2023: A couple of some of the sold-out variants were added to inventory. The additional Honeycomb tags are partially covered by the stenciling - roughly 15-20% of the tag.
We’re overdue for some pointy-nose tags here at JE, and the Strike Eagle is about the coolest jet around to break the dry spell. The F-15E Strike Eagle first flew in 1986 and was derived from the legacy F-15 Eagle. It is a high-speed interdiction aircraft that doesn’t rely on escort support.
While poking around an aircraft salvage yard, I noticed a dark grey wingtip with some neat honeycomb NO STEP stenciling on it. A quick data plate inspection confirmed its identity, and its future. Upon closer examination back at the shop, we also noticed stenciling near the part number that indicated the aircraft this wingtip was removed from. More on that later.
This wingtip proved to be one of the trickiest dissections yet. Lots of honeycomb and the skin was also quite thick in areas, which makes sense given the loads this thing was subjected to while out on the end of the wing doing God’s work.
This F-15E tag run will consist of 300 tags, with a little more than half available for sale. The others will be reserved for custom squadron runs. Variants offered are: Gunship Grey Thin, Gunship Grey Thick, Honeycomb Stencil, NO STEP, Leading Edge Top, Leading Edge Bottom, Trailing Edge, and Green.
The Gunship Grey Thin and Thick tags were cut from the main body of the wing tip. The Thin tags have a single thickness outer skin with about .25” of honeycomb on the back. The Thick tags have at least 2 layers of outer skin and honeycomb on the back. There is a significant difference between the Thin and Thick tags. The Thick tags are much heavier and more representative of the beefiness of this part. Most of the solid grey tags are the Thick ones.
The Honeycomb Stencil tags were cut from the 3 NO STEP honeycomb shaped stencils on top of the wing tip.
The NO STEP tags were cut from the Leading Edge and have text only on them (no honeycomb stenciling). This tag is not pictured in the line-up but the 3 tags available are pictured on the cut panel.
Both Leading Edge tags (top and bottom) are the only Bi-Color variants offered. Tags cut from the top have a darker grey and more subtle bi-color spread whereas tags cut from the bottom have a very distinct silver paint along the leading edge. Both Leading Edge tags have solid aluminum multi-colored green backs without honeycomb, and have rivets in them as well. The laser etching on the Top tags was done to reveal a grey layer of paint underneath. It is subtle and looks incredible. The art on the Bottom tags is printed on and contrasts perfectly with the paint.
The Trailing Edge tags are the thickest and heaviest of the lot and are the only tags that are full-thickness cross sections of the wingtip. They go from about .3” thick at the very trailing edge to about a full inch thick. These tags are heavy, thick, and not something you want to dangle off your keys. The art on these tags was done with the laser. Power was dialed back to only remove the grey paint and reveal the green/blue primer underneath!
The Green tags were cut from the very thin strip of exposed interior metal where the part number was stenciled. There are only a few of these and the paint is a very neat green color. Some are a mix of turquoise and green. A couple have stenciling on them.
Only 300 Strike Eagle tags will ever be made and some will be held back for squadron orders.