As an AFROTC cadet I visited the McDonnell Douglas facility in St Louis where the F-15, the AV-8B, and the F/A-18 were being produced side-by-side on the same factory floor. This was probably 1979 or 1980. Our McDonnell Douglas hosts pointed out that the F-15B model already had sufficient room in the fuselage to take on the air-to-ground role, as opposed to the General Dynamics F-16 submission, which had to be lengthened.

The factory opens onto the parking ramp along side the St Louis airport. When they took us out there, there were several test aircraft present, at least one of each type they were manufacturing.

But what really caught our eye was that each test aircraft was painted in several different service paint schemes. The F-15 had “US AIR FORCE” on one side, but “UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS” on the other, and IIRC US Navy on a vertical stabilizer. The wings and tails similarly in different camo patterns favored by the various services. The AV-8B and F/A-18 were also marked in a hodge-podge of service markings.

By sheer luck the F-15 was preparing for a test flight and we got to watch it takeoff, complete with high-performance climb.

Thank you, Glenn.

The European 1 camouflage scheme was also used on the TAC / PACAF / USAFE / MAC C-130Es in the early 1970s.