Q. What comes in a box 174 inches long, 102 inches wide and 32 inches high, and can be assembled in less than two hours, requiring only 81 steps? A. A fake F-15 that, after assembly, is 62 feet from nose to tail, 41 feet from wingtip to wingtip, 17 feet high, and weighs 1,020 pounds. On March 10, 1988, Durodyne Inc. was taking its new decoy for a few test runs around a dirt track near Midvale Park. The company was hoping to win an Air Force contract worth as much as $30 million to produce up to 835 portable F-15 and F-16 decoys. In September 1988, it was awarded a contract to produce 25 of the fake aircraft, with the possibility that the contract could be extended.
JACKIE BELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR 1988