F-4 Phantom II

I was in the USAF from 67-88 and a couple bases I was at had F4s. When I was in W. Germany and S. Korea in the early 70s we had around 5 F4s on alert 24/7 with tactical nukes. Believe they were called Victor Alert. Also at a few places w/ the Thud, the F-105. Another cool fighter. Something like 800+ Thuds were built and almost half of that number were lost in Vietnam either shot down or accidents. TBirds and Blue Angels were awesome when they both flew the Phantom. F4 my favorite fighter w/ the Thud a close second. The men who flew Thuds into N. Vietnam had some big balls on the missions they had to perform, especially the Wild Weasel mission, and being handicapped by President Johnson and McNamara.
 
AKBill said:
I worked on the F-4's in 1976. Loved that plane, not really a fighter, more a high speed interceptor.

No guns, and missals that worked part time.
Click to expand...

Well, the F4E had a gun, earlier models had a gun pod under the belly, but yes the missiles malfunctioned a lot in VietNam, but it was a fighter. Originally designed and built as an interceptor for the Navy, it became a fighter when the Air Force bought them, and of course the Navy used it as a fighter also, along with many other countries.
 
Last edited:
Rigged4Flight said:
I used to work on them when I was in the USAF, stationed at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge UK. LOUD as you-know-what! They were replaced by the A10, and the difference was like night and day. That dainty little turbofan whine of the A10 was a far cry from the throaty roar of an F4 taking off with afterburners. Good times. :)
Click to expand...

Actually the F15 replaced the F4 for the fighter mission, along with the F16. The A10 is an attack jet and performs it's mission very well.
 
My former boss flew the Double Ugly in Vietnam and said it was a handful but rugged. After he rotated back, he said he was flying one to Carswell AFB when one engine fell from the mounts. Stopcocked the engine/fuel and landed.

Having done a couple of J79 engine changes on the F-4, I can see how that might happen. The F-15 and F-16 are much cleaner installations.

Having been a part of a couple of F-35 design reviews in the earlier part of the program, I'll only comment that the world's goofiest looking moden airplane was the Boeing XF-32 entry in the competition.

Cheers
 
When I was at Zweibrucken AB our football coach (back seater RF4) wasn't at practice as he was flying. We're at practice and this F4 takes off but appears to be suspended in the air not going anywhere, just looked and sounded strange. Seconds later the crew punched out (it was Bennie our coach) due to a kneeboard clamp breaking off Bennie's thigh clipboard and jamming the stick so the pilot up front couldn't move it. Probably a 25 cent part took out a multi million dollar F4.
 
25 cent parts put out $300 million 777 if your company doesn't have it in stock, which happens way too often.

The F-15 blows away the F-4, no comparison. Loved watching the F-15 do max power, max climb, takeoffs till they were out of sight in the beautiful clear blue sky's at Holloman, and then only seeing a flashing reflection from it rolling. Those were the days.... until I saw the F-22 at the Dayton Airshow, Wow.
 
Saw them in daily operation during about 3 1/2 years as ship's company on the Enterprise from early 63 thru Aug. 66. We carried Spads, Vigilantes, Crusaders, Scooters, and Phantoms.
 
About 25 years ago, a buddy and I were in his truck pulling a boat to Lake Amistad in Texas. We were somewhere between Big Lake and Del Rio when BOOM! Within about a 3 second span, we thought we'd blown a tire before seeing an F-4 streaking away on the deck and over the hills. By then we'd come to a stop. We looked at each other, then I hollered "Wild Weasel!" Then we both started laughing.
 
GlennAB1 said:
Loved watching the F-15 do max power, max climb, takeoffs till they were out of sight in the beautiful clear blue sky's at Holloman, and then only seeing a flashing reflection from it rolling. .
Click to expand...

Those were often what's called a FCF, functional check flight I think, and I too enjoyed them when I worked the tower at Eglin AFB. They'd go 20-22,000' straight up, level off inverted (for positive Gs) then roll level. Cool to see.
 
Scooter=A-4, AKA Heinemans's Hot Rod after the designer.

Cheers
 
I remember the RF-4C while living around Bergstrom AFB in the 70's. That runway is now KAUS. In south Austin, the night climbs in full burner while the Phantom was arcing to the south to avoid Robert Mueller airport in the center of the city were spectactular. And when I later resided in north Austin, I saw and heard so many Phantoms passing overhead on their long final to Bergstrom. They were all over the place.
Bergstrom also had Broncos and Skymasters at that time, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top