F4 final flight

[John A]

Today a final flight ceremony is to be held for F4's at Holloman AFB. That aircraft was new when I was a kid, sorry to see it go but I'm sure there are a bunch still in service for other countries 
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/12/19/versatile-f-4-phantoms-making-final-flight-us-military.html

[Gliderjohn]

They were still based at McConnell AFB in Wichita through much of the 80s. They are a beast! I have been able to observe four plane formation takeoffs in full burner. Talk about loud pipes save live!
Also had a pair wave wings at me while I was in a glider. We passed at about the same altitude and about a 1/2 mile apart. That was cool. Hope they can keep a few going for airshows but I would guess that would be a very expensive thing to do.
GliderJohn

[redrider]

Avionics/airborne radio tech at Shaw AFB, RF-4C. My first assignment. Really fun to watch the war games in Turkey where flight rules were more "relaxed".

[Rough Edge racing]

 I believe the F4 was removed from US combat duty many years ago.....Iran has quite a few that still might be in  service............

[oldbike54]

 The Phantom was the last "menacing" attack fighter .

 Dusty

[Chuck in Indiana]

 

[Kiwi_Roy]

John R, is that what the NZ Airforce fly?
I remember the passing if the Vampire & disbanding of their Harvard aerobatic team, that was really something.

Update, I think it was the Skyhawk

[Lannis]

They were still based at McConnell AFB in Wichita through much of the 80s. They are a beast! I have been able to observe four plane formation takeoffs in full burner. Talk about loud pipes save live!
Also had a pair wave wings at me while I was in a glider. We passed at about the same altitude and about a 1/2 mile apart. That was cool. Hope they can keep a few going for airshows but I would guess that would be a very expensive thing to do.
GliderJohn

Back in the 50's, they held the absolute speed record, and for a while the turbojet altitude record - 99,000 feet!     Hard to imagine going that high in an airplane that needs air under its wings and oxygen in its engines .... you'd just sort of hope, I suppose, that you could re-attain a flying attitude and restart your engines when you got back down to where there was air .....

One of those superb designs like the DC-3 or B-52 or E.E. Canberra that lasted (or is lasting) 50 years or more.

Lannis

[Arizona Wayne]

Didn't they use them on aircraft carriers too?    Bet they suck up a lot of fuel.   Read they weren't as flickable as the Migs.   Looked and sounded good. 

[azguzzirep]

img bb
From my brother's Asian vacation in Da Nang . In '69, I was  10 and cruzin the hood on my groovy Schwinn Sting Ray 5 speed!

[azguzzirep]

I believe the F4 was removed from US combat duty many years ago........

My brother told me the F4 phantom was proof that with enough hp even a brick could fly.

Sen. John McCain got shot down because he had turned off some of the 'unnecessary ' functions of the F4, one of them being the anti-missile warning alarm.(from my brother )

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from azguzzirep:

Sen. John McCain got shot down because he had turned off some of the 'unnecessary ' functions of the F4, one of them being the anti-missile warning alarm.(from my brother )

No disrespect to your brother but McCain was shot down in an A-4 Skyhawk. A very different plane from the F-4 Phantom.
GliderJohn

[azguzzirep]

Quote from azguzzirep:
No disrespect to your brother but McCain was shot down in an A-4 Skyhawk. A very different plane from the F-4 Phantom.
GliderJohn

I'm sure it's my bad memory 😀😀.

[Arizona Wayne]

Quote from azguzzirep:
No disrespect to your brother but McCain was shot down in an A-4 Skyhawk. A very different plane from the F-4 Phantom.
GliderJohn

In the summer of `68 I was on a Destroyer (DD784) that did plane guard detail when the planes were taking off or landing on the USS Bennington aircraft carrier watching Skyhawks & Crusaders launching/landing off of Vietnam.

The Blue Angels used the Skyhawks for many years for stunt flying.   They were subsonic speed but held a lot of weapons , easily refueled, and maneuverable.

Kirby 1923 should be able to tell us some good F4 stories over Vietnam. 

[Tom H]

Kirby 1923 should be able to tell us some good F4 stories over Vietnam. 

 

Tom

[drdwb]

I had the privilege of getting a few Phatom bites on my head working flight line on the weapons systems of F4s at RAF Lakenheath for a couple years 74-76. For thrills we would often sit just off the end of the runway at night and watch as they hit after burners taking off, probably one of the reason I don't hear so good any more.
 That was always thrilling. They could really rock you! Youthful memories. Sad to see them phased out.

[Sasquatch Jim]

One of my fondest memories:  Christmas morning 1979, I was heading north on I-65 between Lafayette and Gary when two Phantoms buzzed me on the highway.  It was freaking awesome!

 Phantoms can't buzz anybody.  They whoosh you loudly.

 No, they were not as flickable as Migs.  They didn't have to be with their speed. They could make a pass and shoot air to air, then speed away avoiding revenge.  Then position themselves to do it again.  Bad ass bird.

[Zinfan]

I still remember 1969 my dad was stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas and he took us out to the flight line.  We got to go up into the control tower and as far as you could see to the left were F4's and to the right were F-111 Aardvarks's.  I saw a few of them fly off the aircraft carrier I was stationed on but they were pretty rare even back in 1983 as the F-14's were the majority and let me tell you they can make a racket too.

[old as dirt 2]

I still remember 1969 my dad was stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas and he took us out to the flight line.  We got to go up into the control tower and as far as you could see to the left were F4's and to the right were F-111 Aardvarks's.  I saw a few of them fly off the aircraft carrier I was stationed on but they were pretty rare even back in 1983 as the F-14's were the majority and let me tell you they can make a racket too.

I worked on both of those airframes, 111 a's at mt home, 111 f's at lakenheath, f4 e/g at george, rf 4 at shaw

[rocker59]

1456 hours in one of those

Thanks Mike!   

[LowRyter]

Didn't they use them on aircraft carriers too?    Bet they suck up a lot of fuel.   Read they weren't as flickable as the Migs.   Looked and sounded good. 

Actually the Phantoms were developed by the Navy and the later adapted by Air Force.

[Gliderjohn]

Took this shot last may from a B-17 while we flew over McConnell AFB. The F-4 is directly behind the B-1B Bomber. The F-4 is no small plane but the B-1 is no little bird! The pictures shows about half the total display of planes that have  been based there over the years.



GliderJohn

[cloudbase]

Kirby 1923 should be able to tell us some good F4 stories over Vietnam. 

It depends on how the story begins.

If it starts with "back in the day," it's probably boring.
If it starts with "now this ain't no shit," it'll be worth listening to.

[Chuck in Indiana]

There I was, spinning in the soup, and the *other* one quit.. Pick one.. electrical system, vacuum system, hydraulic system, engine..

[Cross-tie Walker]

It was beautiful airplane. I worked in on, in, under, and around them for 3 years at Holloman AFB in the early 1970's. Many a graveshift busting knuckles and changing pitot tubes or checking stabilizer clearance. I became intimate with this flying brick and was sad to see when the F-15s came into replace them at Holloman. That's about when I left and went Lakenheath England to become intimate with another relic - the F-111...but that's another story!

[oldbike54]

 If you really want to hear The Kibster's stories re the Phantom , attend Cedar Vale , or if he can't be there , maybe the Wild Guzzi West event next year . He should make one or the other . Pretty amazing to listen to his tales in person , but hard to tell on an internet forum . He has been a lifelong aviator and bugsmasher .

 Dusty

[twowings]

Does that mean the Wild Weasel is gone, too??  What a cool airplane...

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from two wings:

Does that mean the Wild Weasel is gone, too??  What a cool airplane..

If I am accurate Mike can maybe comment but I think the term "Wild Weasel" referred to any aircraft doing the role of missile suppression.
GliderJohn

[oldbike54]

Quote from two wings:
If I am accurate Mike can maybe comment but I think the term "Wild Weasel" referred to any aircraft doing the role of missile suppression.
GliderJohn

 Mike was Navy , the term "wild weasel" was USAF . And yes , it applied to any aircraft equipped with radar seeking missiles , although at times they just waited until the NVA fired a SAM at them . Most WW pilots were , er , well , a bit crazy 

 Dusty

[twowings]

oh, my bad...I thought it was a two-place F4 and its designation was RC-4 or something similiar...