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F-4 Phantom picture thread

maddawg308

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I have been collecting pics of the F-4 Phantom for years, they make great wallpapers on the computer. I have been a fan of the Phantoms, or "Spooks" as some called them for years, and wanted to share some pics and information about them since I have so many .jpgs of them on my hard drive.

No post-war fighter aircraft has been produced in such numbers (5,195 to be exact) and has had such a notable impact on NATO strategic air superiority as the F-4. It was perhaps the only fighter aircraft to serve with the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, and NASA as a flight test bed aircraft. It served actively from 1960, through the Vietnam War, the Cold War, Persian Gulf, before finally being retired from the F-4G Wild Weasel role in 1996. They are still serving the Armed Forces, albight as QF-4 target drones, and the few remaining in US inventory will be exhausted from this role in 2013/2014. However NASA still maintains theirs for testing, so the F-4 still flies for Uncle Sam. They also flew in formation with both the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels.

Over 560 F-4 Phantoms are still currently serving other NATO and US-friendly countries, including Egypt, Germany, Greece, Japan, South Korea and Turkey. Until very recently, Australia, Great Britain, Spain, and Israel flew the F-4. On a sadder note, our unfriendly Phantom user of Iran still uses 65 of them.

The Phantom was designed to perform in the air superiority role, as an interceptor, dogfighter, missile platform, anti-aircraft-artillery Wild Weasel role, bombing platform, reconnaissance, trainer, and target drone. It is capable of over Mach 2.2 speeds, and can carry over 9 tons of ordnance to deliver to the enemy. The Phantom is one of the most versitile fighters ever designed, and some pilots joked that the only replacement for a Phantom, is another Phantom. Indeed, Israel upgraded their F-4s in the 1990s to a performance level equivalent to the most modern jets, for a fraction of the cost of a new fighter.

The design was the oddest I can remember in recent decades, big fat body, drooping nose, wings that swung back and slightly down and then jolted up on the ends, rear elevators that flung downwards toward the ground, and the J79 jet engine almost appeared to push DOWN, not back. For the layman not accustomed to aircraft design it doesn't appear to be flyable. From Wikipedia:

The Phantom gathered a number of nicknames during its career. Some of these names included "Rhino", "Double Ugly", the "Flying Anvil", "Flying Footlocker", "Flying Brick", "Lead Sled", the "Big Iron Sled" and the "St. Louis Slugger". In recognition of its record of downing large numbers of Soviet-built MiGs, it was called the "World’s Leading Distributor of MiG Parts". As a reflection of excellent performance in spite of its bulk, the F-4 was dubbed "the triumph of thrust over aerodynamics." German Luftwaffe crews called their F-4s the Eisenschwein ("Iron Pig"), Fliegender Ziegelstein ("Flying Brick") and Luftverteidigungsdiesel ("Air Defense Diesel").

More information on the F-4 Phantom can be found here:

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On a final note, a very interesting piece of info showing the legacy of the F-4:

I remember during the 1980s and 1990s, there were many (especially in the Navy) who were members of the "Top Gun" generation, and were avid fans of the F-14 Tomcat, almost to the point of fanaticism over the superiority of the Tomcat over anything else in the sky. As a strong point of the ongoing legacy of the F-4 Phantom....

there are over 560 F-4 Phantoms, a design dating to 1958, still in US-friendly countries serving actively and proudly.

There are 0 F-14 Tomcats, the Navy's F-4 replacement, serving in US-friendly countries. Eat your heart out.

BIG BIG hat tip and salute to all those who were Phantom Phlyers over the past 50 years...
 

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runk

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Nice Pictures !

This one was flying most days last week out of Ellington Field (EFD) -
McDonnell F-4D Phantom II - The Collings Foundation
Saw it several times on the way to/from lunch. Thought it might be one of NASA's, but the colors didn't match and those are based at (I think) Dryden in CA.

Very unique sound and silhouette !

I remember the guard unit at Ellington flying them, I think they were one of the last. Replaced with F-16s, and now drones ! Just not the same.
 
205
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America's proof that with big enough engines you could get a brick to fly! I always loved the F-4's. I recall reading a story quite a while ago about an F-4 that was hit and lost it's entire radar cone. even with that much more "flat" drag, it still brought it's crew home.
 

paulfarber

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I lived in W. Germany for 6 years... saw LOTS of F-4s. I remember at Ramstien AFB they would taxi right along the street. Great time to be a kid.

McGuire's approach was right over teh Ft. Dix training area, and you could sit at the start of the approach lights and they flew right over you.

The only plane I admire more than the F-4 is the F-111. I just have a thing for bombers. The A-6 is also up there.
 

lhofeld

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As of a year ago you could still see F-4s flying over Tucson AZ. The were being modded into target drones. There were allot of them in 07 not so many in 10.







 

mcmullag

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I spent my first 45 years of life in St. Louis MO where they were all built. Relatives and neighbors worked there at the plant. Thanks for all the info. I really like the F-15 though (same manufacturer, same factory), really nice lines when you see it flying wheels up and talk about power. I had heard the F-4 was referred to as the flying brick because of its shape.
 

FrankUSMC

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We called them the "coal burners" because of the black trail of smoke they made. I was in crash crew, we had this one that had crashed, they asked us to cut the wing so they could move it. We went though so many K12 saw blades, we gave up on it. They had to move the wing whole. It was like cutting......well, a brick!
One of the few, Frank USMC RET
 

mutt_kahuna

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F-4 Phantoms

I used to work for the airlines in Reno...used to watch our ANG guys fly the RF-4's from our ramp...Loved them!....Here's a video of the Collings foundation's F-4 Phantom...one of the VERY few privately owned F-4's.....The F-4 is about the 3rd fastest ex-military aircraft a civilian can own...enjoy
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNV73Y7rDLk[/media]
 

hndrsonj

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As of a year ago you could still see F-4s flying over Tucson AZ. The were being modded into target drones. There were allot of them in 07 not so many in 10.
I left Ft Worth TX at the end of 99. We were just getting the F-4's passing through to be missile targets. It was because they were getting rid of the F-104's. Phantoms are bad-a$$ed. We found one in a junkyard in WI in the late 80's. Awesome A/C.[thumbzup]
 

Recovry4x4

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Of all the nicknames listed for this old warbird, they missed "Bent Wing Bug Sucker"
Haha, european styling, redneck power!
 

boomer

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Hi Mike,
Thanks for sharing. I'm glad to see another Phantom collector. Most of my photo's are from Vietnam. Along with Huey's, transports and others. Also vehicles. There are some old ones, being 3x3. Then the 3x5's, 5x7's and 8x10's- most of those are AP photo's or done by by the military (branches). Lots of slides, too.
 
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