[ARCHIVED THREAD] - F-4 sighting. Maybe. Help requested. (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/6/2012 7:50:12 AM EDT
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I was walking into my voting location and heard a jet approaching (looks like it was coming in to land at Barksdale AFB). I swear it was an F-4. It had the distinctive Phantom tail and sure sounded like a Phantom only this one wasn't smoking. In my limited experience, Phantoms were smokers unless in AB and this one wasn't hauling it like he was in AB. All grey. Couldn't tell if it was an RF-4C due to the angle.
Are these still in service somewhere? I thought they had all been retired long ago. NASA perhaps? |
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It appears they still have uses. 1/11/2011 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) –– The 82nd Aerial Target Squadron officials here are replacing the use of Lear jets for their banner tow missions with the F-4 Phantom, creating an air-to-air target that aircrews in training can safely evaluate, develop and test their weapons systems. "We developed the idea to use the F-4 for the banner tow missions to ensure our combat fighter aircrews could continue training and developing their aerial gunnery skills," said Lt. Col. Ryan Luchsinger, the 82nd ATRS commander. "Due to costs, the Navy contract for use of the Lear jets was being cut, and we had no other way to accomplish this training. The F-4 was the perfect platform to tow the banner and ensure we kept their aerial gunnery proficiency." http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123237870 |
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Willmar,
It probably was a QF-4. They are still operated at two locations, Holloman and Tyndall. When I worked on the program Barksdale was one of our fueling sites for cross country flights during delivery. QF-4 basics: Plane was pulled out of boneyard and made flightworthy and flown to contractor in Mojave CA for drone conversion After drone conversion complete, the plane is flown cross country to Tyndall for acceptance. Stops on flight included Holloman and Barksdale Air to air refueling wasn't an option (system not checked out/refurbed). QF-4s on cross country flights typically only had the centerline tank and travel pods on the outboards. No wing mounted external tanks Now...thread is useless without Phabulous Phantom pics! 
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This is the first post that has gotten me excited to post in the past couple weeks. I dont know what it is but there are only a select few aircraft that really get me over the top excited and the F4 is one of them. Fantastic pics.
The Collins F4 is painted camo and stationed in Houston. Probably not it. |
F-4s still fly at Holloman AFB. They have orange tails. We fly them remotely as drones to try out new missile systems (or demonstrate a missile system for an allied-country buyer). There are civilian contract F-4 pilots still in-place at that base to conduct manned flights for maintenance/performance checks, etc.
F-4 drones |
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Quoted:
Willmar, It probably was a QF-4. They are still operated at two locations, Holloman and Tyndall. When I worked on the program Barksdale was one of our fueling sites for cross country flights during delivery. QF-4 basics: Plane was pulled out of boneyard and made flightworthy and flown to contractor in Mojave CA for drone conversion After drone conversion complete, the plane is flown cross country to Tyndall for acceptance. Stops on flight included Holloman and Barksdale Air to air refueling wasn't an option (system not checked out/refurbed). QF-4s on cross country flights typically only had the centerline tank and travel pods on the outboards. No wing mounted external tanks Now...thread is useless without Phabulous Phantom pics! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/F-45lo-res.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/050908-F-7709A-007.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/4_fighters_2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/8tfw.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/Copyof060304-F-2295B-166.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/AFD-071026-033.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/071027-F-9104C-162.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/070928-F-0986R-010.jpg Great picture and great explanations! F-4s are really somethin', aren't they? 
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| get's me going too!! Dad was a mig killer!! and I was a brat. I've been blow dryed on the ramp at Homestead during rain many times...watching the pins get pulled for Avon Park flights...hanging around the maintenance hangars , listening to those monster j-79s spool up..... watching them taxi at 60mph, saluting to the pilots and getting a return :) pure awesomeness |
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this thread is now "sneak in a pic of your favorite jet that is not the f4 by posting a picture of it flying in formation with an f4" like so http://www.familymeetingplace.com/racers/images/f4-f104.jpg How am I supposed to get a pic of an F-4 flying in formation with Wonder Woman's jet? |
| The Alabama air national guard had them until they traded them in for tankers.... They use to fly over my home town frequently. During the first gulf war, they had shark mouths painted on the noses of their aircraft, they were a recon wing at that time. Nothing in the world sounds like a McDonald Douglass F-4 Phantom as it howls across the sky... |
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When I was in Galena, AK (way back in the early 80's), on a cold December morning sunrise (-20) an RC-F4 screamed over the site, barely subsonic and below the tower. I was walking to the Weather Station, didn't see him until he was RIGHT FUCKING THERE. I damn near shit myself. I fell down on the ice covered ramp in a complete spaz attack. I was mad and in awe at the same time. It's one of those memories that lasts forever. |
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this thread is now "sneak in a pic of your favorite jet that is not the f4 by posting a picture of it flying in formation with an f4" like so http://www.familymeetingplace.com/racers/images/f4-f104.jpg Ok! 
This is a hell of a combo: 
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Quoted:
Willmar, It probably was a QF-4. They are still operated at two locations, Holloman and Tyndall. When I worked on the program Barksdale was one of our fueling sites for cross country flights during delivery. QF-4 basics: Plane was pulled out of boneyard and made flightworthy and flown to contractor in Mojave CA for drone conversion After drone conversion complete, the plane is flown cross country to Tyndall for acceptance. Stops on flight included Holloman and Barksdale Air to air refueling wasn't an option (system not checked out/refurbed). QF-4s on cross country flights typically only had the centerline tank and travel pods on the outboards. No wing mounted external tanks Now...thread is useless without Phabulous Phantom pics! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/F-45lo-res.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/050908-F-7709A-007.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/4_fighters_2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/8tfw.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/Copyof060304-F-2295B-166.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/AFD-071026-033.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/071027-F-9104C-162.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/warpusher/070928-F-0986R-010.jpg Thanks, warpusher! |
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Awesome. Love me some F4's and A10's. My two favorite aircraft as a kid.  |
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Wow, I didn't realize the A-10 was so large compared to an F-16 or P-51... |
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Wow, I didn't realize the A-10 was so large compared to an F-16 or P-51... It's flying significantly below the other aircraft (closer to the camera), skewing the perspective. It is larger than those two aircraft, but not by as much as it looks like in that photo. |
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dumb question,why get rid of the f4? Technological obsolescence. It was simply too costly to maintain them. I worked in the last Active Duty (operational) F-4 unit in the USAF and we were putting in somethign like 45 maintenance man hours per flying hour, about triple what an F-16 requires. The airframes had plenty of life left, but were bleeding us dry with the cost of maintenance. |
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The Alabama air national guard had them until they traded them in for tankers.... They use to fly over my home town frequently. During the first gulf war, they had shark mouths painted on the noses of their aircraft, they were a recon wing at that time. Nothing in the world sounds like a McDonald Douglass F-4 Phantom as it howls across the sky... Reno relieved the Meridian ANG unit in early Dec 1990. We kept their planes as they were LOROP equipped and flew them throughout the rest of Desert Shield/Storm and into the cease fire. Oldest AF fighters in theater, and held the highest FMC rate, 98%. Friggin AD AF made us paint out the shark mouth and take off our tail flashes. Of course we fixed that before we deployed back to Reno. |
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I must be the only person here that thinks the F4 is fuck ugly. B.S. 
BAN HIM!!! Great memories of that plane flying around, we would go out to the airport to watch them take off and land. Many times we would see them flying the canyons up by the dams, or even up skiing, they would circle Mt. Hood. As a kid the noise and smoke pouring off was a highlite of your day. |
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dumb question,why get rid of the f4? Technological obsolescence. It was simply too costly to maintain them. I worked in the last Active Duty (operational) F-4 unit in the USAF and we were putting in somethign like 45 maintenance man hours per flying hour, about triple what an F-16 requires. The airframes had plenty of life left, but were bleeding us dry with the cost of maintenance. same thing with the Tomcat...lots of hours |
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These men are fuckin' Gods to me! 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kagQNljXy_I&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x7yDqvJqg0&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD_g3jGTb_o&feature=relmfu
That flip Mugs makes in his Phantom is simply unreal! |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1EGWGptgZE
"Hands" Handley's story: Only pilot in the world to get a gun kill while going supersonic...did this feat in a gun-nose F-4E! |
-RF-4C Phantom II from the 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing sits on an airfield on the first day of Operation Desert Storm -USAF image Operation Desert Shield- On 24 August 1990, then Colonel James F. Brown, 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing Commander led a formation of six RF-4C Phantoms on what was believed to be the longest non-stop flight of six Phantoms in history. After each Phantom refueled in the air 16 (sixteen) times and after traveling more than 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) without landing, the flight terminated in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at 1600 local time on 25 August 1990. The flight lasted 15.5 hours and included aerial refuelings from four different KC-10's and four different KC-135's. The 106th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron then operated out of the desert air base until December, 1990 flying reconnaissance missions in preparation for the eventual Operation Desert Storm. During those four months in 1990, one RF-4C Phantom was lost, claiming the lives of two of the 106th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron's aircrew members. |
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Also could be visiting Turks, Germans, etc, no? UN Election Observers! the Russians had a boomer w/in 200miles of the NE Coastline w/in the past two days, no worries, just United Nations observers making sure Obama wins!
 Boomer? Where the hell do you people get this stuff? |
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dumb question,why get rid of the f4? Technological obsolescence. It was simply too costly to maintain them. I worked in the last Active Duty (operational) F-4 unit in the USAF and we were putting in somethign like 45 maintenance man hours per flying hour, about triple what an F-16 requires. The airframes had plenty of life left, but were bleeding us dry with the cost of maintenance. I miss that beautiful HOWWWWWLLLLLLLL as they broke for landing right over My head . It was unforgettable ! (And almost orgasmic  )
I only got to recover/fuel/launch the ID ANG RF-4's when they would come to play with Our MT ANG F-16s. It was an Honor to wear-out the knees of My Woodland cammies & the toes of My shiny steel toe boots.
God bless the Folks Who brought Us the Smoking Thunder Bricks !!! The Ol' Crew Chief |