Last of the U.S. F4 Phantoms Retired Today, Dec 21st

[CGDustDevil]

The last F4 Phantoms were officially retired on Dec 21st. The end of a long era... The very last US military F4s at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, and are being retired officially today, December 21st.

I never actually got to work on or participate in ground crew activities for the F4... (I never got to work on anything modern except for some landing gear work on a Triplestick!)

By all accounts - A hell of an airplane. There are still some non-U.S. Phantoms still out there though.

Best regards, Pete

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/versatile-f-4-phantoms-making-final-flight-for-us-military

 

[MKIV]

Wow...that is definitely the end of an era.

 

[smoke-eater]

The end of a proud era. I was fortunate to see the Blue Angels perform in their Phantoms in 1971. Unforgettable!

Jeff

 

[flattop44]

That was my airplane while in the AF, I worked on the AFCS in those birds. Great one, I was with the 366th Gunfighters at DaNang, good airplane that really got the job done.
FT44

 

[willk]

The end of a proud era. I was fortunate to see the Blue Angels perform in their Phantoms in 1971. Unforgettable!

Jeff

I got to see them in 1971 in a far different light and doing a different job :D

 

[Heliman]

I was a plane captain on our F4J trio while stationed at China lake CA. Did several engine changes also while assigned to the engine shop.....

BUT, I also got to fly in the rear seat from China Lake to Miramar back in '70. To this day the most thrilling experience of my life.... bar none.

Dave

 

[Critch]

I was a USAF AMMO troop and I hauled a lot of bombs to those F-4Es. Great airplanes.....

One of the F-4Es we had at the 131st TFW in St Louis in the 80s:

Notice the red stars....

 

[Wyandot Jim]

The end of a proud era. I was fortunate to see the Blue Angels perform in their Phantoms in 1971. Unforgettable!

Jeff

The F4 was without a doubt the hardest airplane the Blues ever flew in their demonstration.. It was never made to be an airshow plane.

 

[sfhogman]

The end of a proud era. I was fortunate to see the Blue Angels perform in their Phantoms in 1971. Unforgettable!

Jeff

I got to see them in 1971 in a far different light and doing a different job :D

Same here, kinda. Saw the Thunderbirds at Homestead AFB where I was living and E models leaving for the North in Thailand. 1972.

 

[Bob Wright]

Y'all realize of course that the original Air Force designation was to be the F-110? This when the Navy designation was F4H.

The F-4 was, to me, sort of like the P-47 Thunderbolt, an aircraft that was beautiful by being brutal looking.

I flew from a small airport in St. Louis where there were some F-4s and F-101s sitting around like a used car lot. This ca. 1980 or so.

Bob Wright

 

[Dave P.]

The end of a proud era. I was fortunate to see the Blue Angels perform in their Phantoms in 1971. Unforgettable!

Jeff

The F4 was without a doubt the hardest airplane the Blues ever flew in their demonstration.. It was never made to be an airshow plane.

Maybe not, but it was the most impressive to watch ( smoke and noise ) that I've seen.
About the only thing better would be if the Thunderbirds were to switch to B1 bombers.
Can you imagine six of them making a high speed past with burners on!
Dave

 

[gregs45auto]

Nicknamed the rhino for a good reason. greg

 

[graygun]

One of the techs at my last job was a back seater in a RF-4C,flying from Thailand to photo recon over NVN and Laos. He retired in 2007 at 70. RIP,Joe.

 

[Rick Courtright]

BUT, I also got to fly in the rear seat from China Lake to Miramar back in '69. To this day the most thrilling experience of my life.... bar none.

Hi,

Dave, if you flew in that year on a Friday night during the Fall when they were doing carrier quals, I might have waved at you from the highway below you!

I was going to school in San Diego, and had a weekend job at home, so I'd leave after work at my first job in SD and head up Hwy 395 (long before I-15!) which ran right along the fence line at the east end of the base. They'd have the place pretty much blacked out, with blue lights on the runway which I believe functioned as the outline of a carrier deck.

Back then, you didn't stop along that fence, touch it, take photos or even look too leisurely at the base, but it would have been amazing to have some pictures of a couple of Phantoms coming in scary close over my head in the dark with those two bright glowing engines as they passed being the only things one could see really well. At the other end of the trip was March AFB, a SAC base at the time, with a couple of long lines of BUFs to drive by, quickly. AF security at March back then made the Navy look down right friendly!

Rick C

 

[Heliman]

BUT, I also got to fly in the rear seat from China Lake to Miramar back in '69. To this day the most thrilling experience of my life.... bar none.

Hi,

Dave, if you flew in that year on a Friday night during the Fall when they were doing carrier quals, I might have waved at you from the highway below you!

I was going to school in San Diego, and had a weekend job at home, so I'd leave after work at my first job in SD and head up Hwy 395 (long before I-15!) which ran right along the fence line at the east end of the base. They'd have the place pretty much blacked out, with blue lights on the runway which I believe functioned as the outline of a carrier deck.

Back then, you didn't stop along that fence, touch it, take photos or even look too leisurely at the base, but it would have been amazing to have some pictures of a couple of Phantoms coming in scary close over my head in the dark with those two bright glowing engines as they passed being the only things one could see really well. At the other end of the trip was March AFB, a SAC base at the time, with a couple of long lines of BUFs to drive by, quickly. AF security at March back then made the Navy look down right friendly!

Rick C

Rick, it would have been late summer. I didn't get a seat checkout and all that's involved until late spring of '70, so '69 was incorrect. The ride was my second. Also got to passenger in a TA4-F Skyhawk prior to the Phantom ride.

As to security, you are correct. It was the Naval Weapons Center and they didn't take kindly to trespassing.

Dave

 

[Sin6Sec63451022]

This is sad news. It was the airplane of my time. Four years on the Kittyhawk in the Tonkin gulf watching them. What a cool experience. Although not an "airdale", I was in close proximity with them. If an airplane can be sexy, then it was. We had a machinery chief get to re-up in the back seat, complete with carrier launch and landing. He was exstatic for days! Time marches on.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Y'all realize of course that the original Air Force designation was to be the F-110? This when the Navy designation was F4H.

The F-4 was, to me, sort of like the P-47 Thunderbolt, an aircraft that was beautiful by being brutal looking.

I flew from a small airport in St. Louis where there were some F-4s and F-101s sitting around like a used car lot. This ca. 1980 or so.

Bob Wright

Bob, which aerodrome was that? ALN?

 

[lipofsky]

Spent a lot of time on the flight deck trying to stay out of the way of the F-4 and it's exhaust when launching, Damn those things were loud and HOT, and impressive, compared to my A-7s'. Also Saw VF-11 have a ramp strike on the Forrestal one night, tragic and scary.

 

[contender]

Some aircraft are just plain workhorses that do a job above & beyond. And when they are good at their jobs, men become attached to them to a point of reverence. The F4's are in that rare group.

 

[wwb]

If you were a ground pounder in Vietnam and needed Tac Air, an OV-10 Bronco was usually first on the scene, but it was usually a pair of F4s that came to your rescue. Loved to hear those words, "30 seconds out... get small."

According to some folks, the Phantom was proof that a brick could fly if it had enough power.

 

[bobski]

I was around them a long time.
it had a martin baker gru-5 ejection seat with rssk 1 pan and the famous wisdom tooth nes-8 parachute.
I watched all the navy squadrons at mirimar turn them in for f-14's one at a time in the mid 70's. heck...I watched the old f-8's get turned in as well.
I hated being near them while on the line. they made you vomit from the smelly fumes and the sound of the engines went right thru ear pro.

you guys may have been phamous phantom phliers, but I was just a phamous phantom phixer!

 

[Bull Barrel]

I used to watch them regularly while in production and when the 121st had them based at KSTL. I live on the downwind leg for runways 12L/R &11.
Knew a lot of people who built them. Pretty impressive for a little company like McDonnell Aircraft. And they were developed from the F-3 Demon and called Super Demon.
Introduced to the Navy 30 Dec 1960.

 

[Bob Wright]

.

I flew from a small airport in St. Louis where there were some F-4s and F-101s sitting around like a used car lot. This ca. 1980 or so.

Bob Wright

Bob, which aerodrome was that? ALN?

If it had a name I didn't see it. I had gone to a client's office in St. Louis and they had a company plane (Bunge North America) at that airport. I went in their van with their staff.

Bob Wright

 

[graygun]

I was around them a long time.
it had a martin baker gru-5 ejection seat with rssk 1 pan and the famous wisdom tooth nes-8 parachute.
I watched all the navy squadrons at mirimar turn them in for f-14's one at a time in the mid 70's. heck...I watched the old f-8's get turned in as well.
I hated being near them while on the line. they made you vomit from the smelly fumes and the sound of the engines went right thru ear pro.

you guys may have been phamous phantom phliers, but I was just a phamous phantom phixer!

I remember a guy who had been a F-4 sim tech wearing a t-shirt that had "Phake Phantom Phixer" on the front.

 

[CGDustDevil]

Y'all realize of course that the original Air Force designation was to be the F-110? This when the Navy designation was F4H.

The F-4 was, to me, sort of like the P-47 Thunderbolt, an aircraft that was beautiful by being brutal looking.

I flew from a small airport in St. Louis where there were some F-4s and F-101s sitting around like a used car lot. This ca. 1980 or so.

Bob Wright

'... beautiful by being brutal looking...'. Absolutely accurate IMO!

And I still have a serious love/hate attachment to the F-101!

Best regards, Pete

 

[29aholic]

When I was a kid I dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. Unfortunately, I was born color blind so no wings for me.
I remember watching news footage of Phantoms making airstrikes and launching off carriers during Vietnam.
Dad was an ATC both in the Navy and as a civilian (he retired with 47 years of service) so occasionally I got to go up in the tower cab and watch him do his stuff. First time I saw Phantoms in person was in Wichita KS and the second time was the Blue Angels in the early 70's. It was love at first sight.
When the BA's came to land and prepare for the air show Dad handed me his binos. You could see those big soot trails curling behind the planes as they came in. I got to watch the air show the next day from the tower cab. I was eating lunch with Mom the day they took off to go to their next station. The phone rang and it was Dad. He told her to make sure we were outside in the next 5 minutes, he had something for us. We hurried outside and waited. Sure enough about 2 minutes later we heard that god awful scream and knew what was coming (my little brother cried like a Rosie O'Donnell). The next minute the Angels were in a V right over the top of our house at a level that probably broke some rules (if not windows). Dad was working traffic that day and sent them our way. As they passed over the house (actually the wheat field behind the house) they lifted the noses and did a full burn to altitude. I have been to a lot of air shows, and seen a lot of things, but that day was by far the most memorable.

RIP F-4 you will always be remembered.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

This year at Oshkosh two Privately owned Rhinos came in at sunset. Yea they had to do a low 360 at center stage in buner. Pretty impressive.

But unless you were lucky enough to see the LAST Tomcat flight do a sunset/night show at NAS Oceana in full burner for the whole 15 +-minuet airshow, you anin't seen crap. The Tomcat went out in style.
My Daughter was in charge of the airshow in 2003&2004
I have also seen the Tomcat go by the USS Truman at 50 yards out above the speed of sound. Now that is impressive :D

The last Tomcat at NAS Oceana.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Jim, when were you abourd the Truman? My son did two tours on the Truman in AIMD including the last with the F-14s.
Bob, at St. Louis Regional (ALN) near Alton, IL there was a company that converted fighters to drones. That may have been it.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Jim, when were you abourd the Truman? My son did two tours on the Truman in AIMD including the last with the F-14s.
Bob, at St. Louis Regional (ALN) near Alton, IL there was a company that converted fighters to drones. That may have been it.

I don't remember the year, but Truman had not been deployed yet it was a dependent one day cruise. Son was on the first deployment flying the E2-C Hawkeye from it. He was evolved in some scary mission before Saddam was taken out in the second gulf war.

 

[SAJohn]

We China Lakers had fun teasing the boys in blue back in the Vietnam days because their best fighter plane was the Navy F-4 armed with Naval Weapons Center designed Sidewinders and Sparrows. Also, every weapon in their arsenal had China Lake designed fuses.

Not really wanting Navy missiles, the USAF spent a small fortune developing the infrared seeker Hughes AIM-4 Falcon. It had a contact rather than a proximity fuse. It had a total of 5 kills during the entire Vietnam war. It was a better bomb than an air-to-air missile. The Navy had 46 kills with the Sidewinder and the Air Force had 34 kills.