{"id":4479,"date":"2019-09-17T22:03:13","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T03:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=4479"},"modified":"2021-01-09T09:51:56","modified_gmt":"2021-01-09T14:51:56","slug":"tribute-to-the-f-4-phantom-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tribute-to-the-f-4-phantom-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribute to the F-4 Phantom II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is a tribute to the F-4 Phantom II.&nbsp; McDonnell-Douglas superb fighter which was\nthe backbone of American air superiority in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Navy-F-4-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4471\" width=\"258\" height=\"192\"\/><figcaption>Navy F-4<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The plane was designed by McDonnell Douglas engineer, Dave Lewis and first flew in 1958.&nbsp; The Navy adopted the plane in 1960.&nbsp; The Marine Corps quickly followed suit. In what can only be described as &#8220;miraculous&#8221; the Air Force ordered a plane that was first flown by the Navy and it entered the Wild Blue Yonder in 1963.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vietnam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/F-4-pointing-right.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4468\" width=\"227\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/F-4-pointing-right.jpg 309w, https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/F-4-pointing-right-300x158.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" \/><figcaption>AF F-4<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The adoption of the F-4 coincided with the growing tensions\nin Southeast Asia.&nbsp; After the Gulf of\nTonkin Resolution in 1964, Navy, Marine and Air Force F-4s appeared over the\nVietnam landscape and waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The C, D and E models were all used.&nbsp; Initially the aircraft had no internal gun,\nthis was the trend of the time.&nbsp;\nConventional wisdom held that with the advent of air to air missiles,\nguns were obsolete.&nbsp; The conventional wisdom\nwas wrong.&nbsp; The C and D models got 20mm\ngun pods mounted and the E model featured an internal 20 mm gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Marine-F-4-e1568773959911.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4469\" width=\"270\" height=\"114\"\/><figcaption>Marine Corps F-4<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The pilot flew in the front seat and the navigator in the\nback.&nbsp; The AF called the backseater a WSO\n(weapons system operator) while the Navy preferred RIO (radar intercept\nofficer)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Randy Cunningham (USN) became the first ace of the Vietnam War in the F-4.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/steve-ritchie-45th-anniversary-ace\/\">Steve Ritchie<\/a> followed in the Air Force and was eventually surpassed by <a href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/chuck-debellevue-air-force-ace-and-unsung-hero\/\">Chuck DeBellevue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Records and Novelties<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>At one time the F-4 held over 15 air records.\u00a0 This included an altitude record of 98,557 feet in 1959 and a cross country speed record, traversing the United States in less than three hours in 1961.\u00a0 Later time to climb records were set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Thunderbird-1024x454.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4472\" width=\"226\" height=\"100\"\/><figcaption>Thunderbird<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Both services air demonstration teams used the bird.&nbsp; The AF used the F-4E from 1969 to 1973.&nbsp; While the Navy used the J model from 1969 to 1973 as well.&nbsp; Higher fuel prices were a major factor in ending the F-4s tenure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Blue-Angel-e1568773926919.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4466\" width=\"252\" height=\"105\"\/><figcaption>Blue Angel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Records and Novelties<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The F-4 was flown by nearly a dozen countries.&nbsp; Besides Vietnam, the fighter saw action in the First Gulf War as the Wild Weasel.&nbsp; The Phantom was a star performer during the Yom Kippur War as Israel\u2019s surrounding neighbors attacked.&nbsp; Most ironically, Iran bought the aircraft before the fall of the Shah of Iran.&nbsp; The aircraft was therefore used in the Iran-Iraq War.&nbsp; Presently the aircraft is still being used by nations such as Egypt and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Last US Flight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The F-4 was officially retired by the US Air Force in 2017.\u00a0 This concluded a 50+ year service life.\u00a0 For an excellent article on the last flight and the team who pulled it off, see <a href=\"https:\/\/airman.dodlive.mil\/2017\/02\/21\/f-4-flies-for-final-time\/\">this story.<\/a>\u00a0 The pictures are worth the view all by themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.&nbsp; Truly a legendary aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"661\" src=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mult-F-4-models-1024x661.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4470\"\/><figcaption>This formation of F-4 Phantom II fighter aircraft, sporting a Vietnam Era paint scheme, fly in formation during a heritage flight demonstration over Northwest Florida.  The Heritage Flight program was established in 1997 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the U. S. Air Force and involves fighter aircraft from World War II to recent all flying in formatoin to both celebrate and demonstrate the evolution of Air Force Air Power.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a tribute to the F-4 Phantom II.&nbsp; McDonnell-Douglas superb fighter which was the backbone of American air superiority in the 1960s and 1970s. History The plane was designed by McDonnell Douglas engineer, Dave Lewis and first flew in 1958.&nbsp; The Navy adopted the plane in 1960.&nbsp; The Marine Corps quickly followed suit. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":4467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[24],"tags":[402,404,534],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tribute to the F-4 Phantom II - Doctor Aviation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a tribute to the F-4 Phantom II. 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