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F-4E
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twinengined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the US Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the US Marine Corps and the US Air Force (USAF), and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their respective air wings.
In 1972, the F-4E model was upgraded with leading edge slats on the wing, greatly improving high angle of attack maneuverability at the expense of top speed.
The F-4E was essentially an F-4D with improved J79-GE-17 engines (900 pounds more static sea level thrust each) and an M61A1 “Vulcan” 20mm cannon. Operational experience gained in Vietnam had a direct influence on the addition of the cannon.
The hydraulically powered wing-folding mechanism and the emergency ram-air turbine were removed to save weight and a seventh fuel cell was added. The addition of self-sealing fuel tanks starting with block 41 aircraft lowered the fuel capacity by 139 gallons but provided much better combat survivability.
USAF Phantom II WSO 13-hour flight from Hickam AFB to Osan AB
David Weinberg, former USAF F-4E Phantom II Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), recalls on Quora;
‘When I was flying the F-4E Phantom as a WSO, I did a 13-hour flight from Hickam AFB in Hawaii to Osan AB in South Korea. It was very difficult because the F-4E had to be refueled often and was difficult to fly at the gross weight and speeds necessary to maintain enough fuel to divert in case of an emergency when we could not refuel. The F-4 was an older Vietnam generation fighter and did not have a lot of places for extra things so we had to invent locations to store stuff.
‘The main things I brought were snacks, water, and piddle packs to pee into. I filled up 5 of them during the 13 hours. One person would fly [USAF F-4s had full flight controls in the back] while the other did whatever. We took turns flying, listen to music, talked to pass the time. Staying hydrated was not a problem. I was also not motivated to eat much as if I had to do more than pee it would have been a nightmare. We all did have breakfast super early in the morning before we took off.
Flying over the Pacific Ocean in February
‘The one difficult thing was when flying over the Pacific [Ocean] in February it is very cold so we wore thermal underwear and anti-exposure suits under our flight suits along with a survival vest and an inflatable horse collar life vest around our necks, plus the g-suit pants. When it came time to pee it was a real challenge to get through all the layers regardless of how “well endowed” you were. I had to release my lap belt and kind of sit-up to do it.’
Weinberg concludes;
‘Most of my water and food was in my g-suit pockets but we also had some inflight lunches we called “box nasty’s” which I put on the side consoles. It was packed pretty tight in my little space in the back of the F-4E. I loved that plane and still miss those days despite when finally landing I swore I would never do that again.’
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force
