F-4 Phantom II

The Odyssey of Israel’s recce Phantoms: from the Mach 3+ F-4X to the electronic warfare F-4E(S)

The Odyssey of Israel’s recce Phantoms: from the Mach 3+ F-4X to the electronic warfare F-4E(S)

With an increase in engine thrust by 150% the F-4X would have featured dash speeds of Mach 3.2, cruise at… Read More

4 weeks ago

The day 70 Libyan Fighters were Scrambled to Intercept US Navy F-4 and F-14 Aircraft that Crossed the Line of Death in the Gulf of Sidra

On Aug. 18, 1981 no less than 35 pairs of Libyan interceptors, including a total of 70 MiG-23MS’s, MiG-25Ps, Mirage… Read More

1 month ago

The Story of the College Student that scored the first ever Gun Kill for an Israeli F-4 Phantom II

Three or four times a week Aviem Sella returned from missions over Egypt flying at low altitude over Haifa to… Read More

1 month ago

The story of the RAF Phantom crew that jokingly requested fuel from an Argentine Air Force KC-130 flying over the Falklands

One of the Hercules’ men grinned at the Phantom crew and gave a thumbs up sign. Thus encouraged, Archie manoeuvred… Read More

1 month ago

The day a USAF KC-135 Stratotanker saved six US Navy jets over the Gulf of Tonkin

With only 300 pounds remaining one of the F-8s hooked up with the second KA-3 even as it was taking… Read More

2 months ago

A US Navy F-4 scored the first Official US Aerial Victory of the Vietnam War against a Chinese MiG-17. But it remained unconfirmed for many years. Here’s why.

Years after, in piecing together the events of the air battle, the destruction of the Chinese MiG-17 was given to… Read More

2 months ago

Did you know the USAF F-4 Phantom II variant had to be designated the F-110 Spectre? The Century Series Fighter that Never Was

In 1962 approval was given for the USAF F-4 Phantom II variant to be designated the F-110 Spectre. In response… Read More

2 months ago

USAF Phantom II pilot tells the story of when he belly landed his stricken F-4D without his backseater

‘In retrospect, my ordering WSO to eject was a mistake which I have always regretted. I felt at the time… Read More

3 months ago

The story of the Blue Angels F-4 Phantom II that Knocked Out the windows of eight blocks of a Canadian City after it went Supersonic during an Air Show

“They had a parade scheduled for the next day and they had to cancel that. All the windows were boarded… Read More

3 months ago

F-4 pilot recalls when during a “snake check” down a jeep trail he had to do a 6-G pullup to avoid a pickup truck. He was accused by his neighbor of running him off the road with his Phantom II.

‘I assured him that I know his official green Chevy pickup very well and would certainly avoid him,’ David Storm,… Read More

4 months ago

US Navy F-4 pilot recalls when his Phantom II radar screen went black because of the high speed of an SR-71 Blackbird he and his RIO tried to intercept while it was exiting Chinese airspace

‘I watched in amazement as the Vc circle [on the radar display] which told us the relative closing velocity of… Read More

4 months ago

The Fearsome Crusader scored its last MiG Kill against a North Vietnamese MiG-17 pilot that chose to eject when he found his opponent was an F-8 instead of an F-4

Lt Jerry Tucker kill was disallowed on the grounds that it had been achieved without the use of any weapons,… Read More

4 months ago

F-4 WSO tells the story of when his pilot fell asleep during a ferry flight of four Phantom IIs from Kadena AB to Clark AB and their F-4 drifted out of formation

What happens if a fighter jet pilot fell asleep while flying? More than half of airline and commercial pilots have… Read More

5 months ago

US Naval Aviator who flew both the F-4 and F-14 tells about the negative and positive attributes of the Phantom II and Tomcat during Carrier Landing

The approach speed of the F-4 was a little slower than the F-8, the view looking forward in the F-14… Read More

5 months ago

Former Blue Angels CO explains why the Team chose the A-4 Skyhawk over the F-14 Tomcat and the A-7 Corsair II to Replace the F-4 Phantom II

‘While we were doing this search for airplanes, a couple of squadrons were coming back from Vietnam and were being… Read More

5 months ago

Watch the Greatest F-4 Phantom II Footage in History: J79 Noise, Sonic Booms and Extremely Low Flying

The sierra hotel video in this post is possibly the coolest F-4 Phantom II footage ever filmed. The Noise You… Read More

6 months ago

The Pardo’s Push: USAF F-4 Phantom II pilot Bob Pardo remembers the most exciting day of his life

‘The F-4 was an awesome aeroplane in combat. It could even push a 28,000-lb aeroplane on a piece of one-inch… Read More

7 months ago
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