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You Fight Like You Train
The following article titled “You Fight Like You Train” and written by Legendary fighter pilot and first US ace of the Vietnam War Randy “Duke” Cunningham appeared in Issue 25 – McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II of Aviation Classic.
A fighter is like your wife. She has her good points and her bad ones. You love the good things and learn to live with the bad ones.
The F-4 smoked like an old locomotive, she was big and ugly, and easy to see — but would take care of you if you treated her right.
Her attributes included good outside visibility, switchology that was easy to use if trained, radar and missiles that were better than the enemy, and the extra back seat was a plus with the best RIO in the Navy, Willy “Irish” Driscoll. (The single seat vs. two seat fighter is another debate.)
The F-4 was easy to trap, and launch was a piece of cake — except for your first 56,000-pound cat shot. You could find yourself nose high ready to eject if you did it wrong. Yes, that’s from personal experience.
At the field, landing & taking off were a piece of cake. But with a wet runway on landing, she could hydroplane on you. At NAS Cubi Point (in the Philippines), I landed in a thunderstorm and my bird turned 180 degrees, with me going down the runway backwards at a high rate of speed. The brakes would not work so I went full afterburner and stopped. Then called for taxi with a higher pitched voice.
Dan “Yank” Pederson, the first instructor
She was steady and spoke to you if you listened to her. She told you if you were abusing her, “I’m going to stall, depart and even spin,” she said through buffet and stick feel. If you didn’t listen she would bite you, but also she would forgive you and recover every time.
On a Mach 2 flight test out of North Island, a ramp stuck and scared the pa-jusus out of me! But again, she was forgiving and brought me home. She could bleed hydraulic fluid and still get you back with her back up heart. This lady even liked a rat (the ram air turbine, which we deployed after electrical failures). I had several flame outs, but she relit every time.
Formation flight was a snap in the F-4. Speed brakes and throttle response were great. She was a good dogfighter above 420 knots and below 20,000 feet, but only if trained…and I had the benefit of having some of the best instructors in the world.
Dan Pederson, “Yank,” was my first instructor. He rode in the back seat and said, “Okay, take her pure vertical to zero CAS (calibrated air speed). You heard me, now do it! Keep the stick and rudders neutral and she will recover by herself.”
Ten out of ten times she forgave us.
Then he said, “Go back pure vertical and at 200 knots go to idle, kick in rudder and feel her do a rudder reversal.” He taught me to hold her roll with opposite but neutral stick and we came directly down our slip stream.
Yank gave me confidence in the F-4 on my first flight. In each maneuver flown, I knew she would get me through it. Thanks, Dan.
Periscope for all USN, USMC, and USAF F-4s
I had other great instructors like Jim Ruliffson, J. C. Smith, Monroe Smith, Jim Laing, Darrell Gary, Dave Frost, Mel Holmes, Jerry Sawatzky, and many others.
Peter Jago and Jerry Kinch, two British exchange pilots, had me fly low level routes hitting points within 10 seconds. We flew at a hundred feet, 500 to 750 knots, and when I was chasing a MiG-21 at tree-top level a few years later their training paid off. Low level she was solid as a rock — 750 knots, 100 feet above the ground. You could outrace the wind!
She was stout as well. On 8 May 1972, with MiG-17’s at 5 and 7 o’clock, tracers inches above our canopy, I rolled nose low and placed 12 g’s on her, ducking into a cloud. Even though she was hard down when we got back to Connie (USS Constellation), it was only a short time before you could take her to a dance again.
Without a radar the bird was degraded by 50%. Going into combat blind is like cooking for your ex-wife: not fun. The F-4 had a blind area aft so when I came back from Vietnam I was asked to meet with Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, who asked what we needed. I said, “An Israeli-style scope on the front of the rear cockpit so we can see our six o’clock.” The next day he ordered all USN, USMC, and USAF F-4s to be fitted with the periscope.
I was summoned to see Admiral Mickey Weisner and the first thing he said was: “What the hell did you tell SecDef yesterday?!” But we got them installed.
Fly the F-4 every day as much as you can
Other equipment I would have added during that time included: a gun and lead computing sight, better UHF radios and KY-28 secure voice system, the USAF “Combat Tree” system, AWG-10 parts supply, and more AIM-9 and AIM-7 missiles.
There is no better aircraft in an air show than the F-4. When the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds made a pass in front of the crowd, those two J79-10 engines, each belching 17,900 pounds of thrust, made the hair on the back of your neck stand up and your heart pound from the noise and vibration. On the other hand, those engines were prone to FOD (foreign object damage), and I have seen two sailors being sucked into the intakes. One lived the other did not make it.
When I joined my first fighter squadron, VF-96, they were suffering from losses caused by the devastating Enterprise fire (January 1969) and a difficult combat tour. My new commanding officer, “Early” Wynn said, “Go out and fly the aircraft every day as much as you can.” Yay! This was after being stashed at Topgun while waiting for the squadron.
You Fight Like You Train: the difference between a fairy tale and a fighter pilot’s story
I took the ladies out and saw how much altitude it took to complete a split-s at 250, 350, and 500 knots. I saw how many g’s I could sustain at various altitudes at different airspeeds and felt her stick tell me when she would stall or spin. I was able to meet an old F-9 from China Lake over the Date Farm, and I’d challenge any knight that wanted to play. The fighter pilots most cherished words are, “fight’s on,” and I said them many, many times.
I’ll leave you with one more thought. The difference between a fairy tale and a fighter pilot’s story: a fairy tale starts, “Once upon a time,” and a fighter pilot’s story starts off, “No shit, this really happened.”
Going for knots, into the sun, and check six!
– Randy “Duke” Cunningham
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
