Last F4 Phantoms Leaving Service

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>>32415714

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>>32415722

Doesn't it have the most losses of all America post-WW2 fighters?

>>32415714
What a legendary aircraft. It would be cool to one day own an RC jet version. I didn't even know they were still in service. What was their role? SEAD or bomb truck?

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>>32415729

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvGesCDMqSU

>>32415759
target drone.

Good. The Phantom is butt-ugly.

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>>32415759
According to article in the US they've been used for aerial targeting, flown sometimes remotely as drones.

Pilots say they were stubby and flew like a brick at low speeds.

>>32415714
What, no surplus sales to civilians?

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>>32415801
No, apparently. There are several civilian owned F5s but it doesn't seem that there are many F4s, maybe the mach 2 speed makes the military nervous about sharing?

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>>32415821

Dropped F4 fuel tanks converted to canoes in Vietnam

F

Greeks, Japs, SoKor, Turks and Iranians still field them.

Japan's versions are so souped up they may keep them in mainline service for multirole work for another 15 years.

>>32415714
>worst fighter in US history

How are they still in service?

>>32415743
MORE CUTIES!

>>32415785
REEEEEEEE

>>32415833
I want one

>>32415714

Pressing F4 to pay respects.

>>32415714
FFFF

>>32415801
When was the last time the US military sold surplus military aircraft to civilians?

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F

>>32415714
>The last F4 Phantoms in service will be used as ground attack targets:

Why?

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First F-14
Now F-4
;__;

>>32415740
probably. given that it or the MiG 21 is the most produced jet fighter, that's understandable.

>>32415789
>flew like a brick at low speeds.
That's how they fly at high speeds too.

>>32415767
>my feet hurt
>i wish i paid attention in school

>>32415714

Hey, they outlived many far more capable aircraft, it's not all bad. Certainly got a better fate than the Tomcat.

>>32415743
Do they make it in black?

>>32416991
Like this guy said, >>32415821, F5 Freedom Fighters were sold to civies.. I think F-104 was sold to.. or at least a bunch of their engines were.

>>32415714
you mean alt+f4. that command usually brings up a donations tab in most browsers that let you donate to charities such as veterans of america etc.

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F

the Phantom also was the backbone of the British 70s and early 80s air defence

note the 4 skyflash BVR missiles semi-recessed on the underbelly

>>32415740

It was used against a somewhat peer plane, the MiG-21, so it's understandable.

>>32417109
Because history is for faggots. Why preserve cultural artifacts when you can blow shit up?

>>32415714
F4

>>32422740
There are plenty of Phantoms in museums and as gate guards, or do you want to keep all 5,000 of them?

>>32422777
I'll take one.

>>32422777
/looks stubborn

Yes.

Put them in the boneyard and let them sit there in case we get into a shooting war with China or... something.

>>32417109
Numerous reasons:
There's a fuckton of them
They're obsolete
They're realistic targets, since they're actually a plane
They're good for assessing how something will damage a target

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Goodbye, winged commie-killing brick!
You've done your job and can rest now.
;__;>

>>32422676
F-15 has gone peer to peer and still hasn't lost.

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>>32425504
Vietnamese pilots were pretty damn good and had the most effective SAM system at the time. Courtesy of the Soviets and Chinese.
Vietnam was also the most intense airwar since WW2 and nothing has come close since that.

>>32425504
F-15 fought against Arabs.

Need I say more?

>>32415740
It flew, by far, the most combat sorties in non-permissive environments. North Viet Nam AAA and SAM defenses aren't a few dune coons with a MANPAD now and then.

>>32422740
There are plenty of preserved Phantoms. There are few in private hands and they are insanely maintenance intensive. I worked them at Moody in the early 1980s. You not only need to be a billionaire to afford to fly them, you need many experienced technicians and a considerable ground crew to service, repair and maintain them. That's a key reason they were phased out of service.

They were tough. We had two Dobbins birds IFE for a midair. Wingman tagged lead's left stab with his radome. Antenna umbrella'ed over the radar package while the radome fragments went down the intakes. One engine shut down but the other J-79 kept on chugging and got the crew down safely.

>Put them in the boneyard and let them sit there in case we get into a shooting war with China or... something.

It would be over before they got returned to service. Fighter units are complex systems of people and the end result of support systems and test equipment and supply chains and logistics and support contracts.

Phantom had its very long day and AMARC are good at returning valuable metal, engines (used for ground power) and components to use.

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>>32421165

>>32417943
aahahahah. No.
They actually got more and more nimble, the faster they flew.

>>32415714
F4

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Well played. Growing up heard tales from nam,aces being born. Many holidays with family over the table "duke" dropping in low.Even now gets me right in the feels.

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>90000 rpm

>>32422740
We wouldn't have Tora Tora Tora without that mindset.

F-4 proved that a brick can fly if you just put strong enough engines on it.

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Ever seen the old Blue Angels movie "Threshhold"? Loved this movie as a kid. Lot of onboard F-4 footage.

https://youtu.be/OOrpzcsTLIg

>>32415833
That is fucking legit.

>>32433636
>15 miniguns
My. Raging. Erection.

>>32433636
need more dakka.

most badass looking plane of all time

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>>32434439

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>>32433744
Thats badass showed the old man while turkey cooked. Nice find anon

>>32437535
I'm partial to the USAF Vietnam camo ones

goodbye my sweet prince

I was at Holloman and got to see their last flight

My dad worked on them in the 1980s so it was interesting to see them flying around for years