Why an F-4 Phantom Attacked a Pilotless MiG-21? (And How a Great Rivalry Began)

In early 1966, USAF and US Navy pilot began to encounter new MiG-21 fighters of the Vietnamese People's Air Force. This was the start of one of the greatest rivalries in the history of fighter aviation. The Phantoms achieved their first kills against the older MiG-17 while MiG-21s opened their account with a Firebee drone. But one of the two fighters would soon draw the first blood on 26 April 1966 when a flight of F-4s led by Major Paul Gilmore met a flight of MiG-21s led by a future ace, Nguyen Hong Nhi. In this historical encounter, Major Gilmore would end up fighting a pilotless aircraft.

Sources:
- Frank R Futrell - Aces & aerial victories;: The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia 1965-1973
- Donald J. McCarthy Jr - USAF F-4 and F-105 MiG Killers of the Vietnam War, 1965-1973
- Peter E. Davies - USAF F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1965–68
- István Toperczer - MiG-21 Aces of the Vietnam War

Special thanks to Anjet for participating in the reenactment.

Special thanks to Nguyễn Quốc Dũng for helping with Vietnamese pronunciation.

Support the channel on Patreon:

Donate via Paypal:

Join our Discord server:

Audio mastering by Don Solaris:

#militaryaviationhistory #f4phantom #mig21

[Riccardo_Silva]

Too bad the PFL was rather different from the model available in DCS...the slightly blurry, faded footage resembles closely that of those pictures and films which were made back then! Another outstanding piece of work Showtime! Bravo! 👋👋👋

[hmmjedi]

Another great video about something not a lot know about... sometimes the first Air to Air kill per type is forgotten

[donparker]

You are such a good story teller. And again, kudos on your pronunciation of these difficult names. It's interesting to me the difference in the tone of an AIM-9 and the tone of the Atoll since the Atoll was a copy of the AIM-9. I would have thought that they would make the same sound. I actually like the sound of the Atoll better.

[romeogolf]

I love your videos. If you don't mind me asking, what country are you based in?

[alejandrocasalegno]

The first F-4 shot down by a MiG-21 in vietnamese records was a US Navy F-4B from VF-154 Ocober 9 1966 by Nguyen Van Minh....the US pilots say was a"100 MM hit right in the i say before, the AAA is more "Honorable" than a enemy

[offshorequest]

Another great video ! Not sure I like the "grainy film" effect though as much.

[yeetboi]

Man i love your vids. Nice stories, good editing, good representations. 10/10

[bjornsmith]

The early air to air missiles were sometime 50 to 75 % inaccurate you have to ripple fire them to ge1t result.

[rsacchi]

Like the details. Thanks for posting.

[guinnog]

Beautiful reenactment. Keep up your good work.

[ratagris]

Thank you for all you do Showtime 112. Excellent presentation as always about these little known actions. ♠️🎩🎯🇺🇲🏁🎱🇺🇦🔱🌻💮🌸🌼🏴‍☠️🏹

[dominiqueroudier]

First 👍 mate 9:51 20mm gun was a nécessary evil due to lack of reliability from sidewinder and Sparrow.
Crew was major Paul J.Gilmore and 1Lt William T.Smith. both rated pilots.
F4C-23-MC s/n 64-0752 belongs 480 TFS 35 TFW.DaNang
Data From..And kill Migs by Lou Drendel squadron signal publication

[aaronstreeval]

Dumb question I should know the answer too. But wasn’t it relatively rare or maybe the better way to say it is uncommon for the north Vietnamese migs to rise and challenge the Americans or were the migs appearing most times we did over their skys.

[sydecarnutz]

Wow. Never realized how flammable the aileron's of a MIG 21 were!

[dharmendrasharma]

Great video, I was thinking if you could recreate air battle of borya using mb-338 as IAF gnats against PAF sabres, downing of 2 sabres.

[mrdlama]

I always look forward to your stuff
Educational nonsense my wife calls it
By I sure love it 😁👍

[abbaerfani]

Thanks for garet video and I remember something like that happened in Iran Iraq war and it was MIG25 and been hit by Sam 2 and pilot lives the airplane but MIG flies for 400 km more before hit ground

[jeannezehner]

I did not know this part of history about the Vietnam aerial war.
The Phantom II, is the only plane which have been used by the two acrobatics american patrols, the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels, too.
The success rate of the Sparrow missile was roughly 11% during all the period of the Vietnam war.
I don't know the success rate of the sidewinder, i think it's a little bit superior.
It's the reason why they have adapted a canon pod under the fuselage of the Phantom II since 1966. We see this in your video about the the last sidewinder shooted, the pilot is too close of the enemy plane and it does not work properly.
Instead of this, it could use his canon if he had one at this moment. This version will appear with the E model.

[PappaBear_yt]

Well, somehow you managed to raise the bar again!.. 😎👍🏻👏🏻
Hey, about F-4 mod: does it require FC3 or similar to install and how do you feel about it (systems and FM-wise)?

[renatoandricevic]

A nisu mogli znati ima li pilota u avionu 🙂