F-4 Phantom | Behind the Wings

Entering service in the early 1960’s, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom was a dominating aircraft used by the United States’ Navy, Marines and Air Force in combat operations until the late 1990’s. Designed as a do-it-all fighter, the F-4 was used in air superiority, bombardment, close air support and reconaissance missions during its more than 30 year combat life.

Join Curator Matthew Burchette and Wings’ President & CEO John Barry as they share untold stories of the F-4 Phantom.

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Host, Curator:
Matthew Burchette

Creator, Producer:
Ben Theune

Camera, Editor:
Scott Hennelly

Music:

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[Eyes-of-Horus]

The F-4 is a work of art in its design. It's got all the right curves in all the right places. A beautiful plane.

[gordonlawrence]

Things some people do not know about the F-4:
It was the first fighter to have a full intercept radar and computer though it was analogue.
The analogue computer suffered from drift so Jack Kirby of TI invented the IC to stop components experiencing different temperatures as much as possible (to reduce drift).
The J-79 engine was the first to have variable stators.
The sheer amount of wiring in the F-4 was THE reason for starting research into what became the MIL-STD-1553B bus.
The IDF called one variant "Kurnass" (Sledgehammer).
The RAF variant had RR-Spey engines which are more powerful than the J-79 (by about 10%)but it was slower because this screwed up the aerodynamics so badly.
The RAF Phantoms flew with Skyflash instead of Sparrow missiles.
The F-4G holds the record as the longest lived "Wild Weasel" of all time.
The F-4 is still in use with Greece, South Korea and Japan.
For some reason F-4 pilots are referred to as "drivers" and this is roumoured to be a joke going back to the Vietnam war.

[billirvin]

My favorite airplane of all time .. I was at Udorn, Thailand in 1971 watching them take off and (mostly) return safely. The guys that flew them in combat were the baddest dudes in town at the time!

[billr.]

I worked maintenance on F-4C's at Luke AFB for about three years before transitioning to F-16's. Although I spilled a lot of blood, sweat, and tears on the Phantom, it remains my favorite jet.

[jeffpowers]

I worked on F-4s altogether for 8 years maintaining comm/nav systems during my 30 years in the USAF. It was a privilege I cherish. It is my favorite airplane, just beautiful.

[gordon]

Living proof that with enough thrust, even a brick can fly.

[timfuneral]

that dump truck flew my cousin thru 2 tours of vietnam and he came home ALIVE!

[pensbdj]

2 ejections?? I hope he enjoyed his career flying Heavies or Helos afterwards.

[mattorama]

Supersonic in seven minutes from a dead sleep? I don't even have my feet on the floor seven minutes after waking up.

[Truckman]

Flying dump truck is a pretty good description of my favorite fighter...I was a weapons release technician on F-4's and, yes, they can carry a dump truck load of ordnance, and at twice the speed of sound...They could kill you and everyone around you before you even knew they were in the neighborhood...The A-1E was also called a flying dump truck because it could carry more than its own weight in ordnance...Both were, and are great aircraft!...

[mikem]

The phantom is just plane beautiful. I grew up, in Fargo ND, through the 70’s and 80’s, and the air natl guard flew those. They flew over my neighborhood, heading to and from the guard station. I had a high school teacher who flew those with guard. Beautiful, and loud as hell.

[JonMichael]

Was a proud member of USS Independence CV-62 from 1972-75 working in AIMDs Jet Shop. My specialty, the F-4J GE J-79-10 turbojet engine. I was a jet engine test cell trouble shooter. I can still hear the sounds of them turning up.

[macbuff]

The F4 originally didn't come a gun which was a big oversight esp. given the fact that the missiles at the time weren't particularly reliable. A gun pod was added later. It was a missile truck in the beginning. A heavy bird meant for long range interception and not for dog fighting. The pilots at the time did, however, manage to coax some major stunts out of it. It was very tough which helped its survivability. The German air force used it for a very long time up until the early 90s when it was replaced by the Tornado which is might now be replaced by the F-18 to carry nuclear weapons.

[kevinx]

I was once in a bizarre vantage point and caught an F4 and an F16 dogfighting. The F4 was giving the F16 the business. It was 1988 or 1989. I was in the USAF stationed in Germany. I was on on top of some building, maybe a hanger detailed to watch the Germans work. We had a mock air field attack. My base had F15s and a base 8 miles away had F4s and F16. Add the Canadian F18s and the air above me was crazy.

On the back side of the flight line was a huge ravine. I never really took note of it before that day. But I was maybe 3 stories up when these two jets made everyone on the rooftop drop down because they seemed so close as they roared by. The F16 was actually the prey for the F4. He chased it down into the ravine. I expected the F16 to be maneuverable but I had no idea what the F4 was capable of. The F4 was known as the flying brick. That turned out to be a lie. 30 some years later and I'll never get rid of that image and the sounds. So close you could see rivets.

[Casra]

My Father was a WSO, I grew up with Phantoms in the overhead, 4 ships at 500' every 30 seconds or less. Seymour, Clark, Mather, Homestead, Bergstrom... good times.

[jerrycampbell]

Lived on NAS Pensacola, back when the Blue Angels were flying F-4's. Saw, firsthand one day, the ability of an F-4 to stand on it's tail from a near-stall, light the afterburners, and climb straight up. I'm told it was the first aircraft that could do such a thing. Certainly left an impression on my then 14 y.o. self, aye.

[DavidALovingMPF]

Worked on the 119 ecm pod on F-4D at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge, England. Scary beast for my first jet avionics assignment. After being signed off on the ejection seat, I could sit in the back seat and test our ECM pod in STANDBY for errors. Other times I would help the RHAW shop with their little scope and receiver, walk around the plane with a "Squirt" box to see if the RHAW scope would show where I was. The AN/ALQ-119 pod would be installed in the missile #1 position with a heavy adapter plate. One guy would hold up the plate on his back and the other guy would start putting in bolts. We used a trailer to haul the pods out to the planes and an MJ4 or 8 (funky bomb loader) to pick up the pods, drive over and raise them up while a friend would connect the electrical parts, and tell the loader to go up, dwn, sideways, etc for the hooks to line up and then a tool turn would grab the pod. A bit noisy and in the winter, fingers would find the safety wire! ouch!

[joshuakolnes]

0:45 johns reaction to f-4 driver is perfect

[f-bphantom]

the Phantom is my all time favorite aircraft I have sat in many when I lived in Beaufort, sc and being an avid model builder have built many Phantoms over the years. I would love to have a phantom sitting in my front yard

[TXARNGarmyX]

I trained on the exact same F4E there in the museum back in 1986 back when Lowry was still active training base for 462's.