Service History
No service history available
The F-4 Phantom may still be considered the best fighter-bomber ever built and a great success for the American aeronautical industry. The F-4 was also the test bed for using electronic, instead of manual controls.
The F-4 held fifteen world speed, altitude and time-to-climb records. During Vietnam the F-4 downed 280 MiGs. The payload of and F-4 was three times that of a B-17 Flying Fortress.
In the 1970’s the ‘J’ model received a complete upgrade of its wiring, plumbing, engines, systems and structures. The notorious black smoke trail was alleviated by the new J79-GE-10B smokeless engine. These upgrades would extend the service life of the F-4. In 2004, more than forty years later, 800 F-4’s still serve the U.S. and other countries.
Some 5,057 F-4’s were built in the United States, an additional 138 in Japan. In 1986, the last F-4 was replaced in the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets by the Navy F-14 Tomcat or Marine F/A-18 Hornet.
Obtained by Yanks in 2001.
