SOGman Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I have been following the discussion on the Academy F-4B and some of the threads are getting to be almost flaming. Me, I don't care one way or the other. It looks like an F-4 to me and that is good enough. Now on to my reason for this post. Tell everyone why you like or dislike the F-4. My reason for loving her was my team was 8k inside a place the President said there were no troops. In a firefight and no one was allowed to help because of political reasons. However a flight of Marine F-4's was monitoring our situation and decided to help and damn the consciousnesses. Anyway those Marines unloaded all their ordinance just where it was needed. I have never seen such a beautiful sight as those F-4's digging us out of a very bad situation. To this day I don't remember what squadron these men were from only the sight of that beautiful bird dropping exactly where it was needed. Now I will kid about Marines being Jarheads and they give it back but I will always respect them for saving my a**. "Death before Dishonor" Norm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I'm no F-4 superfan but I am amazed at what it accomplished. Being able to dogfight with jets less than half it's size and come out on top is quite impressive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Neat story, about something that never happened... My father always poked fun at the F-4. He flew the CF-104, and was quoted often as saying the F-4 had "too many engines, too many people, and it's butt-ugly to boot." I've also heard people say the F-4 is proof that with enough thrust, any shape will fly. I have always thought it looked mean and cool, especially with lots of ordnance hung underneath. And give me a sharks-mouth scheme on the nose like the USAFE F-4s in Ramstein anyday! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
metroman Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Brute power...huge fan of early Vietnam NavOps with the 'B' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I remember watching them make their run up north everyday, and it always stunned me that a plane could be so loud and carry so much junk under it, and yet get off the ground! There was always one parked in the arming pit 24/7, and there was always one in front of the blast panel doing an engine run up. Looked like two big blow torches at two in the morning heading north of the 17th parallel. Was trying to think the otherday if it were the Phantoms or the A4's that had the knight's chesspiece symbol on their tails and which ones had the large black Playboy Bunny painted on it. They were so big you could make them out two miles away. Then there was the one lone Phantom that used to use our base came to vector off of us at four in the afternoon on almost everyday. He'd make three or four very low level passes and then head northwest towards Laos (ten minutes out). Two hours later a lone Mohawk did the samething, and he looked funny compaired to the big smoke stick! yes I love Phantoms gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Av8fan Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I always like the Phantom. Just a tough mean looking bird. I remember the X G/F and I went to an airshow years ago. The Phantom crew(I believe that they were Luftwaffe) put on a really great show despite being limited by a low cloud ceiling. Everyone enjoy building their ACAD F-4s. I have a Hase G, but it is midway in the build pile. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunliner Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I like the Phantom purely for it's looks. Just has a tough 'stance' to it. Even sitting on it's wheels, looks like it could whip somebody's ***. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) Well... it's, well, it's an F-4. What more do you need to know? :) ...some of the threads are getting to be almost flaming. Which is why I stopped reading them or caring what's said in them. Edited December 12, 2012 by Jennings Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JasonW Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I love the looks of the Phantom. I am more a fan of the Navy birds and the C/D variants, but even the E, F and G with their long snouts look badd@ss to me. Seriously, something with the aerodynamics of a rock and all the aerodynamic bandaids on that airframe, it still just looks great to me. Then again, I also think the F-89 Scorpion looks cool too so....... Besides, if you strapped two powerful jet engines like the Phantom had onto a boulder it would probably fly too. The Phantom is proof of that. That is a bad mofo :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom ordie Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I worked on the F-4 in the Navy for about 12 years. I was with one of the first squadrons to pick up the Phantom in 1963. VF-31 had Demons and we transitioned to the B bird. It was really an awesome bird at the time. I went on to be with VF-121,VF-101,Vf-154. I made three cruises aboard the Ranger with VF-154 in the Tonkin Gulf.After that I went to Oceana Va. to be an instructor on the external weapons launchers and racks. Along came the F-14 and everybody leaned that way. I was surprised when they took the Tomcat out of service so early. I retired in 82 when the F-18was beginning sea trials.I'll always have a place in my heart for the Phantom it changed Naval Aviation History. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Because it LOOKED SO COOL!!!! Almost every possible mission that involved flight apart from transport was done with the Phantom. Dang near EVERY allied nation worth anything (Except Canada) flew it. Even a bad guy nation flew it and still does to this day. What other model can you build 154 times and not have two with the same paint job? Its a PHANTOM!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sledge Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Some jets have a somewhat same shape/appearence to them, but nothing looks like a phantom. First time I ever saw one I was a little guy probably 10 or 12 at the Muskegon airshow loving everything that flew. Then a pair of Selfridge phantoms came screaming by out of nowhere belching black smoke and I was terrified wishing those loud evil monsters to go away. They made 3 passes and their last one they went straight up through a little opening in the clouds and dissappeared. Could hear em what seamed 15 minutes later. Awsome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The Slugger from St Louis was a game changer ... How many of it's contemporaries are still in service today ? Not many ... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegoodsgt Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Simple: The F-4 is the muscle car of American aviation. Steven Brown Scale Model Soup Quote Link to post Share on other sites
galileo1 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) For some reason, the Phantom just doesn't do it for me. I honestly can't think of a good reason to dislike it but I just do. Perhaps is its shape or that it was a big player in 'Nam (which I've come to realize it's an era that just doesn't interest me much). I simply don't know. Modeling-wise, however, the Phantom deserves a place on my shelf so I'll be building a couple. Rob Edited December 13, 2012 by TOPGUN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Litvyak Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I don't know. I just do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) Toughest, meanest, loudest thing I have ever had the pleasure of seeing/hearing. An all time legend. First one I saw was in Greece near my village. Two ground huggers scared the bejesus out of me and popped a couple of windows just to make things even more interesting. instill remember my granddad cursing them and then me when he saw the smile on my face :) Edited December 13, 2012 by Crazy Snap Captain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moose135 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Well... it's, well, it's an F-4. What more do you need to know? :)/> What he said... First plane I fell in love with. Give me an E-model with a gun in the nose and a shark mouth, please. Back in UPT, we had "career day" where different crews flew in and talked about their aircraft and mission. The RF-4 pilot got on stage and said "They won't let me say f**ing fast f**ing low, so I can't tell you what it's like to fly the RF-4" and with that he walked off the stage to a standing ovation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
streetstream Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 What other model can you build 154 times and not have two with the same paint job? A Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320 (318,319,321). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moose135 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 A Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320 (318,319,321). All I have to say about that is "Afterburners, baby, afterburners!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 For some reason, the Phantom just doesn't do it for me. I honestly can't think of a good reason to dislike it but I just do. Perhaps is its shape or that it was a big player in 'Nam (which I've come to realize it's an era that just doesn't interest me much). I simply don't know. Modeling-wise, however, the Phantom deserves a place on my shelf so I'll be building a couple. Rob Maybe you never had the opportunity to see a pair of Phantoms come into the break and more importantly "hear" them come back around on final as they screech and howl ... Pure Awesomeness ! -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevan Vogler Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 How could you not like a Phantom? I always had a preference for short nose versions, but they're all good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I've always appreciated the look for them, but in my heart, the Tomcat has it beat as far as mean looking goes. Especially with the nose gear squatted for a cat stroke. Not to say at all that the F-4 doesn't earn it's righteous place in the aviation hall of fame, just simply saying I think there's tougher out there amongst the same generation of fighters. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RockRiver Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Hi, my first contribution here... I first got hooked to Phantoms in the early Seventies, when I was 8-10 years old and built my first F-4 kit. To this day I remember clearly the boxart of the Revell kit (showing VF-102 jets)that was around then. Later it was Hasegawa's 'Phantom Family' of which I have built around 20 (plus a few Monograms and Italeris) The Phantom fascinated me because of its size, shape and this rather ugly but powerful appearance - kitwise as well as in reality. On top comes the more or less endless choice of versions, color schemes, ordnance loads and nationalities when it comes to build a model. The real thing I've seen from my classroom in the mid-seventies, during my time in the (german) army in the eighties, on several airshows and the smoke trail is still around these days and can be seen here in northern Germany regularly. The Phantoms are flying out of Wittmund AFB with JG 71 'Richthofen' - the last wing to fly the F-4F. They will complete their transition to the Eurofighter Typhoon sometime in 2013. My next builts will be two Academy F-4B's in 1/48. Ingo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bashace Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The F-4 Phantom brings back alot of fond memories of childhood and is the spark that ignited my love for airplanes. I'm a military brat, my father was a munitions (BB stacker) guy in the USAF. We were stationed at Clark AB, Philippines from early 1970 till the summer of 1979 (I was 12 years old when we left), F-4 Phantom exposure was all there was. I remember my father taking me out to the end of the runway quite often to watch the F-4's take off in pairs and sometimes in fours. Sometimes, they (munitions coworkers) would even let me use the riding lawn mower at the bomb dump to mow their grass around the bunkers which wasn't far from the runway, what a joy. My first model kit was a 1/72 F-4E, I remember it to be the size of a 1/32 scale Phantom today when holding it. The howl and the popping (they didn't always pop, just sometimes) of the burners igniting on takeoff are vivid memories. My dad used to tell stories from when he was in Nam about how the F-4C's from another base in Vietnam would land at Phan Rang AB and they would load a bunch of dumb bombs on them then they would leave to go do their missions. The birds stationed at his base were F-100's, A-37's, B-57's and the occasional Marine A-4's, so when the F-4's dropped in it was a treat. When I see a model of the F-4, I really don't care how accurate it is or what markings she's wearing, it still stirs the same memories. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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