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VF-102 F-4 B Phantom


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Hello,

what about this one?

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10155842

The diamond for the tail has the right size and the "AG" is a separate decal. It's very easy to create an "AF" from the "AG".

I've used that sheet for my VF-102 F-4B (together with the Monokio and the CAM sheet).

Regards,

Carsten

I'm pretty sure the 1962 F-4B version of VF-102 had a column of white stars on the rudder; the later F-4Js had white diamonds. I don't know if any of the available decals for VF-102 give you the "reverse" diamonds for the wingtips(?).

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Yep, Paul, there were a couple of variations in the rudder trim.

For the Enterprise Shakedown, VF-102 had AF tail codes with White rudders and no stars. The stars were a CVG/CVW-6 "thing", so they weren't painted on for the CVG-1 cruise.

Then they got the red rudders, with six white stars when they got attached to CVG-6, as seen if you click on that 4-ship formation photo above. They stayed that way right up into the Vietnam cruise with F-4J, with a small change to get the stars in line sometime in the process.

When they moved to "AG", CVW-7, they changed to diamonds, and got rid of the "CVW-6 Stars"

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Yep, Paul, there were a couple of variations in the rudder trim.

For the Enterprise Shakedown, VF-102 had AF tail codes with White rudders and no stars. The stars were a CVG/CVW-6 "thing", so they weren't painted on for the CVG-1 cruise.

Then they got the red rudders, with six white stars when they got attached to CVG-6, as seen if you click on that 4-ship formation photo above. They stayed that way right up into the Vietnam cruise with F-4J, with a small change to get the stars in line sometime in the process.

When they moved to "AG", CVW-7, they changed to diamonds, and got rid of the "CVW-6 Stars"

Here are a couple of pics I found of Enterprise F-4Bs without the red rudders:

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/companyoffices/gallery/images/f4/d4c-7697.page

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/F-4B_Phantoms_VF-102_on_carrier_in_1962.jpeg

And, not all F-4Bs had white rudders. Interesting:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USN-F-4-Phantom-VF-102-Diamondbacks-USS-Enterprise-1962-8x12-Photos-/271462101722

Ben

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that top photo is the one I remember in old books, it is the F4H-1 being loaded for the Shakedown with CVG-1

I think Tommy did a blog concerning the date that the rudders changed from Gray to White.

Edit, that gray rudder photo is CarQuals before the Enterprise Shakedown, I just noticed the 62 on the bow.

Edited by Rex
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Here's a very nice picture of a VF-102 F-4B, although not from the exact period you need:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Navy/McDonnell-F-4B-Phantom/1309254/L/&sid=aa5b0223b4b2b5a3535192a45af01207

And now that we are talking about tail antennas, what about THIS definitely non-standard antenna (!):

F-477777777777777777crop1.jpg

IIRC the full picture was posted time ago on a Hyperscale thread by Tommy Thomason:

F-477777777777777777.jpg

Not sure all of this helps, but hope you find it interesting. :)

Best regards,

Jorge.

Edited by f4h1phantom
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Yeah, lots of variations. Carquals was on Independence CV-62. That last shot with the funny fin tip also has no big diamond on the fuselage top. It's always best to model to photos and not make assumptions that every bird in any squadron looked like the rest at any one time. That's also something that contest judges need to keep in mind.

Edited by Paul Boyer
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Did I ever know that you frequented the Olathe area, or am I just getting old and forgot?!? I would have loved to see NAS Olathe in its glory days.

I grew up in Independence. IIRC, on that field trip they had F4Ds on the ramp. Now, I'm starting to feel really old!! I wonder what happened to the Cutlass they had on a stick--I remember looking at it from I-35 as we drove to my grandparents farm in Ottawa...

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I grew up in Independence. IIRC, on that field trip they had F4Ds on the ramp. Now, I'm starting to feel really old!! I wonder what happened to the Cutlass they had on a stick--I remember looking at it from I-35 as we drove to my grandparents farm in Ottawa...

The Cutlass story is fascinating. A company called Black Shadow Restoration approached whoever was in charge of the Cutlass and offered to swap it for an A-7E in "Olathe" markings. Of course, NAS Olathe never had A-7's. So the swap was made, and the Cutlass was off to BSR. BSR restored it, and then put it up for sale. The catch to all of it was that the Cutlass was still officially under the control of P'cola. They busted BSR for trying to sell Navy property (the Cutlass wasn't the only one) and people went to jail. It's been said that the Cutlass at P'cola is actually the one from Olathe. I've never been able to confirm if that's true or not. That's the story I've always heard.

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After seeing the picture posted above of the F-4 on the elevator, I'm pretty convinced that the diamond on the spine was white, at least at the beginning. I'm sure it changed over time, but in that picture, it sure does look white.

Yes, that one does, but I think the ones in the four-ship were all gray.

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After seeing the picture posted above of the F-4 on the elevator, I'm pretty convinced that the diamond on the spine was white, at least at the beginning. I'm sure it changed over time, but in that picture, it sure does look white.

I found this photo:

http://s262.photobucket.com/user/Duggy009/media/Duggy009-2/F-4H-1%20Phantom%20II/F4H-1PhantomIIofVF-102isontheelevatorofUSSIndependence.jpg.html

Is this white, too?

Regards,

Carsten

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I first of all tried a correction to the two pictures that appear to be most relevant to this thread. Hope that helps to appreciate them better.

F-4B_Phantoms_of_VF-102_in_flight_in_1962-RET.jpg

F4H-1PhantomIIofVF-102isontheelevatorofUSSIndependence-ret.jpg

Then, I contrasted them to see if the color of the inner part of the fuselage diamond could be appreciated better. In the first picture, the leader appears to have it grey, the two aircraft on the sides appear to have them painted white, and the aircraft at the rear definitely has it painted grey. The second picture leaves no doubt as to it being white.

F-4B_Phantoms_of_VF-102_in_flight_in_1962-RET-contrastada.jpg

F4H-1PhantomIIofVF-102isontheelevatorofUSSIndependence-ret-contrasted.jpg

HTH,

Jorge.

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They busted BSR for trying to sell Navy property (the Cutlass wasn't the only one) and people went to jail.

Like the name of the company (Black Shadow Restoration) wasn't reason enough to not do business with them. Some people are clueless.

A big "thank you" to everyone for sharing the great VF-102 Phantom pics.

Jim S

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