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Just learned something new about Blue Angels F-4s


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Ah come on Ben. I KNOW that you knew it. It's one of those "maturity" issues that happens as we age like fine wine uncorked. Don't be so hard on yourself, just take an extra pill tonight !

Love that Connie support bird in the back drop. Can you imagine how happy the support guys were when the C-130's were assigned when they could just roll the support gear on and off instead of having to lift it up and down all the time.. I'll bet allot of sweat went along with that support Connie !

Take an extra pill Ben: you'll be just fine.

Cheers

Frank

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Also in the first picture, the Sparrow missile bodies are all yellow. Later ones had two blue and two yellow. In addition, it looks like the leading edge of the cooling inlet by the nose has a polished leading edge, while the second picture shows it to be blue.

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Darren,

Damn they were beautiful 4's. So glad that I was able to experience their "thunder" on numerous occasions.

One memory is how little time they (F-4's)spent on front of the crowd. It wasn't so obvious until the A-4's took over. With the F-4's, you had NOISE and smoke and then they disappeared out of view while setting up the next pass. The A-4's however always seemed to be in crowd view, I loved the A-4's performance, zippy and something always going on. The F-4's however, always did it with POWER and noise. Gotta give my vote to the Rhino that Ben brought to light.

Thanks Ben for reigniting some great memories. Pills or no pills !

Cheers

Frank

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The entire engines were the same as the F-4B. Radomes were the same as the F-4D and F-4K shape. (no electronics on the lower back of the radome)

Also, the "silver paint" was to a different pattern on the Angels than any other F-4, in that area above the exhausts.

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Those were the days......when airshows were AIRSHOWS!!!! :D :cheers::yahoo: :yahoo:

Added - I loved the Blues F-4 shows, but when they went to A-4's it seems they were able to do stuff a show center they couldn't do in the Phantoms like the 270° dual solo inverted roll to upright and exit left........of all the Blues maneuvers that is probably my favorite no matter which aircraft they flew. That one was just uber/ultra/super COOL!!!!, for the T-birds the pass in review in tight, and the Bon ton Roulle'.

Edited by #1 Greywolf
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But wait, there's more! The Thunderbirds' F-4Es had that antenna, too!

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Looking a little closer at the Blues photos I posted above, notice the artificial feel bellows probe that sticks out of the leading edge of the fin, just above the anti-collision beacon, has been removed. That's good from a modeling point, because I always break that off!

I never got to see the Blues with the F-4. I saw the T-Birds with the F-100D and F-4E, which was amazing. Seeing them in the Hun was one of the things that inspired me to become a pilot.

Rex, I hadn't noticed the silver aft fuselage areas were a different pattern. I do recall reading somewhere that they were painted Corogard on the Blues jets at some point.

Frank, it's going to take more than an extra pill or two to help me! :D/>

Ben

Edited by Ben Brown
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Oh, and I better clarify.

That area was different at first, I'd say "always" with the F-4B engines, "maybe" when they got the F-4J engines (if in an original Bird), and "matched the rest of the fleet" when they got the "real" F-4J replacement aircraft.

We had a discussion about that Corroguard area a year or two ago, and someone posted or linked to a photo of an early and late bird in flight together, and you can see their differences in that.

Good catch on that antenna, by the way. I couldn't guess how many times I have looked at Blue's photos and didn't see that. (including the ones I took when I was a kid and they visited El Toro)

(ps, back in the day, you could walk right up to the jets,,,,,,,and you could even get a ride in them,,,,,,,,,sometime after the sixties, it became "VIP only" for rides)

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When the Blues/T-Birds flew the Phantoms, did each jet have a backseater as well? I realize there is a difference, but the F-15E demo team always had the Pilot and WSO, and the Tomcat demo team always flew with the Pilot and RIO, so is a two person crew required to fly the Phantom?

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When the Blues/T-Birds flew the Phantoms, did each jet have a backseater as well? I realize there is a difference, but the F-15E demo team always had the Pilot and WSO, and the Tomcat demo team always flew with the Pilot and RIO, so is a two person crew required to fly the Phantom?

For transits between show sites the crew chief or plane captain of each jet flew in back. For shows the Phantoms flew with pilot only for the most part, unless a photographer or other special guest rode in back.

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