11bee Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 Hi Folks - I'm building an F-4C circa mid to late '67. Trying to figure out what I need to use for an ECM pod. The one picture of my subject aircraft shows a pod hanging under the inner starboard wing pylon, painted white with the upper surfaces in green. For initial options, I've got the GT Resins "ALQ-71 Short Tail" pod and the pod that comes in the Tamiya kit. I've yet to see a picture of an F-4C/D with the "short-tail" pod. Would I be better served going with the kit pod? I tried to read up on early war ECM pods but it's extremely confusing. Far as I can tell, the first pods (QRC-160) could only be mounted to the outboard wing pylons and were wind-powered by small blades on the nose. A bit later, the QRC-160 was upgraded to use power from the aircraft and could now be hung on the inner wing pylons, so the ram air turbine in the nose went away. This pod later morphed into the ALQ-71, which I think was pretty similar to the QRC pod. Bottom line - I don't think the short-tail pod is appropriate. If I go with the kit pod, do I need to make any changes to it? Any and all info is much appreciated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nebbor Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 Tamiya depicts a ALQ-87, never seen a picture anything like the GT Resin pod. Best bet is to mate the rear of the Tamiya plastic to the GT Resin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 Thanks very much for the quick reply. Here's the one picture I can find of my subject with a pod mounted. It appears that I'm looking at QRC-160? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cajun21 Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 11bee, When I was there, 66 thru 68, we carried the ALQ 87 -1 & -2's. The F-4's I saw all seemed to carry the same pod as us in the port forward missile well and a special adapter to carry it in the well. Granted it was 50+ years ago but some memories are still sharp. Cheers Itch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nebbor Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 As found on the web: The ALQ-87 pod entered service around 1968, and F-4Cs going North ca.65-67 would generally have used the earlier ALQ-71, which could be mounted under the outboard wing pylon (e.g. as in Operation Bolo). Good info is so hard to find about ECM pods in general, even more the earlier ones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nebbor Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 And this thread has some good info: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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