Time to retire the F4

I didn't realize these bad boys were still working. The Navy taught me electronics so that I could repair the Fire Control radar on the F4B. That electronic training has paid off in spades, and gave me a good foundation to move into software. In turn, that has allowed me to have a nice stereo, and live comfortably.

Have an excellent retirement Mr. F4, you earned it.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20161220/versatile-f-4-phantoms-making-final-flight-for-us-military
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Three 20 amp circuits.

Comments

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    Did you know that after WWII you could buy a P51 Mustang for $1.00 ? When they reused them in Korea they jumped to $1500.00 after that war. Watched a special the other night that stated those prices. It now takes almost a million to buy a not in too good of shape P51.
  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    Big, smokey, lumbering, but strap on those GE afterburner engines and it could haul @ss.

    A respectable 56 years of service. Well done!

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    The APQ-72 Fire Control radar. A hybrid of tubes and semiconductors. I loved repairing it. Especially the power supply. Sometimes the freaking tubes would result in flames. LOL.

    bbxhsk3l6vs6.jpg
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    edited December 2016
    I used to watch them to touch and goes down in Springfield Illinois back in the early 80's. They were pretty fugly but also impressive. Big lumbering smokey pretty much hits it all. But you definitely knew when they cracked them open and went straight up until you couldn't see them LOUD FUNOFASITCHES
  • That's pretty interesting, BF.
    My dad built Phantoms for McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), and you fixed 'em.

    Did the Navy teach you electronics on TI by any chance ?
    Sal Palooza
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    A very versatile and valuable aircraft which was also part of the US nuclear deterrent. The F-4D was a big part of my life growing up in Europe as my dad did nuclear weapons targeting for the USAF in the 1970s at Bentwaters/Woodbridge. Their main mission in that configuration at that time was to fly tremendously fast towards Soviet ground targets to drop tactical nukes at low altitude in Eastern Europe. If their missions were to have been for real, that would have obviously been a one way trip. Basically replaced by tactical nuclear missiles for that mission in the late 1970s. At Bentwaters/Woodbridge, they were replaced by the A-10 with a different ground attack mission in 1979. Made the locals happy since the A-10 engines sounded like vacuum cleaners in comparison to the F-4 engines. Also pretty cool that my dad was allowed to bring home a couple of inactivated shells for the A-10's gun. Not sure if the bullet section on those shells was indeed depleted uranium, but they sure were heavy and we weren't allowed to take them out of the country. Just sat on top of a cabinet for a couple years until they disappeared one day.
  • I used to watch them with live ordinance ,, serious mofos!
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    edited December 2016
    they were a dirty bird to be around and walking under one was a rite of passage into the world of military aviation. The vent and drainage tubes on her belly were there to exact revenge upon the careless, and the gear doors on the mains could have been used to shave with, and would lay open a cut needing dozens of stitches to close up.

    Bottom line is she got the job done. The Phantom is the only jet to serve the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, and I believe more than 10,000 of the type were built for U.S. and other air forces around the world, more than any other jet fighter in the world.

    Thanks to those that built, maintained and flew her. A grateful nation thanks you.

    *correction... more than 5000 were built.
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  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    Still one of the prettiest birds to ever fly;Except of course if you were the enemy. The last missions were as the F4G variant known as the Wild Weasel which did an incredible job of taking out enemy electronics on the battlefield.

    The Boeing (F18) EA-18G Growler now fills that role for the Navy.

    Originally the F4's didn't have a "gun" and one was retrofitted as a center fuselage hard point mounted POD.

    One of the loudest things I have ever heard/felt.

    It joins some other great American birds in a well deserved retirement.

    The F-14 Tomcat

    b3gc96uqe8om.png

    The F-111 Aardvark

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    The SR-71 Blackbird.. Still the fastest to ever fly (that they told us about)

    x6h14bdwuw9f.png




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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    I think the Blackbird is the neatest looking plane ever.
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    I believe the Blackbird was designed in the 50s. It is amazing how fast aviation technology evolved. Now it seems to have slowed down, but should pick up again as we move into space. I want a space plane. :)

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    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Did the Navy teach you electronics on TI by any chance ?

    Not sure what you mean by 'TI'. Texas Instruments?

    We sat in a classroom 8 hours a day for a few months. For the low, low price of extending your service time by two years, the Navy offered a year of training. Thanks, but no thanks was my answer.

    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • I meant "Treasure Island", in the middle of San Francisco bay. The Navy had one of their ET schools there. Pretty nice location, except the island was sinking. :)
    Sal Palooza
  • What a bird the F-4 is/was. Pilots said it was like strapping a rocket to your ****$. I had the pleasure of working them in Vietnam, putting in bombing runs. Loved to watch them put in 750 pound bombs with ground delay fuses. They would come in at a very steep angle, drop the bomb and then hit the throttles climbing spewing black smoke. Always wanted to take a ride in one, but never got a chance.
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