F 4 Phantom Flight Characteristic & Gunnery

[@frankvadola690]

With 28 years of flying for the USN my most memorable hours were spent in an F 4-B and the J and N variants.The jet behaved like a bull in a china closet ,you knew you were driving a monster . In later years my squadron transitioned to the F 18-A a superb aircraft , but tame compared the F 4 . Just an old aviator being nostalgic

[@michaelbetzer1966]

I was a Weapon Control Systems Instructor at Lowry Air Force Base from 1977 to 1980. I used to show the gunnery movie to introduce the Lead Computing Optical Sight portion of the cirruculum. Wow, does this bring back some memories! Thanks so much!

[@MrTonyharrell]

I was at Lowry in ‘78 for basic munitions training. Ended up in the 33rd TFW at Eglin, F4 then F15, mostly missiles, 20mm, cartridges and practice bombs. Lots of missile and 20mm handling.

[@zdzichus.3264]

I love to hear all these details 'bout handling, etc., although I'm not a pilot nor military either... fair and honest & sound training - that's how an amateur can see this doc. Thanks a lot, folks!

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

My favorite jet she's so beautiful and menacing looking at the same time

[@geoben1810]

State of the art and deadly at the time. It wouldn't last long against today's technology. I watched one come in wheels up once when I was stationed in Iceland. He came in on fumes after dumping it and foam was laid down on the runway and it was cool to see the "rooster tail" from the foam and then see the chute pop! No injuries or fatalities. Textbook gear up landing. USN '73>'77 PATRON TWO FOUR (ASW) as part of NATO Forces excerises. 👍🏻🇺🇸

[@billirvin9057]

After one year at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand (1971), I was stationed at a little place called Matagorda Island AFR, TX. It was a bombing and gunnery range just off the coast of TX. The B-52's would hit the targets dead on from 30,000+ ft but the F-4s not only inaccurate as hell during bombing runs but sometimes they missed the entire island. A great airplane but man, those pilots needed some help.

[@homefront3162]

My Dad was a Navy F-4 Pilot in Nam and at China Lake ca..... Love this plane

[@buster117]

How boring is it to say Vietnam?

[@thecoolguy7403]

buster117 extremely

[@TheLeadSled]

What an absolute iconic bird, nicknamed the Double Ugly but for me she was an absolute work of art. Two big General Electric J79 engines pumping out 17,900lbs each, she could scoot my friends.

[@FullThrottleRacing535]

The performance of it was insane, it makes it hard for me to understand how quick modern jets are now, like the eurofighter typhoon weighing 3.5 tons less and producing 4000lb more thrust with a lot less drag too, seen it at airshows a lot and must feel like a rocket in the cockpit

[@robertosarmiento911]

it's really great to watch the early human input computers when they calibrate radar.

[@jamesanderton344]

Sat in one once....hard to believe an airplane that big had a cockpit so small!

[@craigpennington1251]

A good production.Outside of guzzling fuel at an alarming rate, the F-4 was and still is a great fighter.

[@KernitTheFont]

Who's here swotting up after buying the F-4e for DCS?

[@TheFlowersOfNaivety]

Checkin in! This is awesome and the F-4E in DCS is so fun!

[@GoSlash27]

A rare glimpse back in time when Bird Person was moonlighting as a narrator in Air Force training films.

[@thecoolguy7403]

I saw40 minutes and now Im geting my popcorn because I know this is gonna be amazing

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

I feel the same way

[@andrewmorton395]

This one of my favourite air craft, really lovely looking

[@Josh-hr5mc]

Sure was a smokey engine in the early variants, loud as hell too

[@avro549B]

The first 17 minutes are basic handling tips, which suggest that F-4 drivers were exceptions to the crack that jet jockeys are dead from the waist down. Glider techniques were still relevant.

[@colderwar]

RAF F4 pilots were told " when it buffets, use your boots "

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

At certain aoa, the controls were reversed.

[@miketim8353]

From the phantom to the lightning II F35. That's 50 years.

[@muttleyjones2]

Mike Tim I know what you mean, but think of the fact that the first Wright brothers flight was in December (17th I think) 1903. The rate of progress is astonishing, from wood and wire wings to composite materials and stealth, not to mention space flight with the Voyager spacecraft travelling at up to 10 miles per second or 36,000mph

[@Hachiae]

@@muttleyjones2 thats what happens when your in a golden age

[@stephenwalsh1332triumph]

Robin Olds F4 Top Gun 🏴‍☠️

[@robertosarmiento911]

I think they did place F-15 F105 jet engines on some F 4. I'm almost shure the German Airforce had some of the Super F 4.

[@Observe38]

"Homefront" asked 7 mos. ago why USAF F-4's had back-seat flight controls (while USN/MC did not). Ans.: Because USAF decided ~1963 to use new pilot graduates as WSOs (weapons systems operators) rather than non-pilots in the back seats and in a later assignment allow them to upgrade to aircraft commander. Ragged landing? Blame the back-seat guy! UPT 64F class had a number of back-seat assignments.

[@trespire]

Can still smell the stinky PRC we used to seal the main fuel tanks in D-Check. Horrid job being stuck in there for what seemed ages.

[@denniscastle936]

F4-Getting it done I was there

[@saleemwaheed9956]

Now I feel like I could take the old girl out for a spin!

[@homefront3162]

One thing I never understood was I “Toured” my Dad’s F-4 and it had rear cockpit flight controls, But I was told only Air Force F-4’s had rear flight controls. Considering my Dad was part of Test and Evaluation maybe thats why the plane had rear controls. My Dad is dead now so I cannot ask him. Any thoughts?

[@kevinballenger1211]

The Phantom Had The Worst Glide Ratio Of All The Navy Aircraft.

[@VistaThaiGuy]

Olds says you need more shots!!!😎😎

[@chrismartin1956]

I feel dat my knowledge has been increaseded

[@sr707ca8]

Thanks for what you do

[@mizzyroro]

When will we get the F-4 in DCS? 🙂

[@1365Cobra]

Is that Ron Fogleman suiting up at the beginning of the film?

[@dantepumareja4128]

In learn aviation video about F-4, phantom & -14 tomcats aerial refuelling KC130 like training flight is good in speed test sidewinders simulation. Perhaps some aerobatics in pilot airshow upgraded is still condition but more advance in F-14 tomcats is big plane use’s in patrolling at sea.

[@dkoz8321]

The pilot of dart tow F-100 , should be getting 2X hazzard pay.

[@humbleone6405]

The best from the west

[@estebahngman4152]

The Russians manning the radars in North Vietnam was primarily targettig US Aircraft not to defend North Vietnam but to obtain material information . This was Treasury Cove ! A lot there Aircraft copied the radar systems from Downes US Aircraft .

[@0MoTheG]

Why did they bother to give this thing ailerons? Every video I saw advised against using them.

[@AvengerII]

Whatever the case, they will NEVER design a fighter like that again! The opinion on the Phantom is split once you get past the starry-eyed aviation lovers who never bothered to read all the accident reports or hear the stories of people who got into problems in that plane. The lack of built-in gun is the most overtalked design flaw of the early Phantoms. I think the fact that the plane had to be "rolled with the rudder" in certain attitudes and its departure characteristics at high weight, low speed were much more important "gotcha's" than the gun issue! The F-4E/F/G/S/RF-4E with their redesigned slatted wings was the HARDWARE attempt to finally address the worst handling issues of the F-4. One of the things I've heard Pierre Sprey get 100% correct is the fact that the Phantom had all those bends in the wings and those weird anhedral(?) elevon/tails above the engine exhaust nozzles as awkward fixes. Those are dead give-aways for some serious aerodynamic flaws in the plane. They worked to correct some serious inborn stability issues at speed but the F-4 was by all accounts not the easiest plane to recover from a spin nor one that handled particularly well at low speeds. It should be no surprise that after a few years experience with the abusive flight characteristics of the F-4 that the F-14 and F-15 were designed with far superior handling characteristics and the ability to cope with or get out of situations that would get the aircrew killed in an F-4.

[@0MoTheG]

The wings were that strange because they had to fold. Later aircraft were not low wing with the gear retracting into the wing. Later twin engine aircraft had two vertical stabilizers. The F-16 has additional fixed stabilizers under the tail. It would be interesting to know how the Suchoi Su-15 handled.

[@KB4QAA]

OMO: There is nothing wrong with the F-4 control design. In almost ALL aircraft you do NOT use ailerons to try to correct a stall/spin heading change. because it induces more drag, and worsens the condition. Rudder, rudder, rudder. During normal flight conditions the ailerons are perfectly useful.

[@KB4QAA]

Ave: Very well discussed. However, give the F-4 credit, the designers were forced to fit provide a plane that worked from stall to Mach 2+ with largely mechanical and analog control systems. The F-14/15 had much smaller operating envelopes and the advantages of transistorized flight data systems. It was easier to provide better performance. The F-4 was still an outstanding engineering achievement for its day!

[@possiblyadickhead6653]

@@KB4QAA he said you would have to use the rudder in a role at high speeds and angles of attack

[@CrazyRussianPilot]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

How many gallons in a pound of fuel?

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

@The Barbarian Infidel thanks

[@alanhess9306]

1 gallon of fuel weighs 6.5 lbs.

[@sjoormen1]

Lots of warnings...

[@dkoz8321]

What is going on with F-4 crew in 1970's? Why are those officers have such long hair and sideburns, and macho bushy mustache? Clean shave and high'n'tight or bald, are the only ways to go if you are a male commissioned officer. In any branch , in any service.

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

14:20 Two words...... Adverse yaw