One of the aircraft I worked with in the 60's was the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II...Even though there have been other fighters since, some faster, some more more heavily armed and some more agile, this remains my favorite aircraft of all time because everything it did, it did very, very well...There were many variants, and of the more than 5,000 produced there were specific types used by the USAF, the US Navy and the Marine Corps...The Navy launched theirs from aircraft carriers and shore bases in combat air patrol and search and destroy missions, as did the Marines who used theirs as attack aircraft to support ground units...
Air Force Phantoms were mostly classified as fighter/bombers, capable of limited distance tactical bombing runs as well as fighter protection...In some cases they could even be used to emulate the characteristics of other aircraft, as evidenced by Col. Robin Olds during Operation Bolo which he brought to fruition having been told of the theoretical plan hatched by his officers...Another iteration of the F-4 was Chico the Gunfighter, conceived around the brand new F-4E and used to smoke out enemy emplacements in Wild Weasel exercises...My own wing, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, was equipped with F-4C, D and E models for tactical nuclear and conventional bombing deployment as well as combat fighter patrol and ground support missions with the US Army and other NATO forces...They could be configured to carry not only bombs of every possible description, but also rocket pods, automatic cannon, missiles for both air and ground attack, ECM pods, extra fuel tanks and even luggage...
One often overlooked variant of many aircraft is the photo reconnaissance version, and the F-4 is no exception...Over 500 were built as RF-4C's...Their mission was to overfly enemy held territory and bring back images and notes detailing possible enemy positions and build-ups...None of these ever carried any weapons, whether defensive or offensive, and their missions were always flown solo...This explains their motto, "Alone, Unarmed and Unafraid"...Their only burdens were their crews, all the extra fuel tanks they could carry and a plethora of cameras and recording devices for gathering the needed intelligence...
My wing, stationed in West Germany, was equipped with two RF-4C's, both painted solid matte black, and both always hangared, or in brief periods outside between flights, the canopies were covered to prevent anyone but authorized personnel from viewing what was inside...My only experience with these variants was in removing and reinstalling the unused missile launchers located under the fuselage, when engine mechanics needed access to the jet engines...It was never necessary for me to enter the cockpits as I routinely did with the fighter/bombers, and I never saw what was inside, although my Secret Clearance would have authorized me, but only if I had the need to know...
Our RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft often "accidentally" strayed past the Iron Curtain line into East European territory remaining unnoticed for several minutes (or often not at all) before zipping back across for home...In one such instance of the imaginary Iron Curtain being penetrated, one which was told frequently among my peers but which was never officially verified, involved the speediest of our RF-4C's...This one had been slicked down with every protruding rivet and screwhead having been flattened flush with the skin of the aircraft, and a coating of wax applied to make it slip through the airstream with maximum efficiency...Its two General Electric J-79 turbojet engines had been optimized to peak performance and were further enhanced by water injection...
At this time in the very uneasy days of the late 60's, rumors were afloat of a new Soviet aircraft built to challenge the F-4 Phantom...Known to NATO as the "Flogger," it became known after its acceptance by the Kremlin as the MiG-23...Not deployed until 1970, its capabilities were virtually unknown until a chance encounter with the 49th TFW recon flight somewhere near the blurry Iron Curtain...As usual our flight drew the attention of a pair of Soviet MiG-21's, presumably fully armed and crewed by Soviet scalphunters who would have been delighted to carve a notch on their guns by forcing down an American "spy plane"...The RF-4C's crew were accustomed to and prepared for the impending arrival of the MiG-21's and were preparing to light afterburners and lead the way to the western side when they noticed an extra blip appear on their radar approaching at a greatly increased speed relative to the two bogeys...
Knowing they were unarmed and in the wrong neighborhood, our crewmen lit both afterburners, applied water injection and pushed both throttles full forward in a westerly direction, leaving both the MiG-21's and their unidentified companion as fast-fading memories in their trailing fumes...The rumors I was able to obtain told of this likely being the first known appearance of the MiG-23 even before it was accepted as operational...It would have been quite a feather in some Russian pilot's fur-lined helmet if he could have at least come close to the American, but instead had to explain to his bosses why he was flying several million rubles worth of the latest in Soviet technology, and had to eat the very smoky dust of a decade old US design...
The little guy pictured below is named Spooky II, and was the unofficial mascot of many F-4 Phantom squadrons including my own...I'm pretty sure I still have a shoulder patch somewhere here featuring my little pal...
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