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Originally Posted by ghrocketman
Smile when you comment on the F-4 !
One look at that aircraft in the Robin Olds or Steve Richie scheme and you know it means ALL-BUSINESS !
Last aircraft that will ever produce a Fighter Ace.
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There was an incident in Vietnam in which one of a brace (a pair) of F-4s was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire while making a low bombing pass. The pilot noted nothing unusual except that the fuel flow to one engine was very high, but the other F-4 saw the holes in its wings and that one engine was on fire. A Sparrow missile fell away due to the fire damage, and the damaged F-4's crew jettisoned all of the remaining missiles and bombs, and shut down the flaming engine. Then:
On the way back to their home base, an RF-4 joined them. Its pilot made a suggestion that the undamaged F-4 should land first, lest the damaged one possibly crash on the runway and render it unusable for the second one (and both of the original two F-4s were already low on fuel, so they had little "loiter time" remaining). The undamaged F-4's pilot told the RF-4 pilot where he could stick his suggestion (although in fairness, that--a crash on the runway--was a possibility), and the damaged aircraft set up for landing:
On final approach, it started dropping too fast, and his compatriot shouted over the radio: "You're too low--go AB [afterburner]!" However, the working engine's variable-area afterburner nozzle had been damaged by the AA fire. They weren't sure if it would open, and if the afterburner would light--but it did! Both F-4s landed safely. Also:
PSS (Power Scale Soaring--slope-soaring R/C gliders that are scale models of propeller, jet, and rocket planes) models of the F-4 Phantom often have "scale-nudged" wings; that is, they are enlarged somewhat over the correct scale dimensions. A full-size F-4 probably could slope soar over a mountain ridge too, *IF* the winds involved were of hurricane force.