Im 81 now, and the best time of my life was at the PAX RIVER NAVY AIR TEST CENTER AT PAX RIVER MARYLAND 1960-1964.There i was a Plane Captain and was able to pull flight time in the back seat of the F-4 phantom we were testing. Because we flew MACH 2, i was given a gold MACH 2 PIN that came from McDonald Douglas. The test pilots i was so fortunate to work and fly with will always be in my memories!!!
Mike , just want to thank you personally for having all of my all time favorite documentaries and even some I had or haven’t yet seen. My career is very stressful will very long hours , your channel is my go to for relaxing with my favorite docs , it’s strange maybe , but it’s like meditation .
Still the meanest,, junkyard dog looking airplane of all time. It has "trained killer" written all over it. The fact that it is still in use is a testament to McD's engineering brilliance
I was an f4 electrician with VF-102 at NAS Oceana, Va. Just shortly before my very happy release from active duty, the Blue Angels were going to perform at our base at Oceana. I was so excited, because back then I could "almost " do everything but dance on the wing of one of the Angels' Birds! And the entire weekend was a rain out!! Shoot! I still watch the Angels every chance that I get!
@@wileyeyefloaty665 I've been searching the internet and have come up with nothing on this artist. Do you have any links or additional information? Thanks.
The F-4, with two J 79 turbo jet engines, was an interceptor. Vietnam needed a fighter that could also dogfight. As an interceptor it was designed for using missiles to shoot down bombers and not the nimble turns of fighters. They added a gattling gun to shoot down Mig 17s in tight turning maneuvers. The F4 pilots learned new tactics using the superior speed to out run the Migs and end up on the Migs tail and then shoot him down with the gun. Radar ranging on the gun also gave a great advantage to the F4 pilots.
Excellent documentary coverage video about Phantom 👻 👽 family aircraft's which proved its successful designs & aviation-navigation capabilities thanks for sharing. Mike Guardia channel always selecting Excellent subjects
So many technical errors in this video. (eg. @38:06 "missile on the right is a shrike" it has a optical nose, shrikes do not have that, they basically look like a larger Sparrow. it's a Maverick.) Those aside, it's a good video of the Phantom.
THE NEGATIVE dihedral of. the Elevators on the F 4 is a radical departure in design and prevented unstable shock waves turbulence on the flight control surfaces at Mach speeds and loss of control for the pilot.
I NEVER understood why we went to the A-6 Intruder. Made absolutely no sense at that time. The F-4 carried more ordinance, had air to air capability, supersonic speed, and was already in service before the A-6. A few modifications to electronic packages and it EASILY could've done anything, and more, than the A-6!
At 37.56 it says the Phantom is caring a SHRIKE missile. That is incorrect, that's a Maverick on a jet from the 80"s. Note the full wrap around Euro 1 camo scheme v.s. the SEA or south east asia scheme in Vietnam.
Perfect music for this intro an old classic jet but still has potential like all classic machines they age very well the f-4 phantom is one of my favorite jet fighters produced by the United States.
My uncle piloted the F4 phantom in Vietnam, a few holidays he'd be home, I was 10 in 1970 and in awe, I always wanted to ask him about it but he didn't talk about it so I didn't ask. God bless all who serve this great country. 🇺🇸🙏
What people don’t realize is that the problem with the phantoms wasn’t because they weren’t Manuverable but Due to the BVR only Doctrine the pilots wasn’t trained to Maneuver the phantoms. However the WWII Dogfighting trained pilots became ACEs in Vietnam and Dan Pedersen the founder of Top Gun with the phantoms and other Top Gun phantom pilots took the kill ratio from a 2:1 to 24:1 with the phantoms In Vietnam!
I remember my first experience of taking my squadron's 12 F4's to "the boat, " that being the U.S.S. Independence. First of all, Good Grief! The size of that boat!!! And our flight deck life vests used a CO2 cartridge for inflation, but "allegedly, " ya don't pull the activation rope until ya hit the water and "resurface!" RIGHT!!!?? But I swear that the first time a Phantom SLAMMED DOWN on that flight deck, I almost pulled mine!!! They have called them a controlled crash!
I worked on the Automatic Flight Control System on the F4s and RF4s for 3.5 years after basic and tech school ('64-'68). Until I watched this video I had never heard anyone but my wife refer to the drooping horizontal Stabilator. She call them "Droopies" not Phantoms. The drooping stabilator functioned as both an Elevator and stabilizer. It was interesting and more than a bit dangerous working around taxiing aircraft, with all the noise and climbing around on them in bad weather... but my hat's off those Navy pukes on carriers launching and recovering in that chaos. I never considered the Navy, I get motion sickness on small islands.
Yes! AFCS tech at Eglin AFB, Fla. Worked on F-4c, F-4d, F-4e and RF-4c. My favorite! Of course, we had other types,( F-105, T-38, F-100, A-7d, OV-10, HH-43b,UH-1h) but I spent most of my time on the F-4's. Looking back, I realize this was the coolest job ever.
@@briancooper2112 The TF 30 was good at for one thing - speed at low altitudes. Don't forget, it was the engine used on its close sibling, the naval version of the General Dynamics/Grumman F-111. The F-111 was designed to penetrate under the radar at high speeds. Once the Navy rejected it, Grumman designed the F-14 using the available engine at the time, the TF-30. The F110 engine didn't come out until years later.
