I saw this posted today on an aviation enthusiast facebook page and thought this would be the perfect day to go with the F-4. Phantoms Phorever!
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II flew for the first time fifty-five years ago today. The most important western fighter of the postwar period, more than 5,000 F-4s were built between 1958 and 1981. The aircraft began life as the F3H-G naval strike fighter and was adapted to meet a Navy requirement for a fleet defense fighter in 1955. A two-seat multirole fighter, it demonstrated performance levels far above anything then flying. Navy Phantoms set 16 world records which stood until the F-15 Eagle appeared in 1975. The first Phantom air-to-air victory of the Vietnam War took place on April 9, 1965, when an F-4B from VF-96 downed a Chinese MiG-17. Of the 57 Navy aerial victories in Vietnam, 36 were in Phantoms! The Air Force and Marine Corps operated the F-4, as did air forces of 11 other nations. Variants of the Phantom in reconnaissance and Wild Weasel configurations were also employed.
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