And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The bent wings were kind of a kludge. It was originally designed with perfectly flat, horizontal wings and horizontal stabilizers. Testing showed that there were problems with this arrangement, but it was so expensive to redesign the wings (this was the days of paper and pencil and brain, not much computer support) they elected to just angle the outer portion of the wing up a little bit to approximate what needed to be done through redesign. The horizontal stabilizers were angled down to get them out of the shadow of the wings into the air stream.
I remember when I was a kid the RAAF ordered some F-111's and they took a while to be delivered. So we got some Phantoms in the meantime. They were bloody huge. Lovely piece of kit.
Was working as a contractor at Langley Air Force base in the mid 80's. A non-Com and I were outside when one flew over and he said the old standard "given enough horsepower, even a brick can fly".
The main tires don’t look right; they’re too skinny. And that nose gear door is awful wide. It has the 3 indexer lights you’d expect on a carrier based Rhino and the light color Navyish paint job… No paint blistering on the variramps and that radome is really shiny. It’s either right out of the paint barn or a gate guard. AIM-7’s in the wells, but the orange MK-82’s throw me. No tracks behind the wheels in what looks like snow. Maybe a model placed there and a super close, super low camera angle? I wrenched on F-4’s in the USAF and grew up around them from 63-72 while my dad worked on them.
I was in the Navy stationed in VT-86 at NAS Pensacola from January 1985-July 1987. Our CO was a Marine Corps Lt. Col. On his desk he had a 2-foot wire model of an F-4. The polaque on it said "Yeah, though I fly through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil, for a clean F-4 is a FAST SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!"
"When you need to do everything"...badly, with no built-in gun, and with engines that leave a smoke trail bad guys can follow visually from 20 miles away.
Yes, it works. For some values of that word.
Fortunately, we've learned quite a bit since then.
Not least of which is "Stop trying to have a single plane do everything".
And then some idiot said: "Let's make the F-35 Thunderjug." To replace the A-4, A-5, A-6, A-7, AV-8, A-10, and F-111. And do everything. (BTW: The F-111 was originally intended to "do everything" too. You could look it up. McNamara's Revenge. Not "McNamara's Folly". He made far too many mistakes to single any one out so.) Remind me: Are the F-35s all grounded this week, or flying again?
We'd literally have been better off if we just dusted off the blueprints and built more brand new F-4s like this one.
The Air Guard was still flying these babies out of Selfridge in the late 80’s when I was stationed there. Loudest fighter ever. Buff’s didn’t make as much noise. We were the only MTOE Army unit in the state of Michigan. Life was good that far away from the flagpole. Eod1sg Ret
Beautiful plane! The bent wings are really nice. It must an F4 thing since the Corsair had them too (F-4U)
ReplyDeleteAlmost. The Corsair's Navy designation was F4U (no hyphen)
DeleteThe bent wings were kind of a kludge. It was originally designed with perfectly flat, horizontal wings and horizontal stabilizers. Testing showed that there were problems with this arrangement, but it was so expensive to redesign the wings (this was the days of paper and pencil and brain, not much computer support) they elected to just angle the outer portion of the wing up a little bit to approximate what needed to be done through redesign. The horizontal stabilizers were angled down to get them out of the shadow of the wings into the air stream.
DeleteThe Corsair had them to keep the prop off the deck, IIRC
DeleteThe F4 is a real beaut. The very best looking there is.
ReplyDeletebrutal.
DeleteI remember when I was a kid the RAAF ordered some F-111's and they took a while to be delivered. So we got some Phantoms in the meantime. They were bloody huge. Lovely piece of kit.
ReplyDeleteEarly ones weren't very good at strafing........
ReplyDeleteIt took me a second, but I see what you did there.
DeleteWas working as a contractor at Langley Air Force base in the mid 80's. A non-Com and I were outside when one flew over and he said the old standard "given enough horsepower, even a brick can fly".
ReplyDelete"But...but...muh F-16's"-FJB
ReplyDeleteI used to drink (scotch) with a scotsman that flew F-4's in the RAF. "The only thing you should ever put in in scotch is more scotch."
ReplyDeleteEither that is the little-known VTOL variant of the F-4 or a poor cut and paste...
ReplyDeleteit's hovering
DeleteThe main tires don’t look right; they’re too skinny. And that nose gear door is awful wide. It has the 3 indexer lights you’d expect on a carrier based Rhino and the light color Navyish paint job… No paint blistering on the variramps and that radome is really shiny. It’s either right out of the paint barn or a gate guard. AIM-7’s in the wells, but the orange MK-82’s throw me. No tracks behind the wheels in what looks like snow. Maybe a model placed there and a super close, super low camera angle? I wrenched on F-4’s in the USAF and grew up around them from 63-72 while my dad worked on them.
DeleteNo downlocks on the gear actuators or safety pins in any of the stores either….
DeleteYep, there should be a bunch of red streamers for the pins.
DeleteI always thought a fully armed Douglas Skyraider looked pretty formidable for a prop driven platform
ReplyDelete- WDS
full boat corsair or 47 thunderbolt two others.
DeleteWith enough engine even a brick can fly...
ReplyDeleteI was in the Navy stationed in VT-86 at NAS Pensacola from January 1985-July 1987. Our CO was a Marine Corps Lt. Col. On his desk he had a 2-foot wire model of an F-4. The polaque on it said "Yeah, though I fly through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil, for a clean F-4 is a FAST SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!"
ReplyDeletesimple fat-finger misspelling
Delete*plaque*
ReplyDeletepolack
DeleteRhino.
ReplyDelete"When you need to do everything"...badly, with no built-in gun, and with engines that leave a smoke trail bad guys can follow visually from 20 miles away.
ReplyDeleteYes, it works. For some values of that word.
Fortunately, we've learned quite a bit since then.
Not least of which is "Stop trying to have a single plane do everything".
And then some idiot said: "Let's make the F-35 Thunderjug."
To replace the A-4, A-5, A-6, A-7, AV-8, A-10, and F-111.
And do everything.
(BTW: The F-111 was originally intended to "do everything" too. You could look it up. McNamara's Revenge. Not "McNamara's Folly". He made far too many mistakes to single any one out so.)
Remind me: Are the F-35s all grounded this week, or flying again?
We'd literally have been better off if we just dusted off the blueprints and built more brand new F-4s like this one.
The Air Guard was still flying these babies out of Selfridge in the late 80’s when I was stationed there. Loudest fighter ever. Buff’s didn’t make as much noise. We were the only MTOE Army unit in the state of Michigan. Life was good that far away from the flagpole. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeleteThey were loud, but so was the AV8-A Harrier. MCAS Iwakuni, early 1970s. Small base, and the barracks were relatively close to the flight line...
ReplyDelete