3175375
Senior Member
If it had enough fuel...
Heavy Metal
- Thread starter amazinblue82
- Start date
Lotta stuff here in this thread on the F4. A favorite it seems of many folks who follow this thread.
What Couldn’t the F-4 Phantom Do?
This article is way too long to post in its entirety. I learned at least five things I didnt know about the F4. One other cool thing, and if you flew combat missions, or knew someone who did --- those folks have the coolest "top gun" stories:
"On September 9, 1972, DeBellevue was paired with pilot John Madden on a patrol mission to North Vietnam. Afterward, he was to make one of the last flights leaving Hanoi.
“We crossed the Red River and I picked up two blips on the radar at 11 o’clock,” he recalls. Immediately he knew what they meant: “MiG-19s, a very dangerous airplane (photo below),” he says. “We couldn’t outrun—we didn’t have gas to run. So we had to fight. We turned on them.” Both MiGs jettisoned fuel tanks, ready to rumble. “They turned into us, and the fight was on,” he says.
“We fired two Sidewinders at the trailing MiG,” he says. “One hit him, and he dropped out of the fight.” DeBellevue couldn’t see that the enemy had in fact crashed and burned, officially making him an ace. “But the other guy was turning hard into us anyway, so we put all our attention on him,” he says.
The F-4 launched a heat-seeker, which immediately soared out of sight. “It looked like it was heading for the sun, which isn’t good news,” he says. “Even from the back seat, I could see the MiG, and by this time he was really making angles on us.”
A streak entered his field of view: The errant Sidewinder had rejoined the battle. It ended up in the MiG’s afterburner. “He rolled out wings-level, and then rolled inverted” says DeBellevue, of the MiG’s pilot. “He was at about twelve or fifteen hundred feet when he started a split-S. The first 90 degrees was perfect.
After that—he turned to dust.”
Amidst all the technical talk in the article, the best stuff are the stories from the folks who actually did the things we see on TV/Movies. Cool stuff.“We crossed the Red River and I picked up two blips on the radar at 11 o’clock,” he recalls. Immediately he knew what they meant: “MiG-19s, a very dangerous airplane (photo below),” he says. “We couldn’t outrun—we didn’t have gas to run. So we had to fight. We turned on them.” Both MiGs jettisoned fuel tanks, ready to rumble. “They turned into us, and the fight was on,” he says.
“We fired two Sidewinders at the trailing MiG,” he says. “One hit him, and he dropped out of the fight.” DeBellevue couldn’t see that the enemy had in fact crashed and burned, officially making him an ace. “But the other guy was turning hard into us anyway, so we put all our attention on him,” he says.
The F-4 launched a heat-seeker, which immediately soared out of sight. “It looked like it was heading for the sun, which isn’t good news,” he says. “Even from the back seat, I could see the MiG, and by this time he was really making angles on us.”
A streak entered his field of view: The errant Sidewinder had rejoined the battle. It ended up in the MiG’s afterburner. “He rolled out wings-level, and then rolled inverted” says DeBellevue, of the MiG’s pilot. “He was at about twelve or fifteen hundred feet when he started a split-S. The first 90 degrees was perfect.
After that—he turned to dust.”
The one that exploded in flame at the beginning was/is a 4360, the largest production engine ever used for aircraft. B-50s had 4, B-36 had 6, and the Spruce Goose had 8!
MoPar Maniac
Well-Known Member
One thing the F-4 couldn't do was out turn that MiG.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
3175375
Senior Member
Fastest (subsonic) Passenger Jet you never heard of? I never did. Interesting story
Convair 990A
Convair 990A
3175375
Senior Member
There is one of them in Mojave, Kalifornia on static display.
While its original air-frame was the B-29, this aircraft was a derivative of the B-50. The wings, tail, and engines were all different than the B-29.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
A view of the 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 guns of Turrets No. 1 and 2 aboard USS Missouri (BB-63), as she is underway in rough seas of the Pacific Ocean, December 1, 1987.
68PK21 440.6bbl
Old Man with a Hat
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Old Mike
Well-Known Member
3175375
Senior Member
My son received a surprise Eagle Scout Court of Honor on the fantail of BB-63 in Pearl Harbor. I am damn proud., as I had nothing to do with the ceremony, but introduced him to the program. 8^)
Excellent picture as it demonstrates the purpose of the bow design on the Iowas: to keep the water off the deck at high speeds. If you can, look at a picture of the Washington in similar conditions; it's bow is covered with the ocean.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
Iowa fires her 16-inch armament at coastal positions during her 1952 Korean deployment
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
a (no pun intended) "propeller head" piece (graphs, formulas, pics, references, etc.) about hull design optimizations. dreadnaughts, carriers, and battleships among others.
American & Military History - World's Fastest Battleships
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
