by Mike Valentine

Created on: May 14, 2008   Last Updated: September 09, 2008

All About The F-4 Phantom

Most connoisseurs of aircraft design consider the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II fighter-bomber to be an ugly aircraft. I have always taken exception to this assessment.
Although the F-4 lacks the elegant and flowing lines which one finds in such abundance on aircraft like the F-16 Falcon, F-15 Eagle or even the earlier, fascinating, F-104 Starfighter the deficiency is more then made up for by the aggressively virile character of the F-4's design, simply put, it is a supremely menacing looking aircraft.

Unusual visual design elements contributing to the threatening demeanor of this imposingly large warplane (63 Feet long with a 38.4 foot wingspan and room for two crewmen) include it's unique twenty three degree downward turned (cathedral) tail fin arrangement, slightly humpbacked fuselage profile and huge air intake openings, the semi delta shaped wings complete the, overall, eccentrically charismatic effect.

While there may be some disagreement among aircraft aficionados as to the aesthetic appeal of the F-4 there is no so such conflicting opinion when it comes to evaluating it in the all important area of it's performance capabilities. The first Phantom, the McDonnell FH-I was an early post world war two subsonic fighter, the first jet powered aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier. McDonnell, having seen the F-4 Phantom II beaten out by the Vought F-8 Crusader as the Navy's primary replacement for the old McDonnell F3H Demon in nineteen fifty three, was not to be denied. Reconfiguring the bird to function primarily in the role of protecting the fleet it was given the most advanced avionics to date to partner with it's Sparrow III air to air guided missiles. With this interdictive system in place no marauding aircraft was likely to get within seventy five miles of the fleet without finding an angry explosive projectile rushing up to greet it. The F-4 was the first air craft to be able to detect, intercept and destroy any target which came within radar range without assistance from ground based radar units. Able to loiter within a two hundred ninety miles radius for up to two hours at a time it would give the fleet a continuous margin of protection invaluable to successfully completing combat maneuvers. The Navy liked all of this enough to order up it's first three hundred seventy F-4's.

The F-4 was a revelation for Navy pilots getting their first crack at it in December nineteen sixty. With it's twin, seventeen thousand nine hundred pound

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