Some of you may know that once upon a time I was a fighter pilot. 30+ years (and 30+ pounds) ago I was flying my first fighter, the F-4 Phantom. My assigned plane was 74-645. It was big and loud and ugly and it came with pretty much all the bells and whistles. I learned a lot about flying and pushing limits from the F-4.
A series of events lately led me to discover that my old plane was still alive and working as a drone out of Holloman AFB in New Mexico. For some time now, the Air Force has been using F-4s as target drones in weapons evaluation testing. Sometimes they are sent out to be shot down, flown under remote control. Other times they are flown by pilots for "dry fire" testing. I was able to get in touch with the unit that flies them and made arrangements to go down and check in on it.
I got there in the morning, and the guy that runs the unit gave me a ride out to the flight line. The canopies were up and they were prepping it to go out and work with the Army on an air defence evaluation. I got to sit in the cockpit, have a photo op, and ask a ton of questions. Then I had to get out of the way so it could go out and do its job. A little later they gave me a ride over by the runway so I could experience the takeoff up close and personal once again. The sound and feel of J-79s at full fury never gets old. Then we went back to the hangar, I thanked them profusely, and it was over.
Impressions? I was astonished at how intact the cockpit was. I figured that there would be numerous holes where unnecessary equipment had been removed. But there was very little missing. The radar screen and heads up display were gone, replaced by a box for activating the remote control equipment. Other than that, most of what I was used to seeing was still there. Even the KY-28, a piece of Vietnam era gizmosity for encrypting radio communications that never worked well, was little understood, and in my experience was never used, was in its usual place. As a result, I was surprised at how familiar it all felt after 30+ years. Things pretty much fell to hand about where I expected them to be. It really felt good to be there again. Could l have flown it? Not that day. But I don't think that it would take a lot of study to get back into the swing of things.
So the Jurassic Jet still lives but it won't for much longer. Sometime this fall they will all be retired, this time for good, and replaced by F-16s. I was told that there was a good deal of pressure to get them out to some air shows before that, and it could happen 4 or 5 times. So keep an eye out and if you get the chance, go see the Phantom fly one more time. Experience what you have known since you were a kid: real jets make real noise.
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FAQ
I was working out at Holloman when the F 15's showed up there, kinda changing of the guard from the F 4s. I was out by one of the runways, take off and landing were apples and oranges between the two......
