O.T. F-4 Picture

[LeoinMI]

Here is a neat picture for all you Navy guys of an F-4 from VF-111. This was aboard the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 off the coast of Vietnam in 1971. I always liked the F-4,..It was one mean looking aircraft.

 

[LeoinMI]

Forgot to mention,..to keep it tractor related,..Note the tow tractor in the background of the photo. It is a miniture fire truck called a twin agent unit.

 

[travelman50]

Remember flight Ops very well was on the Oriskney Cva 34. 69 to 71 was an interesting time for a young man fresh off a Missouri farm. The Orient is a memory I will never forget

 

[Royse]

Nice picture Leo, thanks!
Mostly Tin Cans here until I transferred to special boats.

 

[WAYNE-N-TX]

Very good plane. The only problem, made a heck of a black trail. Was not easy to hide going through the sky.

 

[NCWayne]

Your right, they always were a wicked looking plane. Unfortunately they had phased them out before I went in in '86, but I did get to see the old A-6 and A-7's in use for part of my first year.

Even though I never saw any on American ships, while on my second Med cruise there were still some in use by foreign forces. I know this for a fact because two of them flew over the destroyer I was on while supersonic. I had opened a hatch on the port side and was in the process of stepping out on the main deck when I heard a huge BOOM. Needless to say I jumped back in and slammed the hatch. Stood there a second and recomposed myself, made sure nothing was wrong, no alarms, etc going off, and then tried it again. The second time I made it out and had just closed the hatch when there was another BOOM. That time, being all the way out, I was able to identify where it came from. When I looked up, and further off the port side, I could just see the F4 that had create the BOOM as it was leaving the area. Now that was COOL.

 

[SweetFeet]

I thought you were talking about a magneto... so wondered why you put OT. Now I see.

Cool plane!

Our son is going to be an airplane mechanic in in the Marines - I've been told a.k.a "parts changer" (his suprise MOS... he was hoping for diesel mechanic).

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 21:10:21 03/26/13) I thought you were talking about a magneto... so wondered why you put OT. Now I see.

Cool plane!

Our son is going to be an airplane mechanic in in the Marines - I've been told a.k.a "parts changer" (his suprise MOS... he was hoping for diesel mechanic).

Problem of it is with most military mechanics is that is what they are, parts changers. In the Army 1st level mech can make minor reapirs (change small parts) and trouble shoot. 2nd level gets a little deeper into it but still isn't allowed to do engine or tranny rebuilds, they do replace whole componants and can do things like head gaskets. 3rd level rebilds things, most often the only service members even close to that are paper pushers and the mecahnics are civilian employees. So much for "earn while you learn".

Now the reason being is the active military is regulated in size by congress. I can draft a trained mechanic, truck driver, short order cook and a lot of other jobs off the street. Can't draft an infantry, artillery, scout or tanker. Those you have to train. So a lot of jobs are civilian now to allow the military to have more combat people on active duty. I really feel sorry for the kids who think they are going to come out of the service as a fully trained mechanic.

Rick

 

[SKYBOW]

The black smoke depended on how the fuel controls were trimmed and what the jet was used for.. Flew about 300 hours in the F-4C in the NYANG at Niagara Falls back in the 80"s.

 

[JD Seller]

I was on the ground when those guys would come an help. Always had a warm spot for fast mover jockeys. We always tried our hardest to get to them if they went down. Most times there was nothing we could do for the poor fellows.

 

[JMS/.MN]

I was expecting to see an old Ford truck, like the one the other day. Good substitute, tho....

 

[donjr]

I was lucky enough to hitch a ride on one from Great Lakes to Andrews in the late 60's. Ride of a lifetime.

 

[sotxbill]

(quoted from post at 20:01:20 03/26/13) Here is a neat picture for all you Navy guys of an F-4 from VF-111. This was aboard the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 off the coast of Vietnam in 1971. I always liked the F-4,..It was one mean looking aircraft.

We referred to them as the "fly garbage cans"

The could be heard for miles before they arrived.
They left black trails in the sky that anyone could follow.
The were heavier the heck.
The burned fuel twice as fast as anything else and were short ranged
They leaked hydraulics like crazy.

But we loved them and repaired them.

 

[GVSII]

(quoted from post at 18:05:06 03/26/13) Forgot to mention,..to keep it tractor related,..Note the tow tractor in the background of the photo. It is a miniture fire truck called a twin agent unit.

The company I worked for and retired from had 3 F4's bailed to them to use as chase acft. during the F14 development program. We mechs. worked many manhours to "keep em flying".Phantoms did require a lot of work.Someone mentioned smoke.If the smoke abatment system was installed and used - no smoke.Forget the tow tug in the background.How about the A6. I worked them from 1965 until 1994. It is said that fighter guys make movies -ATTACK guys make history!

 

[dhermesc]

What is the deal with the Japanese "Rising Sun" on the tail?

 

[37chief]

I was hoping for a diesel machinic school when I joined the Navy, in 64. The Navy had othre plans. I was assigned aircraft power plant schoool, which also had a lot of marines. He will like being around planes, as I did. If I had got my choice of diesel mechanic school, I would most likely spent a lot of time in a very hot engine room on ships. stan

 

[37chief]

Right off Dad's farm from Calif. my self. Six months in the PI, and 6 months in Japan brings back a lot of memories of the Orient also. Stan

 

[LeoinMI]

The VF-11 Fighter squadron was nick named "The Sundowners". Thus the setting sun on the tail. They shoot the sun down.

 

[LeoinMI]

The VF-111 Fighter squadron was nick named "The Sundowners". Thus the setting sun on the tail. They shoot the sun down.

 

[LeoinMI]

That is an A-6B from VMA-224. They did indeed carry their fair share of the load during attacks in Vietnam.

 

[montidale]

One of the best birds of there time. I was in VMFA-232 stationed out of Iwakuni Japan in 1976-77. We flew F-4J"s. I never meet anyone who didn"t like them. They where FAST and they where the best fighter we had at the time. They were easy to work on. The worst thing I didn"t like about them was there AWG-10 radar. The radar was always down. There wasn"t a day that we didn"t have to pull a seat out of the back of one of the birds to work on the radar. You could not fire sparrows without radar. Whe used to fly shake and bakes. 250pounders and napalm. One of my squadron plane is in the smithsonion in Washington DC. They where great planes. My brother was on the Enterprise. He was in the Ardvarks with F-14. Dale

 

[37chief]

I was in Iwakuni in 67. Our squadron had the P3 neptunes.Stan

 

[SweetFeet]

37Chief,

Hmmm, never thought about ships... just thought he would work on trucks with diesel mechanics. So maybe he is fortunate for the last minute changes.

Ships, I don't like! We toured the William A. Irving (iron ore freighter) in Duluth, MN...interesing to see, but hated the stairs and being able to see into the bowels of the ship in some areas. Don't like heights - don't like ships.

 

[dhermesc]

Thanks