F-4 Phantom still in service with three air forces after 60 years
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, which first flew in 1958, remains in operation with three air forces more than six decades on.
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II first flew on May 27, 1958, and entered service on December 30, 1960. Production ran until 1981, by which point 5,195 aircraft had been built.
Between 1959 and 1962 the type set 16 world speed and altitude records. It could also carry a substantial war load. Its handling earned it a place in aviation folklore. Vietnam veteran Dick Anderegg joked that the aircraft proved a brick could be made to fly with enough thrust behind it.
The Phantom served with the US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. It flew combat missions over Vietnam and hunted Iraqi radars during Desert Storm, then continued flying reconnaissance missions into the 1990s. Its American military career ended in 2016, when the last examples were used as QF-4 aerial targets.
More than 60 years after its first flight, three air forces still fly the type.
Sources
- simpleflying.com3 Air Forces Still Flying The F-4 Phantom More Than 60 Years Later