Im 81 now, and the best time of my life was at the PAX RIVER NAVY AIR TEST CENTER AT PAX RIVER MARYLAND 1960-1964.There i was a Plane Captain and was able to pull flight time in the back seat of the F-4 phantom we were testing. Because we flew MACH 2, i was given a gold MACH 2 PIN that came from McDonald Douglas. The test pilots i was so fortunate to work and fly with will always be in my memories!!!
My uncle piloted the F4 phantom in Vietnam, a few holidays he'd be home, I was 10 in 1970 and in awe, I always wanted to ask him about it but he didn't talk about it so I didn't ask. God bless all who serve this great country. 🇺🇸🙏
Mike , just want to thank you personally for having all of my all time favorite documentaries and even some I had or haven’t yet seen. My career is very stressful will very long hours , your channel is my go to for relaxing with my favorite docs , it’s strange maybe , but it’s like meditation .
Perfect music for this intro an old classic jet but still has potential like all classic machines they age very well the f-4 phantom is one of my favorite jet fighters produced by the United States.
Still the meanest,, junkyard dog looking airplane of all time. It has "trained killer" written all over it. The fact that it is still in use is a testament to McD's engineering brilliance
I was an f4 electrician with VF-102 at NAS Oceana, Va. Just shortly before my very happy release from active duty, the Blue Angels were going to perform at our base at Oceana. I was so excited, because back then I could "almost " do everything but dance on the wing of one of the Angels' Birds! And the entire weekend was a rain out!! Shoot! I still watch the Angels every chance that I get!
I worked on the Automatic Flight Control System on the F4s and RF4s for 3.5 years after basic and tech school ('64-'68). Until I watched this video I had never heard anyone but my wife refer to the drooping horizontal Stabilator. She call them "Droopies" not Phantoms. The drooping stabilator functioned as both an Elevator and stabilizer. It was interesting and more than a bit dangerous working around taxiing aircraft, with all the noise and climbing around on them in bad weather... but my hat's off those Navy pukes on carriers launching and recovering in that chaos. I never considered the Navy, I get motion sickness on small islands.
Yes! AFCS tech at Eglin AFB, Fla. Worked on F-4c, F-4d, F-4e and RF-4c. My favorite! Of course, we had other types,( F-105, T-38, F-100, A-7d, OV-10, HH-43b,UH-1h) but I spent most of my time on the F-4's. Looking back, I realize this was the coolest job ever.
@@wileyeyefloaty665 I've been searching the internet and have come up with nothing on this artist. Do you have any links or additional information? Thanks.
At 37.56 it says the Phantom is caring a SHRIKE missile. That is incorrect, that's a Maverick on a jet from the 80"s. Note the full wrap around Euro 1 camo scheme v.s. the SEA or south east asia scheme in Vietnam.
The F-4, with two J 79 turbo jet engines, was an interceptor. Vietnam needed a fighter that could also dogfight. As an interceptor it was designed for using missiles to shoot down bombers and not the nimble turns of fighters. They added a gattling gun to shoot down Mig 17s in tight turning maneuvers. The F4 pilots learned new tactics using the superior speed to out run the Migs and end up on the Migs tail and then shoot him down with the gun. Radar ranging on the gun also gave a great advantage to the F4 pilots.
Excellent documentary coverage video about Phantom 👻 👽 family aircraft's which proved its successful designs & aviation-navigation capabilities thanks for sharing. Mike Guardia channel always selecting Excellent subjects
So many technical errors in this video. (eg. @38:06 "missile on the right is a shrike" it has a optical nose, shrikes do not have that, they basically look like a larger Sparrow. it's a Maverick.) Those aside, it's a good video of the Phantom.
THE NEGATIVE dihedral of. the Elevators on the F 4 is a radical departure in design and prevented unstable shock waves turbulence on the flight control surfaces at Mach speeds and loss of control for the pilot.
I NEVER understood why we went to the A-6 Intruder. Made absolutely no sense at that time. The F-4 carried more ordinance, had air to air capability, supersonic speed, and was already in service before the A-6. A few modifications to electronic packages and it EASILY could've done anything, and more, than the A-6!
I remember my first experience of taking my squadron's 12 F4's to "the boat, " that being the U.S.S. Independence. First of all, Good Grief! The size of that boat!!! And our flight deck life vests used a CO2 cartridge for inflation, but "allegedly, " ya don't pull the activation rope until ya hit the water and "resurface!" RIGHT!!!?? But I swear that the first time a Phantom SLAMMED DOWN on that flight deck, I almost pulled mine!!! They have called them a controlled crash!
What people don’t realize is that the problem with the phantoms wasn’t because they weren’t Manuverable but Due to the BVR only Doctrine the pilots wasn’t trained to Maneuver the phantoms. However the WWII Dogfighting trained pilots became ACEs in Vietnam and Dan Pedersen the founder of Top Gun with the phantoms and other Top Gun phantom pilots took the kill ratio from a 2:1 to 24:1 with the phantoms In Vietnam!
@@briancooper2112 The TF 30 was good at for one thing - speed at low altitudes. Don't forget, it was the engine used on its close sibling, the naval version of the General Dynamics/Grumman F-111. The F-111 was designed to penetrate under the radar at high speeds. Once the Navy rejected it, Grumman designed the F-14 using the available engine at the time, the TF-30. The F110 engine didn't come out until years later.
Im 81 now, and the best time of my life was at the PAX RIVER NAVY AIR TEST CENTER AT PAX RIVER MARYLAND 1960-1964.There i was a Plane Captain and was able to pull flight time in the back seat of the F-4 phantom we were testing. Because we flew MACH 2, i was given a gold MACH 2 PIN that came from McDonald Douglas. The test pilots i was so fortunate to work and fly with will always be in my memories!!!
Not only was it an amazing plane, it was beautiful!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder??? So cannot call you out on that, but please accept there are other beholders?
*jet
The Phantom II is an aviation legend.
F 4 is the best looking fighter jet ever
Straight to my favourites folder.
My uncle piloted the F4 phantom in Vietnam, a few holidays he'd be home, I was 10 in 1970 and in awe, I always wanted to ask him about it but he didn't talk about it so I didn't ask. God bless all who serve this great country. 🇺🇸🙏
Mike , just want to thank you personally for having all of my all time favorite documentaries and even some I had or haven’t yet seen. My career is very stressful will very long hours , your channel is my go to for relaxing with my favorite docs , it’s strange maybe , but it’s like meditation .
Perfect music for this intro an old classic jet but still has potential like all classic machines they age very well the f-4 phantom is one of my favorite jet fighters produced by the United States.
I always loved the music in this 😎.
F4 was imo the best fighter jet of the era. Great video. I wish someone would upscale it with DL to high resolution and higher frame-rate.
When I was young I touched a Phantom in the Air Base of Rota, Spain. It was an open day and I got in love with this aircraft
Still the meanest,, junkyard dog looking airplane of all time. It has "trained killer" written all over it. The fact that it is still in use is a testament to McD's engineering brilliance
Thanks for sharing Mike. Love the old bird.
Consider it was created in the early 50's....
The jet is more capable than any other aircraft of its time.
I would have loved to experienced the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels during the Phantom era.
I was an f4 electrician with VF-102 at NAS Oceana, Va. Just shortly before my very happy release from active duty, the Blue Angels were going to perform at our base at Oceana. I was so excited, because back then I could "almost " do everything but dance on the wing of one of the Angels' Birds! And the entire weekend was a rain out!! Shoot! I still watch the Angels every chance that I get!
@@steveowens913 I volunteered for a couple air shows when I was stationed there from 2016-2020.
Why don't they make docs like this anymore? With archive footage of Afghanistan, Iraq ect.
This one airplane had more nicknames than most people
The F-4 Phantom II, Grandfather to the F-16, F-18
You mean F-15 and 18???
Super sonic legend, Mig buster💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I worked on the Automatic Flight Control System on the F4s and RF4s for 3.5 years after basic and tech school ('64-'68). Until I watched this video I had never heard anyone but my wife refer to the drooping horizontal Stabilator. She call them "Droopies" not Phantoms. The drooping stabilator functioned as both an Elevator and stabilizer. It was interesting and more than a bit dangerous working around taxiing aircraft, with all the noise and climbing around on them in bad weather... but my hat's off those Navy pukes on carriers launching and recovering in that chaos. I never considered the Navy, I get motion sickness on small islands.
Yes! AFCS tech at Eglin AFB, Fla. Worked on F-4c, F-4d, F-4e and RF-4c. My favorite! Of course, we had other types,( F-105, T-38, F-100, A-7d, OV-10, HH-43b,UH-1h) but I spent most of my time on the F-4's. Looking back, I realize this was the coolest job ever.
Do those tapes list the names of the songs in the credits?
Album: Feathered Mullet Mania
Artist: The Bright Windbreakers
You're welcome
@@wileyeyefloaty665 I've been searching the internet and have come up with nothing on this artist. Do you have any links or additional information? Thanks.
Awesome plane still in service
At 37.56 it says the Phantom is caring a SHRIKE missile. That is incorrect, that's a Maverick on a jet from the 80"s. Note the full wrap around Euro 1 camo scheme v.s. the SEA or south east asia scheme in Vietnam.
Legend 👍✈️
I always felt that the F-101 was part of the F-4 lineage along with the F-3. Interesting that there is no mention of it in this documentary.
It’s called the flying brick.
@21:57: leading edge “slat,” not “slot”
Anybody remember Robin Olds?
Good nais f4👌👌👌👌👌
The phantom was sexy. Sounds weird to say, but it just was.
Needed a cannon.
26mm Vulcan?
It was far from that one-sided combat against the MiGs, but ok...
The MIG may have been a near peer,but it's pilots were NOT....MONTE
This would have been a great video to watch all the way through but the music just became too annoying.
F8 corsair ??? Really? C' mon man ............ facts?
Disregard tomcat
Embrace phantom
This is Great Planes. Not Great Fighting Jets.
Is a Fighter not an airplane now?
@@TK_FHW it’s just the name of the series. Not the actual title for the aircraft itself.
I may be in the minority (after reading other comments) but I could have done without the music.
The same as grepin of sweed if Vietnamese have better mig thay might win Air fight against the Us air force ? Mig25 ,23 ,su but they we're no match.
F-4 was obsolete way past 1989.
There you are again on every one of his videos and others, don't you have a life!
Lots of other countries bought em. Japan didn't depart from them all that long ago, I don't think. A Google search would verify when...
Narrator sucks. Awesome jet!
The F-4 Phantom is a great looking warbird and one of my favorites. Excellent video
These were the type of tv shows I grew up on, not the modern bullshit. They should ban the modern shows.
Proof that with unlimited power you can make a house fly.
Great tunes to this video and that is one sexy aircraft.
You don't look so bad yourself!
I'm thinking that when I first saw this, I must've thought the opening music was cool!
The F-4, with two J 79 turbo jet engines, was an interceptor. Vietnam needed a fighter that could also dogfight. As an interceptor it was designed for using missiles to shoot down bombers and not the nimble turns of fighters. They added a gattling gun to shoot down Mig 17s in tight turning maneuvers. The F4 pilots learned new tactics using the superior speed to out run the Migs and end up on the Migs tail and then shoot him down with the gun. Radar ranging on the gun also gave a great advantage to the F4 pilots.
umm
Excellent documentary coverage video about Phantom 👻 👽 family aircraft's which proved its successful designs & aviation-navigation capabilities thanks for sharing. Mike Guardia channel always selecting Excellent subjects
So many technical errors in this video. (eg. @38:06 "missile on the right is a shrike" it has a optical nose, shrikes do not have that, they basically look like a larger Sparrow. it's a Maverick.) Those aside, it's a good video of the Phantom.
You know you're watching a quality documentary on classic fighter jets when you hear that 80s synth guitar
THE NEGATIVE dihedral of. the Elevators on the F 4 is a radical departure in design and prevented unstable shock waves turbulence on the flight control surfaces at Mach speeds and loss of control for the pilot.
I NEVER understood why we went to the A-6 Intruder. Made absolutely no sense at that time. The F-4 carried more ordinance, had air to air capability, supersonic speed, and was already in service before the A-6. A few modifications to electronic packages and it EASILY could've done anything, and more, than the A-6!
I wish this series contained more foreign jets as well. Like the Mirage etc.
A film all F-14 Tomcat lovers should watch...
the F-14 didn't last as long as what its predecessor did...sorry Grumman.
Shoot it was not ugly a fighter is not meant to look pretty it looked muscular powerful
Those are such badass planes!
Greatest fighter ever made!
I remember my first experience of taking my squadron's 12 F4's to "the boat, " that being the U.S.S. Independence. First of all, Good Grief! The size of that boat!!! And our flight deck life vests used a CO2 cartridge for inflation, but "allegedly, " ya don't pull the activation rope until ya hit the water and "resurface!" RIGHT!!!?? But I swear that the first time a Phantom SLAMMED DOWN on that flight deck, I almost pulled mine!!! They have called them a controlled crash!
@@steveowens913 it's probably bc an already inlated west can-as claimed-break your neck if you jump from too high,like a carrier deck.
@@steveowens913
We still use CO2 cartridges.
The „NATO Diesel“
What people don’t realize is that the problem with the phantoms wasn’t because they weren’t Manuverable but Due to the BVR only Doctrine the pilots wasn’t trained to Maneuver the phantoms. However the WWII Dogfighting trained pilots became ACEs in Vietnam and Dan Pedersen the founder of Top Gun with the phantoms and other Top Gun phantom pilots took the kill ratio from a 2:1 to 24:1 with the phantoms In Vietnam!
It was a pig.
In October 1998, I met Bri. Gen. R. Steve Ritchie at the Little Rock AFB Open House and had my picture taken with him.
I used to love seeing the old smokey f4s at air shows. One of the best multirole fighters ever made sadly mist😢😢but much loved❤
Always loved the look of the Camo West German Phantoms with rhe shark mouth.
Thanks for uploading. Awesome video!
What is an F-8 Corsair?
F4 K best of the best?
like
Heck yeah!
1989? I thought they phased out in the 70s
24 F-4G Wild Weasel and 6 RF-4C served in Desert Storm. Last operational missions in March/April 1996.
F14 is America's proof to the world that with big enough engines even a brick can fly!
Tf-30 of F-14 were crap. P&W upgrades were far better.
@@briancooper2112 The TF 30 was good at for one thing - speed at low altitudes. Don't forget, it was the engine used on its close sibling, the naval version of the General Dynamics/Grumman F-111. The F-111 was designed to penetrate under the radar at high speeds. Once the Navy rejected it, Grumman designed the F-14 using the available engine at the time, the TF-30. The F110 engine didn't come out until years later.
Lol I didn’t realize we had sO many comedians 😒 nobody ever considers what the brick felt about flying 😳
Op is proof that even parroting long inaccurate statements , there's always somebody who can f'k it up.
That would be the space shuttle
F-4 my favorite all time.
Just Divine with 2 J 79s