McDonnel Douglas F-4 Phantom II
F-4 Phantom II is an all-weather multi-role fighter aircraft, all-weather multisensor reconnaissance, originally a carrier-based interceptor produced by McDonnell Douglas. It was the first Navy fighter to defend the fleet without guns, relying entirely on its missiles. First prototype flew on May 1958. At the beginning it appeared very grotesque but after it had collected a number of remarkable world records, the Editor of the journal dedicated a leader devoted to the Phantom. In it's 50 years the journal had never before published a leader about one type of aircraft. This on had the title "McDonnell's Mostest".
The F-4B was a star in its era. While it started as an all-missile fighter, it became a mainstay of the Navy, flying both attack and air-to-air missions. It successfully fought off MiGs in Vietnam and destroyed 32 enemy aircraft.
First Phantoms were delivered to the Navy. US Air Force began to look very hard at the Navy's Phantom because the fact that it was The Mostest was becoming inescapeable. The Phantom was a real shaker. Its originally fitted radar APQ-50 Mod, with 24inch dish aerial (Later As had a bigger APQ-72 but this is officially regarded as a F-4B change) outperformed the radar in best Air Force interceptor. It had heavier missile armament and greater versatility. It carried more bombs further than the best Air Force fighter/bomber or attack aircraft and it delivered them more accurately in all weathers.
The power came from two Wright J65 (Sapphire) engines, with which in a clean condition a high-altitute Mach number of 1,5 was expected. It flew faster, higher and got up there quicker than any. Its safety record was unrivalled. It was so fast it set a world's speed record of 1,606 mph, or Mach 2.57 on November 22, 1961. The U.S. Navy used the F-4A as its principal fighter; the U.S. Air Force used the F-4B, F-4C, RF-4C, F-4D, and F-4E versions. The Air Force turned the F-4E into an attack plane by adding a 20-mm M-61A1 Vulcan multi-barrel cannon, and used it widely in the Vietnam War. Today Phantoms are still flying even the Navy and USAF find it a bit absolete.
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