Its versatility made it a workhorse for the U. S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps for decades.
The Phantom set numerous records, including flying higher and faster than any other fighter of its time.
In todays article, Dr. Will Dabbs puts us in the seat of this iconic fighter.
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was an influential fighter that relied on speed and brute force to win the fight. Image: Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot/U.S. Air National Guard
Dino Paul Crocetti, Jr. was born on 17 November 1951.
Dino was a handsome kid with an engaging personality the life of the party.
He attended Urban Military Academy in Brentwood, California, before embarking on a career in show business.
A U.S. Navy McDonnell F-4B Phantom II of Fighter Squadron VF-111 Sundowners drops 227 kg Mk 82 bombs over Vietnam during 1971.
He enjoyed some modest success singing alongside the likes of Desi Arnez, Jr. and Billy Hinsche.
He also acted with Ali McGraw in the 1979 moviePlayersalong with a few others.
Though the Hollywood life is undeniably hard on relationships, by all accounts Dinos star was rising.
Capt. Dean Paul Martin Jr., an F-4 pilot in the California National Guard, lost his life during a training exercise in 1987. Image: U.S.A.F.
In addition to acting, Dino Crocetti was an avid pilot.
He earned his private pilots license at 16 and joined the California Air National Guard in 1980.
He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and completed Air Force flight training at Columbus AFB in Mississippi.
Steam rises from the catapult as an F-4 Phantom II fighter aircraft is ready for launching from the flight deck of the attack aircraft carrier U.S.S. Saratoga (CVA-60). Image: U.S. Navy
For an airplane nut, Dino was on the top of his game.
His weapon system officer was Captain Ramon Ortiz.
At some point they encountered a snowstorm and something bad happened.
Shown here is an F-4G “Wild Weasel” aircraft of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing. Weasels were Phantoms modified to hunt air defenses including SAM batteries. Image: Staff Sgt. Joe Smith/U.S.A.F.
The plane crashed in a remote area, and both Crocetti and Ortiz were killed.
Two more great young Americans had given their lives for their country.
Dino, Jr. was the fifth of Dean Martins eight children and Jeannes oldest son.
The Flight Deck Director signals an F-4 Phantom II fighter into position on the starboard catapult aboard the U.S.S. Midway (CVA-41) in August 1970. Image: PH2 Kevin J. Freedman/U.S. Navy
Tragedy can clearly strike the families of servicemen regardless of their station in life.
The Flying Brick
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was an objectively sinister-looking warplane.
The wings fused with the fuselage to create a homogeneous geometric plane.
An F-4 Phantom from the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) shadows a Soviet Tu-95 Bear-D bomber over the Atlantic Ocean on September 22, 1973.
The wingtips sported a distinctive positive dihedral, while the horizontal stabilizers were cocked correspondingly downward.
The resulting architectural dissonance made the plane look like some kind of predatory animal.
The Phantoms massive afterburning J79 turbojets pushed the big plane to a maximum speed of Mach 2.23.
A U.S. Navy F-4B from the U.S.S. Ranger (CVA-61) drops bombs on an artillery site north of the DMZ, in support of the 3rd Marine Division, February 1968. Image: U.S. Navy
As a result, a second flight crewman was added to help deal with the tactical workload.
The original Phantom was designed to carry four AAM-N-6 Sparrow radar-guided missiles.
Wind tunnel testing showed that the plane suffered from an innate lateral instability.
Marine pilots paint birthday greetings on 250-lb. bombs prior to boarding their F-4B Phantom jets for a strike against a VC stronghold in February 1967. Image: Staff Sergeant Bill Brown/U.S.M.C.CC BY 2.0
This drove the 5-degree dihedral to the distal wings and the 23-degree anhedral to the tailplane.
Instead of elevators, the entire tailplane pivoted for aggressive pitch control.
The F-4 was a predominantly Navy project.
An F-4 Phantom II taxies in on the flight line during the 2011 Aviation Nation Open House Nov. 11, at Nellis Air Force Base. You can see the drogue parachute was deployed during landing. Image: U.S.A.F.
The F-4 beat out the Convair F-106 Delta Dart to take the prize.
This was one gigantic fighter plane.
Early Phantoms came from the factory without a gun.
An F-4 Phantom II returns to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway (CVA-41) after a mission over North Vietnam. Lt. Vernon Jumper, the landing signal officer, stands in the foreground. Image: U.S. Navy
However, in practical use the lack of a gun became a liability.
Mid-production Phantoms could be fitted with an external gun pod.
These pods were difficult to keep boresighted and added aerodynamic drag.
Ground crewman prepare a U.S. Air Force F-4 for a mission at Phu Cat AB, Vietnam. The plane was part of the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing. Image: Sgt. Peter Seel/U.S.A.F.
Later Phantoms had an internal M61A1 Vulcan rotary cannon mounted within the fuselage.
The Phantom could not turn with the agile communist fighters of the day such as the MiG-15 and MiG-17.
However, the F-4 offered truly unprecedented power and load-carrying capacity.
Marines remove a damaged external fuel tank that was hit by ground fire in May 1968. After the tank exploded, the pilot was able to bring the Phantom II home. Image: Sgt. Jim Mims/U.S.M.C.CC BY 2.0
The Phantom pilot mantra was, Speed is life.
Two weeks later a Phantom became the first American jet shot down over Vietnam by a surface-to-air missile.
This was the worlds first supersonic air-to-air gun kill.
An F-4 Phantom jet from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314) is readied for a combat mission on the flight line in July 1968. Image: U.S.M.C. CC BY 2.0
The Phantom was widely exported to American allies around the globe.
5,195 airframes were produced.
The last operational Phantom was retired from Japanese service in 2015.
Pilot, Lt. Randall H. Cunningham (right) and radar intercept officer, Lt. j.g. William P. Driscoll, were the first American fliers to qualify as aces solely as the result of Vietnam air action. Image: U.S. Navy
At one point he found himself onboard an aircraft carrier in need of a trip ashore to South Vietnam.
He described the catapult takeoff like being hit in the back with a boat paddle.
Like the country that built it, the Phantom was big, loud, powerful and inefficient.
Lt. Col. (Ret) Jim “WAM” Harkins, participated the final military flight of the storied F-4 Phantom II at Holloman AFB on Dec. 21, 2016. Image: J.M. Eddins Jr./U.S.A.F
Early versions in particular produced vast quantities of smoke.
However, the F-4 was adored by its crews.
It flew with the Navys Blue Angels and acquitted itself well in sundry wars around the world.
Its operators referred to the big plane as the Rhino, Snoopy, Double Ugly and the Lead Sled.
German operators called it the Iron Pig, the Flying Brick and the Air Defense Diesel.
I can think of no higher accolade.
