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Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=46942
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Author:  flightsimer [ Wed Aug 29, 2012 11:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Well since we have finally gotten our plane home, I am going to be creating a thread for its restoration. Hopefully every so often, I will be able to update it with pictures. It will probably be over a years time as thats how long it took us to complete our F-15A.

Here are some pictures as I promised in the other thread...
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Jim Ackley and I powered washed the entire plane and wing today after it was off the trailers.
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Before washing
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After washing
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Before Washing
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After washing
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Up close
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In this pic is three out of our four Vietnam era aircraft
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Author:  peter [ Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Looking forward to the updates! She looks a bit faded but otherwise in good shape. How complete are the cockpits or are they stripped??

Author:  flightsimer [ Thu Aug 30, 2012 11:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

peter wrote:
Looking forward to the updates! She looks a bit faded but otherwise in good shape. How complete are the cockpits or are they stripped??

She is actually in really good condition for sitting since the late 80s, early 90s. There are only three major things that I know of. One is the rear cockpit canopy. During a severe windstorm, the wind was ale to get under it and rip off the canopy. During the same storm, the wingtip off the left wing (IIRC), was also ripped off and was thrown some 200 yards away. So we need to figure out how to mount the wingtip back on. And the last damage would be on the top fuselage, just in front of the fertile, there is a hole, which cold have been made by the wingtip as it ripped off and struck the fuselage. Otherwise, it seems to be in really good condition. I can't wait until we get it back on the wing though so we can get it looking like a plane once again.

From what I saw of the rear cockpit, all of the instruments were removed during demilling. We have the seats though, minus the rockets. We do have the gunsight at least.

I will be able to tell you more though once we get into the cockpits.

Author:  viking73 [ Fri Aug 31, 2012 7:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Thanks for the photos, please keep them coming :)

Did you guys get to keep the engines for this bird? It looks like they were still in the aircraft before you moved it.

-Derek

Author:  peter [ Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Instruments can be picked up readily enough over time as long as you ahve seats and most of the other bits she will be returned to her glory before long.. well done!

Author:  flightsimer [ Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

viking73 wrote:
Thanks for the photos, please keep them coming :)

Did you guys get to keep the engines for this bird? It looks like they were still in the aircraft before you moved it.

-Derek

No, they would not allow us to keep an engine as components are still being used today. However, we did get to keep both afterburner cans, which they wanted to keep, but we were able to get them as part of the sale.

Also, I forgot to put in my first post... A VERY VERY BIG thanks goes out to World Wide Aircraft Recovery who separated the fuselage and wing for us, all of the people from the USAF Museum who helped with equipment and support and to all of our donors who made this project financially possible. Without you guys, this wouldn't have been possible!

Author:  TAdan [ Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Congrats on getting your Phantom home. It does look to be in very nice shape. I look forward to following its restoration.

Author:  wingsandrotorspilot [ Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Sent the disc with the Tech Orders to you this morning. Good luck, and let me know if you need anything else.

Pat

Author:  ffuries [ Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

My father (MSgt USAF Retired, 22 Feb 43-24 Sep 11) spent the majority of his AF career working on F-4's, everytime I see one I think of him. He loved that aircraft and knew it backwards and forwards. The F-4 will always have a special place in my heart, because of him! With all the QF-4 drones flying around here at Tyndall AFB, everytime I see one in the pattern, I wonder if it is one of his old birds.

Don't know how the AF is with giving out parts and pieces of aircraft but there are the remains of 3 drones and an ABDR frame parked at Eglin Aux Field 3 (Duke Field) Florida.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28086

He was buried with his Phantom-Phixer shirt neatly folded and tucked away with him, least it distract from his dress blues.

Author:  peter [ Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

That is a shame she lost her engines but good that you at least get to keep the burner cans. They always look odd with them missing.....

Author:  flightsimer [ Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

wingsandrotorspilot wrote:
Sent the disc with the Tech Orders to you this morning. Good luck, and let me know if you need anything else.

Pat

Thank you very much!
ffuries wrote:
My father (MSgt USAF Retired, 22 Feb 43-24 Sep 11) spent the majority of his AF career working on F-4's, everytime I see one I think of him. He loved that aircraft and knew it backwards and forwards. The F-4 will always have a special place in my heart, because of him! With all the QF-4 drones flying around here at Tyndall AFB, everytime I see one in the pattern, I wonder if it is one of his old birds.

Don't know how the AF is with giving out parts and pieces of aircraft but there are the remains of 3 drones and an ABDR frame parked at Eglin Aux Field 3 (Duke Field) Florida.

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... =3&t=28086

He was buried with his Phantom-Phixer shirt neatly folded and tucked away with him, least it distract from his dress blues.
you would be surprised how small the aviation world is. When we got our T-28B from the state of alaska in the mid 2000s, after we got it back, we discovered that one of our members had done most of his training in that very plane while it was still with the Navy.

I was wondering if they still had any f-4 drones left. Do you know how many roughly there are?

peter wrote:
That is a shame she lost her engines but good that you at least get to keep the burner cans. They always look odd with them missing.....

Ya, we don't have them for our F-15A and it looks extremely weird and incomplete without them. We are trying to find a pair, but still no luck.

Author:  ffuries [ Sun Sep 02, 2012 4:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Off hand no, I know they don't get shot down as much as the QF-106's did, nor do they seem to crash as much. I'll try and do a drive by of the flight line is a few days and see how many of the bent wing broken tails I can see out there.

Author:  libra66 [ Sat Jul 06, 2013 12:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Yeah. Ill be taking some better pics in the next few weeks and posting them here. Hopefully some pics from gigs.

Author:  flightsimer [ Sun May 24, 2015 8:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

Well, I will admit that I had ever posted this here. So Since its has been quite a while, I will give an update.

For the most part the plane was moved to the back burner as it was only at the museum for a few months before we bought the C-47 and all focus really shifted towards it. However, in the last year or so, work on the F-4 had resumed. I don't have many photos of the progress as a lot of it happened without me even realizing it or not being around to document it in general... And to top it off, I am currently deployed so I do not have my camera with me that has what photos I do have...

We actually have had quite a few new members join the museum to help on it. In fact one of our new members actually flew the plane in the USAF. Because of the renewed interest in it by new members, it will likely be completed and on display sometime this summer.

When we first got it, it was in pretty decent shape, but it did have some damage. It had the one wingtip ripped off as well as the rear canopy during a windstorm when it was sitting behind the NMUSAF in Dayton.

The rear canopy has since been fixed and was even polished out to get rid of most of the crazing that it had. Both canopies were worked on last year and they both are now fully down and locked in place. Eventually we would like to get them operable, but that is a project for the future. The big thing was getting them down and locked so that the birds would stop getting in.

The wing section has received the most attention of the entire project. The both gear wells as well as the main landing gear were sand blasted and had been repainted. Some sheet metal work was done on it as well and the entire belly was primed.

The nose gear/bay has also been sand blasted and painted as well.

The radome had been finished and it was finally installed last fall as well.

We will actually be joining the fuselage and wing together very soon. We are at this point just waiting to meet with our crane operator to go over the various plans we have and figure out which one will be the best option. Our ramp will also be completely redone this summer, so the plane has to be up on its feet so that it can be moved by then.

Here is one picture from my phone that shows the front from last fall before winter had set in...
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Author:  flightsimer [ Sun May 24, 2015 8:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Restoration of F-4C Phantom AF 64-0763

The guy who has sort of taken over the restoration as he worked on them in the AF has also been working on smaller parts of it. He has restored the Martin Baker Ejection Seat and will more than likely be making a display out of it for in the museum.

He is currently working on the tail cone which houses the parachute pack and getting it ready to be mounted back onto the plane.

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