Warbird Information Exchange

This past wed. I went to the Atlantic City airshow. The USAF Heritage flight featured an F-4, F-15, F-22, and P-51.

I was suprised to see the F-4, I thought the USAF F-4's were all being used as drones. This was not the Collings F-4. It was finished in a grey scheme.

I thought the Germans operated some here in the U.S.

I think the plane had an HO (Holloman) tail code.

So...who operates this Phantom? USAF? Is it the same unit that operates the drones? Or the unit that works w/ the German AF?

I havent uploaded the pics yet. This was the first time I have ever seen a Phantom in the air, so it was a real treat.

Thanks for any info.

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HO is the tail code for Holloman AFB where the German AF operates a detachment of F-4s painted in USAF markings. The USAF QF-4 drones operating out of Tyndall AFB have a "TD" tail code. Another telltale indication they are the German birds is the black, yellow and red striped German flag marking on the vertical stab. I've seen the same German flag marking on the intake plugs too if you took any static display shots of the airplane.

[img][img]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l187/kep130/GermanF4.jpg[/img][/img]

The Heritage program is operating at least 4 Phantoms from Holoman and Tyndall. They are part of the 'drone' squadron. They are painted in various paint schemes, from the Vietnam scheme all the way up. We had a great photo mission with "Tuna" Hainline and the full story on the Heritage F-4s in Issue 7 of Warbird Digest.

I can't seem to find the web site i used to have for this...

But, it is my understanding that the USAF is maintaining 4 or so F-4's to fly Air Combat Command Heritage Flight displays. I think there are East and West teams.

Z

You guys are good! The show was on the beach, so no static shots, hehe.

I have a few pics I clicked w/ my digi cam as the Phantom made a couple of solo passes. I'll try and get them uploaded.

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Dang I was slow...missed being 1st by 5 minutes...I was looking for a link...ratz oh well the other guys know more than I do...

I saw one of the TD birds transit through Carswell last spring.

Cool!

I believe that the German F-4 operation at Holloman closed down about a year ago, although they still maintain a presence there for Tornado training.

Here's a shot of one of the Tyndall F-4s at Oshkosh.

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Dan Johnson

The German F-4Fs stood down Dec.2004 when the 20th was deactivated. The aircraft were at AMARC and allocated to the USAF drone program for use as spare parts. They will NOT ever fly again. See the following site for the full story.

http://www.amarcexperience.com/AMARCArticle20FS.asp

The F-4 you saw with Heritage Flight was indeed one of the fancy drones. They are not kept on the books and maintained for Heritage. They are first and foremost drones. Eventually, even they will meet their end with complete disregard for the fancy paint jobs.

Here's a shot from the USAF site showing all four of the jets in question...

BIG Image


Fade to Black...

Wow, you guys are great! I saw the grey bird from Tindall w/ the sharks mouth this past week.

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Boy that's great to see those again.
Kinda sad though, to see them being used as targets, as I painted Phantoms while in the USAF back in the 80s, and have always had a fondness for the type..

I can still remember the thundering blast they made on their take-off roll and the tail of flame with the burners lit.

This is a picture of one of the actual Phantoms I worked on.
The "BA" stood for Bergstrom AFB, Austin TX, and was home to the 67th TRW, 12th AF HQ.

I was there when most birds still had the tan color on them, then for the most part, I painted them in this color scheme, and shortly before I left, they were just starting to get their last scheme of the two-tone gray.



Phantoms Phorever!!

Leon.

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Phormer Phantom Painter

Actually the Heritage Jet planes wont ever be destroyed, talked the the Pilot and for the forseeable future there will be Phantoms in the Heritage Flight.

Nathan, I didn't mean they would be shot down soon. Look at the pictures closely. See the hump on the backbone, the extra antennae on the wingtips. Notice one of the fancy jets doesn't have a back seat. THese jets are targets first and Heritage jets second. These aircraft cost 1,000,000.00 + to regenerate and convert to drone config. If they were done strictly for Heritage these drone mods would be unecessary.

They will go away,...eventually. Doesn't mean that as long as the drone program is made up of F-4s that they can't keep painting new ones for Heritage.

here's the phantom from the Atlantic City Show. pretty tough shooting conditions, and I don't just mean the sand!

brian