F-4C Phantom II
Crew Chief: Tony Sarganis
The F-4C Phantom II at the 2011 Wings Over Wine Country Air Show. She now has the 370 wing tanks and the flaps and ailerons are up and clean.
F-4C Phantom II Specifications
| Country of Origin: | USA |
| B/N or Serial Number: | 64-823 |
| Type: | All-weather multi-role fighter/attack |
| Accommodation: | Two seated in tandem on MartinBaker Mk H7 ejector seats |
| Armament: | Sparrow Missiles, plus four AIM-9 Sidewinders. In addition, up to 7257 kg (16,000 lbs) of assorted weapons. |
| Electronics: | APQ-72 Fire Control Radar |
| Powerplant & Fuel System: | Two General Electric J79-GE-17A axial compressor turbojet jet engines |
| Performance: | Maximum speed (clean) 2,301 km/h (1,430mph) or Mach 2.17 at 10,975m (36,oooft); cruising speed 91 7km/h (570mph) with stores; initial climb rate (clean) 15,180m (49,800ft) per minute; service ceiling (clean) 17,905rn (58,750ft); range 1,145km (712-mile) combat radius on an interdiction mission, and 3,184km (1,978 miles) for ferrying Weights: empty 13,757kg (30,328 lb); normal takeoff 18,818kg (41,4871b); maximum take-off 28,030kg (61,7951b) |
| Dimensions: | Span 11 .77m (38ft 7.5 in); length 19.20m (63ft); height 5.02m (16ft 5.Sin); wing area 49.24m2 (53Osqft) |
F-4C Phantom II History
The workhorse of Vietnam was the F-4 Phantom II. It was used in a number of combat roles.Very few F-4 squadrons remain. Only in reserve units, like the “Wild Weasels”, the F-4 will soon disappear from active service, being replaced by the more agile, faster, and electronically superior F-16s and F/A-18s.
Pacific Coast Air Museum´s F-4 was an Air Force jet. After its service life was over, the jet was assigned to the Sierra Army Depot, on Highway 395, north of Reno. The jet was going to be used as a “crash and burn” victim, being torched for fire fighters to practice putting out aircraft fires. The Army never put one match to it. The aircraft sat for several years, along with a twin F-4, way out in the middle of nowhere on the base. Army officials finally decided to get rid of the aircraft and looked for places to dispose of them.
As fate would have it, two museums got word of the aircraft and applied for acquisition. Pacific Coast Air Museum was one of the museums selected to receive one of the aircraft.
In 1994, crews of Pacific Coast Air Museum members spent many hours on the Army base, in desolate conditions, taking the F-4 apart. It was very hard as the aircraft was built to take a lot of abuse, and was not easy to dismantle.
Slowly, pieces began to arrive, and other crews, as well as the disassembly crews, put it back together, for a permanent home at Sonoma county. The history of the aircraft is being researched.
