Phantom spotting
I dearly love the old F-4 and, while the last one (of 5,195 made) rolled off the assembly line in 1981 (at that time in Japan), they are still fairly abundant in the wild even 45 years later.
At least 96 and perhaps as many as 150 Phantoms are still in front-line military service (including with Iran, at least for now), while easily another 200-300 are in storage, and about that many are on public display everywhere around the globe.
And I do mean everywhere.
Of note, the only “full-time jet fighter” in Iceland is a former 3rd/4th TFW F-4E-53-MC (72-1407) on display in USAF 57th FIS “Black Knights” livery as a gate guardian to the University of Iceland’s Keilir Aviation Academy aboard the old Keflavik AB.
Transferred to Keflavik in 1992 and largely stripped, it wears 66-0300, the number of the last Phantom to leave Keflavik in November 1985 when the Knights upgraded to F-15s
One of my most frequently seen “Spooks” has been on the gate guard to the USS Alabama Battleship Park for years, McDonnell Douglas F-4C-18-MC Phantom II, USAF registration 63-7487 (AF63/487).
Seen back in 2021.
I know she has been there for a couple of decades, as the local Fox affiliate opened its nightly news feed with almost exactly this shot going back to Hurricane Katrina.
She survived the monster storm that caused the 35,000-ton Alabama herself to list.
The circa 1963 warbird served with the 12th TFW and later the 366th TFW in South Vietnam, as well as the 8th TFW out of Ubon RTAB, Thailand, between 1965 and 1970, seeing lots of Southeast Asia service. After that, she saw Cold War duty with the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters, the 26th TRW at Zweibrcken Air Base, West Germany, the 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem, and the 401st TFW at Torrejon.
By 1979, she was back CONUS with the 182nd TFS of the Texas Air Guard out of Kelly Field. In her old age, she was converted to a GF-4C ground trainer in 1985 at Sheppard AFB, then retired and eventually shipped in 1991 to join “Big Al” in Mobile.
So it was shocking when I passed by on I-10 and saw that 487 was down from her pedestal and had disappeared.
Now that’s sad.
It turns out that she has been dismounted so that she can be restored, which is awesome.
In the meantime, she is sandwiched next to two very appropriate Vietnam-era airframes.
The first is a circa 1960 Douglas A-4L Skyhawk (BuNo 147787), which had served with VMA-223 and VMA-311 out of MCAB Chu Lai and VA-22 off USS Ranger.
Her second mate on the ground is a circa 1954 MiG-17 Fresco-A (540734) in Vietnam People’s Air Force livery (although she is a former Bulgarian airframe).
Looking forward to seeing 487 refreshed and preserved for future generations.
Speaking of which, the USS Hornet Museum is currently restoring the last Phantom to fly off a Carrier (VF-151 Vigilantes, USS Midway, March 25, 1986).
