Classic American jet fighter

Air Classics, Jan 2004 by Hulett, George

Salute to the fabulous Phantom II

Fighter, mud-mover, photo ship, nuclear bomber, shipborne jack-of-all-trades--the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II did it all in war and in peace. No other jet gave more, or was loved as much.

As the opening shots of the Vietnam War rang out, new Phantoms launched the air battle. They fought the war from beginning to end. They killed more MiGs, saw more action, and went down in greater numbers than any other fixed-wing aircraft in that conflict.

And there were other wars for the Phantom. Stalwart of the Israelis, the warplane battled constantly for 20 years. Iran flew their Phantoms against Iraq, and the aircraft revisited those Arabian skies to fight the Gulf War -- with Wild Weasels killing enemy missile sites from H hour through to victory.

The F-4 was also the classic Cold War warrior, holding the nuclear line with the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Luftwaffe and other NATO forces. An astounding 5182 Phantom IIs were built, achieving no fewer than 25 performance records -- and thousands, from World War Two veterans on up, have worn the Phantom patch with pride. It's a warplane story that has run for more than 40 years.

McDonnell F-4 Phantom Spirit in the Skies edited by Jon Lake and David Donald (SpecialtyPress 800-895-4585, $34.95) tells the whole story in detail - in approximately 300,000 words and more than 700 photos. This updated and expanded edition recounts the fighter's history, variant details, unit histories, color schemes, Phantom aces, weapons systems, and more.