I flew in F-4Ns, F-4Js, F-S's and now the F-4D. They all had better than 1:1 thrust-to-weight but only as the a/c approached flameout! The S model was likely the heaviest at about 34K but it would still do mach 2+ at 50K! The F-4D weighs about 33K w/o rails and tanks. Patrick never saw acceleration uphill and any F-4 driver who does better be above the field on a VFR day! Great reply from one of D-Days former WSOs! I flew with some outstanding pilots from the Marines, Air Force, and Navy...several were previously or went on to be Blue Angels and Thundebirds and one was a damn fine F-4 pilot, Ace, Steve Ritchie. D-Day flies as good an F-4 as any of them and I'd bet a week's pay in aerial combat he'd be King Kong. As for the recollections on the F-4 hyd systems...pretty close; the right is 2,775 +/- 225 and the left is 3,000 +/- 250 to prevent resonating between the systems and since they are on the same gage with only one Hyd warning light, you can tell which one has failed...Hyd light and gage reading 3K, right pump is down. Hyd systems PC1 and PC2 are on separate gages and are both 3K +/- 250 psi. Bottom line is, you look down and expect to see 1 Utility and 2 PC gages reading 3K.

-B2

mass (more than 50,000 pounds fully loaded) and power (18,000 pounds of thrust per engine, with afterburners)

... and ...

With a greater than 1:1 thrust-to-weight ratio at sea level, the Phantom can elevate.

Somethin' ain't adding up. How do you divide 36,000 by 50,000 and get a number bigger than 1? Even the lower "loaded weight" is fully 41,500 lb (according to Wikipedia).

I believe it was the F-15 that was the first operational fighter with a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 1.

But this is a quibble; I enjoyed the article.

I laughed out loud reading this as Harry is one of my best friends in the world. About 200 of those 2500 Phantom hours are with me in the back seat...and you're right Patrick, he knows exactly what he's doing. He is still the best living fighter pilot I ever flew with. I laughed because I can just hear him saying "that's weird." He had a slightly unnerving way of not expounding on that immediately or without some prompting from 'the pit'...but over time I just realized that was Harry's brain at work on investigating and correcting the weirdness. The Phantom is beauty and the beast all rolled into one...and it was tough to maintain. The kids that kept those beasts flying were the best and hardest working men and women you'll ever know. If memory serves me correctly the Phantom hydraulic psi was 3350 on the left utility and 3250 on the right--I'm sure I'll get corrected on this.

For JIM3CH--as soon as I read pop-pop-pop, I knew it was a compressor stall. Any Phantom phlyer knows that compreesor stalls can usually be quickly cleared by snapping the throttles to idle...which is what Harry was doing. He was basically trying to get TWO good engines working instead of having to live with just one. If it doesn't clear after a few tries, it's usually because of just what really happened...FOD, in which case you've got problems you can't solve...and it's just better go land on your one good engine while you still have it. Investigating abnormal events in your airplane isn't being a cowboy...it's basic first aid. The basic USAF emergency procedures for any event are 1. Maintain aircraft control, 2. Analyze the situation and take proper action, 3. Land as soon practicle. It is drilled into every USAF pilot...regardless of airframe...from day one of flight school. Harry knows that as well as anyone who has ever strapped on a jet. He was just 'doing it right.'

Harry Daye is more than just a retired USAF fighter pilot. He is an F-4 Fighter Weapons School graduate, a former Wild Weasel pilot, a former operational test pilot and test squadron commander, a former F-4 squadron commander, an intial F-15E cadre pilot, a finalist for the USAF Thunderbirds--the best hands of the bunch--but lacking the necessary Captain America good looks--sorry D-Daye...you know I love you, and like I said before the best living fighter pilot I know. Patrick...it was more than a ride...it was a chance to experience a short span of life spent in the glow of an American original.

Patrick, you're definitely a lucky man, although I think any sane human would share your misgivings about such an adventure. I grew up on Naval Air Stations, my Dad and all my friends Dads flew Phantoms. I still vividly remember the spectacle of a phantom on final over our base housing, low and slow, J79s smoking like coal-fired steam engines and that wierd, unearthly moan from the boundary layer air control venting over the wings like the devil himself blowing a tune on huge jug of moonshine...

But, thing is, that was a NAVY jet from the beginning. The Air Force was forced to buy it in quantity because they didn't have anything to compare, and McNamaras TFX was on it's way to becoming the bloated and distinctly un-fighterlike F111 'Aardvark' (never was a plane more aptly named, the Aussies call it the Pig :). I think those guys down in Houston would have a much more compelling service to offer if they did all that stuff, but required the trip to begin and end from the pitching deck of an Essex class carrier, perhaps with a good swell pitching the deck 20 or 30 feet at a go, and what the hell, maybe for a little extra dough, at night :) And of course it'd have to be painted gray, with a white belly, and the blue devil staring through the ring-site emblem of VF74 emblazoned on the vertical stabilizer :)

Love your column, by the way.

Bryan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vf74devil.jpg

B

"In the late '70s you would have seen an F-4 -- the U.S. Navy version, with arrester hook deployed -- strung with nylon fishing line from the ceiling of my bedroom."

Me too!!! More like '75 but still. Fishing line and all. And as I recall it was bigger than most models, maybe 16" nose to tail. I did a camo scheme on top and gray on the bottom. How funny.