| Just a couple of Darts left on the ramp as we started the transition to the F-4D
Phantom. There is one other F-106 just behind. The clouds reflected my
mood about the change |
Our first F-4 off to the left by the radar docks. I couldn't believe we were
going to change airplanes until the first one actually showed up on the ramp |
More and more Phantoms showing up. The first thing we did with a "new"
F-4 was to tow it into the hanger, tear it down to the studs and rebuild it to
Guard standards |
That Dart sure looks lonely |
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| Here's our first F-4. I think that the only time we ever saw them with the
wings folded was when they went into the hanger for some work. Here you
can see how un-aerodynamic this monster was. When you were flying you
could actually feel the resistance as it plowed through the air. I always said
the the F-4 was proof positive that if you put enough thrust on a brick you
could make it fly |
This actually a pretty cool shot of one our first Phantoms. These jets were
very maintenance intensive. In order to work on the air conditioner system
they had to remove an engine which was a 3-day ordeal. One day to take it
out and two to get it back in |
On Alert and standing guard at George AFB down at Victorville |
This was a fun picture to take. I was out on Perimeter Road and on the 29R
centerline. I used a 300mm telephoto lens. I was trying to get a shot of the
burners. It turned out nicely with one in burner and the other just about ready
to release brakes. The Sun setting just over to the left side |
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| Radar trail departue. This was about a 60sec. exposure - just long enough to
get both jets coming out of burner. A 20sec. delay gets you 3nm in trail.
Come out of burner, 94% and climb at 280kts |
Our maintenance troops really had their hands full with the F-4. For about
the first two years that we had them we all got about 4 sorties/month - if you
were lucky. A really good month was 10.0 hrs. Hard to really get to know
and feel comfortable in the jet. There's Snowcone and the SOF truck.
I remember one of my first sorties back at FAT - the engines were running
and I was heads-down doing checklist stuff. One of the crew chiefs pulled the
chocks without me knowing and we rolled about halfway into the taxiway
before I looked up and saw that we were rolling along. No damage :) |
I think that the guys that got weened in the F-4 had it a little easier than the
guys that had a lot of time in single-seaters. We had to learn how to
communicate with the GIB (Guy-In-Back) to get his eyes on the target during
a fight. In the F-106 you didn't really have to talk - just do your switchology
and talk to your wingman and controller. The Phantom was waaaaay
different. Sometimes you just felt like baggage - fly where the GIB tells you
and pull the trigger |
Nice shot of a landing. Check out the old Army Guard hanger and Ops
building. They did PDM for all the Army Guard planes west of the
Mississippi. This is before they moved to their new digs at the NW corner
of the airport |
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| Coming in for a landing. You can definitely see the exhaust here. When we
first got the F-4 all of them had the smokey engines. Half the time you didn't
even need the radar - just look out and see your target coming at 30 nm. Later
on we got a modification that made them smokeless. That helped a bit, but no
matter what you did the F-4 still had a huge radar cross-section |
Clovis Avenue and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Anyone remember the "Stick Wrestling Contest" between Spanky and Tim
Ryan over at Lemoore |
The F-4 cockpit. Note the reticle up in the HUD. One night as #2 of a two-
ship we were coming back from R-2508. As we got close to Mitel we heard a
flight of two A-7s check in. We'd heard rumors abouth the F-117 and heard
that it was basically an A-7 program. We asked them if we could run a stern
on them and they said O.K. As we rolled in behind at about 3mn there was
only one set of lights. My lead asked them if they were really a two-ship.
Just then another set of lights came on 3mn right in front of me. There was never
anything at all on my radar and it had been working just fine all
evening. With that powerful, raw data radar to not see something at 3 miles in the
stern is really something! Don't let anyone tell you that stealth technology
doesn't work :) |
Another cockpit picture... On both this picture and the previous one you can
see the leg straps for the ejection seat. |
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| This was the 4-ship fly-by at Modesto for Wes Deane and John Jordan on June 22, 1987. Sad day. |
The place where I got my pictures developed lent me a nice camera and wide-angle lens.
I was out cruising one day waiting for another airplane that had been delayed. I was
flying with Carl Piccotto and let him take the stick for a while as I took some pictures.
This is the one that turned out the best.
The following shots are just the rest of the ones I took that day. |
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This is a nice shot of Mark Taylor coming into a tanker for some gas out over
R-2508 |
Here's Mark again up close and personal. Mork, thanks for sending
the pictures |
A KC-10 and an F-4 on the wing. We were having some sort of public
function at the base. I think it was an Employer Appreciation Day. They're
just over Clovis Ave |
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| Out over the Pacific. |
Danny Cerna RTB and heading for BSR. Nice view of the Monterey Bay in
the background. |
Nice view of the coast south of Monterey. Two-Dogs again. |
I was getting checked out for LOWAT with Bill Lucido out over R-2508. Ray
Bluhm was with us as well. It was my turn to be target running between
Panamint and Owens Valleys. As I came over a hill the highway crossed
under me and of course I passed right over a couple of white vans at 100' and 400kts.
When I looked back they was pulling off the road in a cloud of dust. Two weeks
later I was home visiting my folks and my dad told me about getting run off
the road by an F-4 in the desert. He was a science teacher, he and another teacher were taking
some students out to Death Valley for a weekend field trip. We compared
notes and checked a map and I had to fess up - I ran my dad off the road with
an F-4. The other teacher he was with was driving and was seriously pissed
so dad never did tell him it was me :) Mark Taylor flying |
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| Cruising. Mork again. |
Danny Cerna on the way out to W-285. Just over the coastal mountains and
the Pacific just under the canopy |
A couple of our jets on a tanker's wing |
Taking some gas. The F-4 was a serious gas guzzler. In the winter your
alternate was VCV as any airport in the valley could go down at any time. If
you were in a clean F-4 it had enough gas to get to Kite and if the tanker
wasn't there you had enough gas for about 10 minutes of work before you
had to RTB to Fresno and then VCV. Short legs when clean. Even with tanks
there never seemed to be enough gas. |
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| Guzzling JP-4 at 20,000 feet |
More AAR on the KC-135. |
Refueling with a KC-10. |
I like this one. |
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| Back down at George AFB with an F-4 on Alert at sunset |
If you look closely you can see the AIM-7 tucked up under the intake |
Mark Taylor and Harlan Winslow. Harlan was a DJ at KKDJ FM 106.1. He
and Mork were good buddies and Harlan put out a ton of free public service
announcements for the Air Guard. A good friend of the base, Mark got to
take him for an F-4 ride. Picture from Mark |
Mork sent this one for me to include. The title he gave it is "When We Were
studs." Very appropiate. We were all slimmer and trimmer back then. No
grey at all :) I remember Mongo pulling into the Chow Hall parking lot in the
80s in a very cool Stingray! Who woodda thought Mongo would end up as
Wing Commander :) Mark "Dr. Mork" Taylor on the left and Gary "Mongo"
Taylor on the right |
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| Smoking is very bad for you. |
There's our favorite B.O.B. taxiing back in after a hard day of flying. With
that big grin - looks like he had a good day! Photo credit: Jim McNab |
Watching the F-4s taking off. Standing right next to the pad where Snowcone usually sat |
WSO Gary Leeder and I doing an Open House at Fresno. Gary later went on to work as
a police officer up in Boise, Idaho. Gary was an excellent GIB (guy in back) and I was disappointed
that he took off after just a couple years with us. |
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