Final F-4 Phantom flight in the US military at KHMN

[///AMG]

My apologies, everyone. Should have refrained from saying anything.

No worries, we all generalize……..in your defense, I think "professionalism" might have been a dirty word in those days of military aviation. Purely based on stories from old guys, I think the "thrill seeker" could get a lot farther in their career in those days than they could today. The jets cost a lot more now, the flight hours are a lot less, and modern technology means that someone is always watching. For better or worse, those factors have fundamentally changed the reality of flying grey jets.

 

[///AMG]

Refueling from a KC-97. I believe our speed was 235 IAS @ FL190. Note the AOA...had to tap burner to hold position because of it as we neared max offload. Of all the a/c I have refueled from, (-97, -135, -10), the -97 had the best director lights on the bottom aft fuselage.

Jesus christ…..when was this? I don't envy that at all!

 

[///AMG]

I wonder if the USMC F-4s refueling from their KC-130s did any better speed wise, apart from being probe/drogue vice boom AR.

dunno about F-4's, but having tanked off a KC-130 in a Hornet, it is a little uncomfortable. They like to do it about 217-220 knots, which is an uncomfortable airspeed at altitude when trying to fly form. It wasn't terrible, but 270-300 of the KC-135/10 variety is mo betta

 

[Springer]

You didn't like the -10s multicolored, trend-data, director lights? That were also marked so you didn't have to remember the mnemonic to remember what the unmarked director lights of the -135 meant?

Curiously, if you remember, which ANG unit is that -97 from?

I don't remember which ANG unit that was but I do recall doing it with the AZ ANG. This was in the Baumholder Track over W. Germany.

We did probe & drogue (A-37) with the -10 so the director lights were not an issue.

 

[Springer]

dunno about F-4's, but having tanked off a KC-130 in a Hornet, it is a little uncomfortable. They like to do it about 217-220 knots, which is an uncomfortable airspeed at altitude when trying to fly form. It wasn't terrible, but 270-300 of the KC-135/10 variety is mo betta

I know what you mean. The -97 was lucky to get much more than 230 if even that with the jets running. We limited our max gross weight when off loading as we flew most of the time with three external tanks. We rarely refueled from the -97's as they were gone by the mid to late 70's.

 

[BEEF SUPREME]

Jesus christ…..when was this? I don't envy that at all!

Just looking at the AOA, it's pretty bonkers.

 

[guywhoflies]

One of the greatest AF aviators of all time, triple Ace of WWII (flying P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs) and Vietnam, Brigadier General Robin Olds. (a Colonel in this photo - in Vietnam) He completed 152 combat missions, including 105 over North Vietnam. Utilizing air-to-air missiles, he shot down over North Vietnam two Mig-17 and two Mig-21 aircraft, two of these on one mission. The true definition of Badass.

Shortly after Robin retired from the Air Force in 1977, he was invited to give a speech at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona to a mixed audience of fighter pilots and Strategic Air Command (SAC) personnel. He began his speech by saying, "My name is Robin Olds and I want to identify myself to everybody in this room: Peace is not my profession!" The SAC members of the audience turned red in the face. In front of them stood one of the most decorated officers from the Vietnam War poking at their beloved motto, "Peace is our profession."

Here is what he looked for in a pilot:
"I'll tell you what -- I'll tell you what I try to look for in any guy: Is he outgoing? Is he aggressive? In other words, does he like sports? Is he a good party guy? That's part of being outgoing. Is he gregarious? Is he individualistic in the sense of knowing his own mind? Does he have a good grin on his face? Okay?"

Robin Olds was my dad's wing commander at 8th TFW at Ubon. The stories my dad tells about Col. Olds are awesome.

Once he got the magic number of 100 missions over N. Vietnam was supposed to transfer back to the states to become commandant at USAFA. Col. Olds had bagged four Migs but he wanted to get a fifth before he left the war. His official "counter" mission number is 105 but my dad says he routinely went into the TOCC -- where they kept track of each pilots' mission count on a grease board -- and he would erase tick marks from his own mission count. Nobody really knows how many missions he actually flew up north.

Col. Olds had two prime opprtunities to get his fifth Mig.

The first was when he was flying a F-4D which was outfitted with four Falcon missiles. He got behind a Mig-17 and fired all of the missiles. They all missed and he was pissed. When he got back to base, someone explained to him that the Falcon had a much smaller envelope than the Sidewinder that he had used previously. Well Col. Olds had a solution to that problem...he had them retrofit a F-4D so that it could carry Sidewinders!

The second time Col. Olds nearly got his fifth Mig was when he was out on patrol and spotted a Mig-17 down low. He and his wingman rolled in to get behind him. Unfortunately, Col. Olds forgot to turn on his canopy heat. As he descended his canopy fogged up and he had to level off. His wingman hadn't seen the Mig and by the time he got back to visual conditions the Mig was gone. Someone in the wing got creative and painted a sign thay hung in the O Club at Ubon. It read, "Little Miggy don't you fret, I haven't heated my canopy yet."

Col. Olds may have eventually gotten his fifth Mig but someone higher up gave him a firm date that he had to report to the academy.