F-4 Phantoms Phabulous 40th
Phantom "Phirsts"
The F-4 Phantom, which received the 1965 Glenn H. Curtiss Memorial Award as outstanding aircraft of the year, has been setting and holding records since its first flight 40 years ago.
In 1998, based upon its class and weight for medium-sized aircraft, it still holds:
- The world mark for speed over a 15-25 km. course -- 1,058.8 mph
- 3 U.S. records for speed over closed-circuit courses without payload (100, 500 and 1,000 km.) -- avg. speed 730 mph; top speed 785.7 mph
Over its lifetime, the F-4 Phantom:
- Set 15 world aviation records within its first 28 months, including altitude (98,500 ft.), 8 time-to-climb marks, and speed (Mach 2.59)
- 5 speed records were held for 13 years until broken by the F-15 Eagle in 1975
- First aircraft to achieve a sustained altitude of 66,443.8 ft.
- First aircraft to fly from Los Angeles to New York in 2 hours and 49 minutes
- Largest production run of any supersonic fighter built in the United States (more than 5,000 aircraft in 20 model configurations, including nation-specific configurations)
- First production aircraft to make extensive use of titanium
- First fighter with pulse Doppler radar with look-down and shoot-down capability
- First fighter to concurrently serve multiple purposes for multiple military services (U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps; and 11 foreign military services)
- Only fighter ever to fly concurrently with both U.S. aerobatics flight demonstration teams -- the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds