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Last to Be Built
On Thursday, Oct. 25, 1979, the U.S. Air Force took delivery of Phantom No. 5,057 -- the last U.S.-built F-4 Phantom II aircraft. Another 138 Phantoms would be built in Japan, but it was the end of what was then the longest production line of any supersonic fighter built in the United States. It still marks the largest production run for a U.S.-built supersonic fighter.
Earlier that fall, No. 5,057 had been taken up for its test flight carrying the same pilot who took up the first prototype on May 27, 1958. Bob Little, then McDonnell Douglas vice president for engineering and marketing, put back on his flight helmet and flew the last test in the back seat of 5,057.
"This is an historic occasion, and it is a privilege to be part of it," Little said. "The Phantom is still a great work horse. No one imagined we'd build F-4s in numbers this large. Sooner or later, the last one had to come down the line. But it was some program, some kind of airplane."
In the front seat for the last test flight was Dee Francis, who marked his 3,000th hour during the flight, giving him more test flight hours in a single type of aircraft than any other pilot in McDonnell Aircraft Company history.
Francis, who began test flying the Phantom in 1963, said: "The Phantom converted me to a two-engine airplane believer. The F-4 is a great fighter. Unlike aircraft before it, the Phantom has pure brute power. It can keep the Gs on and keep the speed up at the same time."
After delivery to the USAF, No. 5,057 was turned over to the Republic of Korea Air Force.