For Phantom Phans

[Herr-Berbunch]

One claimed a kill on a Jag in Germany. The Phantom was on QRA from Wildenwrath and on RTB it spotted a Jag to play with but the pilot got too carried away and forgot he had live weapons.

As if firing an AIM-9 wasn't expensive enough, an AIM-9 and a Jaguar would be quite expensive (although the rate we were losing the early Harriers means in reality it was quite negligable!).

The Jag pilot ejected safely, but I'd guess at very shocked (he also ejected a few months later).

The Phantom crew were court martialled (unfairly by many peoples' reckoning), as usual it was an accumulation of errors (such as running out of red sticky tape to highlight live weapons).

Still, the Grumman F11F test pilot who shot himself down has to have the best record for blue-on-blue.


Oh, and no thread about Phantoms can not have the obligatory photo of a Wing Commander's final flight after a major service at St Athan.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

A strange one....the Phantom being known by most as 'Rhino' and the Buccaneer likewise as 'Brick' or 'Banana'.

I think that Brick is possibly the American term for the Phantom, as well as the 'Lead Sled' (a name also given to the F84), and the 'Worlds Largest Distributer of MiG parts'

Herr B, I'd never heard of the F11F-1 incident, that is hilarious! I bet the Jag pilot was wary of flying near any Rhinos for a while after, and I thought our Harrier problems were bad enough!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I think that Brick is possibly the American term for the Phantom, as well as the 'Lead Sled' (a name also given to the F84), and the 'Worlds Largest Distributer of MiG parts'

The only "Lead Sled" I'm aware of was the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, AKA "ThunderThud" or just "Thud". The Phantom was also known as "Double Ugly".

[Jimbuna]

My nicknames of choice are 'Rhino' for the Phantom and 'Brick' or 'Banana Bomber' for the buccaneer.

[AVGWarhawk]

Love the Phantom. It was quite an aircraft. Top 5 for me.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The only "Lead Sled" I'm aware of was the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, AKA "ThunderThud" or just "Thud". The Phantom was also known as "Double Ugly".

The 84 got the nickname before the Thud:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_sled#Other_usages

There was also a joke that the F-84 had a built in 'dirt sniffer' that would only release the brakes when it 'sniffed' the dirt at the end of the runway.

[NeonSamurai]

Ah the Phantom. Built with the belief that the days of dog-fighting were long over, and all you would need would be long range missiles, speed, and altitude, not guns and maneuverability. Then 'Nam came about... and boy were they wrong!