I love the Phantom F-4 only because I was visiting in Cheyenne,Wyoming during Frontier Days in 1971 with my family, aunt Peggy, uncle Cecil and cousins. Uncle Cec was retired Air Force. Worked on the nuclear Minute Man missiles out there at the Warren airbase and no he didn't say anything about them as they were all sworn to secrecy. Aunt Peg use to laugh if World War III started, they'd be the first to go as the Russians would be targeting all the missile silos that were buried out there.
The Thunderbirds would always show up during Frontier Days and oh my gosh, they really tore up the town.
My uncle had an "in" to the local airport and we stood about 200 feet from the runway that the Thunderbirds in the Phantom F-4 were going to use for practice.
Oh man, you want to hear a rumble? In practice they go nuts! I saw them in Phantoms at airshows but out in the open in Wyoming they really cut loose. The roar of the two engines in "burner" on a straight up vertical climb was unbelievable. They were really "loose" in the wide open spaces and consider being blessed I got to see their practice flights.
I went to the A.F Thunderbird site some years ago and in one of the "human interest" pieces, they asked the current pilots if they could fly an airplane from the past in display what would they choose? The current guys from then replied, "The Phantom F-4." Was so impressive of a display fighter but probably cost a butt load of fuel to fly. A Mack truck with wings as the saying goes.
Unloaded of ordnance could really fly like hell!!!
Kurt Savegnago