There's got to be a ton of stories in these airframes. Who flew them over their decades of service, and where? What historic events did they participate in?
Wouldn't these look great at a local museum, airport or VFW with a bit of new paint?
Now for the bad news: They have to be "demilitarized".
That means that they have to be completely destroyed by use of a shredder to the extent that no part of them can be re-utilized or even recognized. No parts can be harvested from them, It has to be done the day that the aircraft are removed from the site, and government representatives will be nearby to ensure that it was done to their satisfaction.
Very sad. Very sad, indeed.
Why do they have to be demilled? It's not like getting one of them into flying shape is a weekend job under the shade tree. Our government sucks.
ReplyDeleteKeeps the count ires still flying them (Iran) from getting spare parts.
ReplyDeleteI will not bid on a phantom jet. I'll only bid on a real one!
ReplyDeleteNow that's phunny!
DeleteNow that's phunny!
DeleteThe Phantoms on my bird-farm all had "AG" stamped on their tails. A scrapper down in Brownsville, TX, just bought the farm. She left Bremerton, WA on the 11th day of March, 2017 and will be travelling around the horn on her final voyage since she is still too wide, even with the new super locks now in service at Panama.
DeleteSome re-assembly required
ReplyDeleteSome disassembly required is more appropriate Donald.
DeleteWouldn't fit in your driveway, anyway.
ReplyDeleteSadly those are little more than broken hulks already, only suitable for static display or salvage.
ReplyDeleteThe people and equipment necessary to make one these flyable is beyond the resources of anyone but maybe Bill Gates. Why not let them go as is?
ReplyDeleteI'm missing something here. Why would you buy a plane that the seller required you to destroy?
ReplyDeleteThat was my question !!!
DeleteThat does suck!
ReplyDeleteI loved these things. You'd stand near the revetment and listen to them spin up. As they throttled up they would rattle your chest, fill the air with the smell of JP4 - they were death on wing.
ReplyDeleteAs a flight of two would take off their afterburners would kick in, rattle every window in sight, bounce your lungs around in your chest and roar a cry of death and distruction that was to come.
A sad end to such an awsome warbird.
Oh - fee sound of them going to afterburnerin the summer of '67, with a full bomb load, before they were modified for fade-in burners was a sensation I'll never forget. It filled DaNang with a bomb detonating like BOOM!
DeleteMay they stay in the memories of the world for all time.
The Donald is correct, and those ARE pretty far gone... They weren't preserved at all.
ReplyDeleteBut they would make awesome man caves
DeleteI know that they'll never fly again, but they would have made great static displays somewhere honoring our military flyers. Any one of a number of VFWs, VA buildings, veteran cemeteries, or even municipal parks could have been been great placed for those airfrmes to have been placed once they were repainted in period colors.
ReplyDeletePossibilites...but no chance now.
BTW, in the "My Photos" section, "the Aircraft of Wright-Paterson..." has no website. Just comes back to this blog.
ReplyDeleteIs the fence sign about the dog w/gun and meds available for purchase somewhere? I sent an email to my sisters with a copy of it, and one of them wants it.
That'll teach me :)
An F4 would look nice in the man cave as a conversation piece. I don't understand why they would "sell" it, only to have it demilled. Unless it's for scrap metal.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a shame that these beautiful aircrafts will have to be destroyed once bought. They really would make great displays at an air museum or in a military museum. There’s so much history behind each dent, each hole, each missing bolt. I wonder if maybe some shrapnel from the scraps after they are destroyed can still be used. It will be so sad to buy something like this for its historical purpose, only to have it destroyed on the same day.
ReplyDeleteLilia Dyal
I agree whole heartily, I spent a good portion of my life keeping them in the air.
DeleteIt sucks just knowing this.
Thanks for sharing this is such a very nice post i really like it your blog. Such a very nice picture.
ReplyDeleteJet Sale
Typical Government waste. We pay for it they waste it. What a piece of history,One of them tell the futility of the Life risking services rendered aboard these Icons of once powerful mite. Wasted in destruction.Sickens me. USMC<HON DISCHARGE,sad
ReplyDeleteThe Marine Corps had 2 Phantoms, I was doing Security Systems I'm the mid '90s, the Old Brigg, the OCS Clinic the AG and the Air/Ground Museum. One was in a field waiting is turn for restoration, the other was at that time 90% air worthy. The Air/Ground Museum was part the air per, cross the tracks, across the street from the OCS Clinic and cati-corner from the OCS drill ground ( I saw much drill & cerimony).
ReplyDeleteI don't that any of it is the same Quantico has changed immensely since i was there last.
I was a Phantom fixer in VietNam, worked on ECM gear & avionics, had a back seat ride from DaNang to PhuCal in a C model (someone had to monitor that gear). They were pre-fade in afterburners then. When they lit the can, there would be a very BIG Whhoomp! It pressed you hard back I'm the seat. It was more interesting than a F100F, That all arrived I'm Nam broken, the dept did not put enough slack in the cables, as a result, the wires broke between the cockpit and the tail ( 2 seat Wild Weasel iteration) which I had the ride to DaNang in. Also more fun than a B52G but not as wild as I'm a Cobra. I would very much like to revisit those troops today, It is one of the things i really miss.
Phantom phixer here. Luke afb 1975 to 1980. I am the guy that single handedly rebuilt # 501 after the huge engine fire on takeoff. They were going to scrap her but I was a young and totally crazy sheet metal guy and I promised the General I could do it.11 months later she was airborne. Its a shame to see any of the old c models going to scrap as many had combat kills in Nam.I still her and see one on a pedestal here in Homestead fl. every day.I flew a wso ride at Holloman once. awesome. Great air craft. When you started down the runway everything was clanging and banging like an old freight car then the burners kicked in. The plane was really safe. Lots of redundant systems.Good luck trying to out gee old double ugly.
ReplyDeleteLast time I saw one fly was 2012. She made a surprise appearance at the Chino Airshow. I just stood and cried as she disappeared over the hills, knowing that was likely the last time I would see one airborne. What a beauty, What a beast!
ReplyDelete:,(
DeleteI flew recon for those guys in EA3B Skywarriors, and their loss is a stab in my heart.
ReplyDeleteWell, you could split the cockpit off and create a simulator out of it...I guess...
ReplyDeleteIt would make a great conversation piece in my front yard freshly painted and waxed and a shady place to drink a few beers under.
ReplyDelete