American fighter-bomber F-4S Phantom II Black Bunny COBI 5899 - Armed Forces 1:48

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• Design work on the new aircraft slowly began in 1952. At that time, the US Air Force was using machines such as the FH-1, Voodoo, or Crusader, and neither the Air Force nor the Navy had any need to look for new options.
• Fortunately, the brilliant designer and visionary Dave Lewis was farsighted enough to be able to estimate the development of aviation for the next 30 years. That is, except for one small detail, which we will talk about later.
• In 1953, the pair of designers D. Lewis and H. Barkey began building several prototypes on which they were to verify new ideas and technologies. All this without the United States government providing any financial resources for the new project.
• This changed only in 1955, when the McDonnell company sent an unsolicited offer to the American authorities with an aircraft of a new design capable of operating in any weather with 9 pylons under the wings and fuselage. Six weeks later, the offer was presented to an experienced US Navy armament officer, who immediately understood what the people at McDonnell had created.
• The turning point was the order for two prototypes, then still designated XF4H-1, and five pre-production units.
• The prototypes began flying on May 27, 1958, and it must be said that it was not without problems. It was necessary to redesign the air intake and the connection of individual parts of the fuselage skin. Unfortunately, one of the prototypes was lost in a crash.
• Serial production began at the end of 1958, and it is interesting that the internal name of the aircraft manufacturer was Satan, or Mithras, and in the documentation as Model 98. In the USAF, the fighters were called Spectre, and so due to great confusion, the name was unified into the now-famous Phantom II.
• Unlike the Navy, the US Air Force was not very keen on purchasing Phantoms. The then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara had to intervene. After comparative tests, the Air Force had to admit that the Phantom completely surpassed everything it had in its arsenal.
• The proof is also the 16 world records that the F-4s achieved.
• The forgotten detail that we mentioned above was the absence of an onboard cannon. It was generally believed that the era of traditional dogfights was over and that the fight would take place at a distance. The reality of the Vietnam War proved everyone wrong.
• Probably the most famous crew of the Phantom II was Captain Louis Page and Lieutenant John C. Smith, who shot down the first North Vietnamese MiG.
• The Phantom II, with serial number 155539, has an interesting and long history. It entered service on 22 February 1968 aboard the USS America, later being transferred to a land base in Virginia and again to the aircraft carriers USS Independence and USSDwight. Finally, in 1981, it was transferred to the VX-4 test squadron known as the "Evaluators" where it received its Black Bunny livery.
• The aircraft is currently on display at the Castle Air Museum in California.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: wingspan 11.71 m, length 19.2 m, height 5.03 m
• empty weight 13,397 kg
• maximum take-off weight 27,965 kg
• power unit 2x General Electric J79 turbojet engine with 79.6 kN thrust
• maximum speed 2,389 km/h
• rate of climb 312 m/s
• maximum flight level 18,975 m
• maximum range 3,065 km
• fuel tank capacity 7,549 l + 12,627 l in additional tanks
• armament 1x six-barrel M61A1 Vulkan cannon and up to 8,480 kg of weapons in pylons

Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine:

"In 1971, I alerted the VX-4 squadron command to the unauthorized use of the Playboy bunny as a logo on Phantoms. Do you think I was after money? Not really, I couldn't fit more in my safe anyway. I just wanted them to paint the emblem properly. I'd be crazy to forbid them from doing so. Well, I'm crazy, but not that crazy, you know what I mean, right?"