Warbird Information Exchange

Took these today of this F4 located on Preston south of Pasadena Blvd. at American Legion Post 521, dedicated July 29, 1989.
As I was finishing up a guy came out from the Legion building and told me as soon as they were done repairing Ike damage to their buildings, they were going to paint the plane in Thunderbird colors.

Yep, 65-0777, she's due for a freshen up. A superstitious person might believe those triple 7's were lucky for
her during Hurricane Ike. Prior to the storm the Rhino was surrounded by a heavy-duty wrought iron fence and a
couple large trees to the left astern of the aircraft. The trees came down during the storm and luckily the iron fence
took the brunt of the force. The starboard flap took a hit and is hanging down, but even that is superficial damage
with the control rod inside recieving the worst of it. The iron fence was a twisted mashed mess..amazing. The new
fence is a light weight "people fence", but the trees are gone and as long as the cars and trucks stay on Preston,
she should be fine.

Better days at Lakenheath and her vitals in the photo info underneath...
www.5053phantoms.com/photos/displayimag ... 23&pos=477

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Perhaps I'm being pedantic, but when I saw F4D, I was expecting a Douglas Skyray.

Maybe while they're giving 65-0777 a coat of paint, they could insert a dash on the sign to give this craft its proper designation F-4D?

Martin

...and Thunderbird markings?!?!?!?! Geeze! Give me a break. While the T-birds are stud muffins, save the markings for F-4E's.....

quick question: in the picture linked here by Airnutz, this a/c is rolling out after landing and the drag chute is deployed. The pilot has already raised his canopy, and it sure looks odd to see that with the chute full of air. Was that a standard thing or a pretty unusual thing? I don't believe I've ever seen it before. As always, it captures a moment in time and there is no way to know how fast he was rolling...

thanks,

Dave

Certainly RickH and a few others could give a more informed opinion of what is happening in the photo.

Venturing a guess, i'd say the pilot hasn't/or couldn't release(d) the chute and the jet exhaust is keeping it inflated.

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Airnutz is correct. It's not always necessary to drop the chute, end of runway. It's perfectly acceptable to taxi with the chute, as long as you don't have more than 15 kts of wind right up the tail.

That aircraft flew into EFD, BTW, the 147th guys did the demil at Ellington, then towed her to her phinal resting spot.

Thunderbird ? Maybe we can disuade them !

_________________
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Let's hope so! I wish the one at Navarro College in Corsicana wasn't painted in bogus T-Bird colors. We sure don't need another one...

[quote="viking73"]

Let's hope so! I wish the one at Navarro College in Corsicana wasn't painted in bogus T-Bird colors. We sure don't need another one... :cry:[/quote]

It's probably like up here in the Great White North, where nearly every preserved T-33 is painted as a "Red Knight" aircraft.

Martin

Yep, when the young fella who is the current Post Commander, told me that this winter...I wasn't bubbling with joy.
I tried to explain the complexity and task of masking it off for the T-bird scheme and the fact that if it is done
poorly, it'll look really bad. He replied, "The AF will supply them with all the info." Perhaps
when the time comes to actually do it the cost will push them toward the easier freehand task of the camo paint...
unless RickH or someone comes along to offer their services?

I think they're enamoured with the patriotic red,white, and blue, as well as, it's "attention grabbing" effect when viewed
by passers by. Not that the former is a bad thing, but will the latter really help membership growth?

I took him a photo of Triple 7 in her service colors, so I reckon we'll see what happens. I'll mention the F-4D error,
but at one point he tried to tell me 777 had been an actual T-bird..nuff said..

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

DITTO! AND while they're at it, they should remove those "Pratt & Whitney J79" engines and install the correct "General Electric J-79" engines - or at the very least, fix that part of the sign also.

Hard to believe that it's been that way for more than 20 years and nobody else seemed to notice that little discrepancy either. Even harder to believe that it has been posted here for more than a month and nobody else commented on it.

I saw it. I just figured that they were part of the secret F-4 alternate engine program !

_________________
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Why don't they paint it for the 147 FW? They flew them out of Ellington in the mid 80s.

My apartment in Webster was right in line with their approach/departure. They'd roar out early Saturday morning, and whistle back in around noon. The good old days.