QF-4 drones vs being scrapped! Large pics sorry!

[Kudzu]

Hi again Scott,
I just checked your web site, I think you hosted a cookout after the show
one of the years I was there ( Does "Big Dog" Fowler Cary throwing pig
scraps at people ring any bells ? )
Small world!

Brian
crew AN-2 "Big Bubbinski"

[hsperdue]

Hi Scott and Randy,
Do either of you remember seeing a former Polish AN-2 biplane at any of
the airshows at Shady J ? I was a crew member on it until the owner sold it in 2000.
Scott were you in the Marines before the Air Force by chance?
Brian

Brian-

Sure do... it's great to hear from you! I ran the airshow at Seymour for several years and I was the one that got you guys to come... setup the footraces/bike races... it was a Hoot... the Great Bubinski... I got to crawl around in it but never got a chance to fly... bummer. I always got great feedback from that part of the show.

And yes, I spent 8 years enlisted in the Corps.... that's where my callsign Gunny comes from.

[hsperdue]

Hi again Scott,
I just checked your web site, I think you hosted a cookout after the show
one of the years I was there ( Does "Big Dog" Fowler Cary throwing pig
scraps at people ring any bells ? )
Small world!

Brian
crew AN-2 "Big Bubbinski"

Yeah... Fowler was a charcter... that party was at my house BTW... I did the party every year I did the show. Had a great time.

[skymstr02]

BAE Systems Receives Contract For USAF Drones
Fri, 13 Apr '07

Will Convert F-4s To Targeting UAVs
Aero-News learned this week BAE Systems recently received a $26.5 million contract to convert 20 F-4 Phantom fighter jets to full-scale aerial targets for the US Air Force.



The converted aircraft, designated QF-4s, provide the Air Force with full-size, remotely controlled aircraft that allow aircrews to train in highly realistic air combat maneuvering, including live weapons launch.

BAE Systems will perform the modification work on 16 aircraft for the Air Force and four aircraft for the Navy at its facility in Mojave, CA. Production will be completed by July 2009.

"This award is the third of five options exercised under an Air Force contract signed in 1992 and in effect until 2013," said Mike Dismukes, acting vice president and general manager of Flight Systems for BAE Systems in Mojave. "It continues our position as a quality provider of QF-4s to the Air Force."

FMI: www.baesystems.com

[mustangdriver]

I wonder if there is any chance of getting an old ejection seat out of there?

[skymstr02]

Its doubtful, when the aircraft are converted, the first few flights are manned in case that there is a "glitch".

When the aircraft are flown from Mojave to Tyndall, they are flown by a human too.