Why did we retire the Phantom?

Question

So, why did we retire the phantom? it had a mach 2 top speed without afterburner.It had a 16,000 pound payload, and was a fast and maneuverable fighter/bomber. The avionics would be updated, and we could have one of the best back in service. Visit www.djtoons.com.

Answer 1

The Phantom was a great bird in its time, I know because I worked on them, but all technology must be surpassed with the latest and greatest. Actually, they have been put back in service to be outfitted with remote control electronics for unmanned flight to be shot down by training pilots. Pretty expensive drones if you ask me but the training is the best. This is a better way to go than just be heaved in the scrap yard.

Answer 2

It was fast, that's for sure. As for maneuverable? Not a chance! It wasn't called the "lead sled" for nothing! It also had the glide angle of a sewer cover. The only entry in the emergency procedures checklist for a double engine flame-out was: Eject!

The J-85 engine is ancient by modern standards. Removing and replacing one was a PIG of a job -- all weekend long most of the time. (We could change an engine on an F-16 in less than 2 hours and it would fly circles around the F-4)

Getting access to the radio was a nasty (and dangerous) joke -- it was under the ejection seat in the rear cockpit! When Egress was working on that, all other work had to stop and we had to evacuate the hangar.

All remaining airframes are over 40 years old for the most part. That's hardly the platform for a modern fighter aircraft.

Answer 3

The same reason they recently retired the F-14 Tomcat......technology. The Phantom had the glide ratio of a cinder block and was pretty much a fuel hog. Like the Tomcat, avionics could be updated, but stress on the airframes plays a major part in the useful life of fighters.

Answer 4

The F4 Phantom was truly an awesome aircraft. I worked on them several years, F4-C, F4-D & F4-E. It was clearly a dominent aircraft. As with everything, with maybe the exception of the B-52, technology advanced and the F4 lost it's superority.

The F4 could not be beaten at certain altitudes, however there was a mid-ground where the Russian Mig could out maneuver it. The F4 was built as a "fighter-bomber" and carried a sizeable payload. We needed to develop a new breed that could compete with "fighters".

The Fhantom was and still is my favorite military aircraft

Answer 5

Planes get outdated, because the development to faster and more agile fighters never stops, it also depends on the change in tactics , super fast doesn't necessarily mean an advantage in aerial combat, but agility does, like the F-16, that can easily out turn the F-4, I have always found it an ugly and beautiful beast and luckily there are still many flying around in many countries, like Israel, Germany and USA, where they are used as drones.

Answer 6

After reading up on it I would say it was technology than has taken over.
The aircraft is 1950's technology. The aircraft today are highly manoeuvrable, much more so than the F4 Phantom.
With vectoring thrust, fly by wire technology and stealth it is hardly acceptable for today's pilots.
Many are still in service for some type of role, however the advancements made since they stopped production would make it a vulnerable ship.

Answer 7

For many, many technical reasons. In short it was not up to the times. Why did Chevy put in a v-8 in 1955? Because Ford was winning every competition. The Phantom was in the same situation in the combat scene.
It's always hard to lose something that has served us well.

Answer 8

The F-4 was old. A very pretty plane, it was a pig to fly and maintain.

The nice looking downward-sloping horizontal stabilizers were an effort to control stability problems with the plane. It was HUGE and it manuvered like a truck, the smaller Mig's flew circles around it and it was only the brute force of its engines that got it out of trouble.

IT HAD NO GUN! The engineers, in their infinate wisdom, decided that missle technology had replaced dogfighting and the plane didn't need a gun, which only goes to prove that if you're going to build a plane, you might want to talk to the guys who are going to use it first.