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Having experienced pitch control problems with their with their T-tailed F-101 Voodoo, McDonnell Douglas engineers gave the Phantom an all moving tailplane with 23 degrees of anhedral to keep it clear of the wing wake at high angles of attack. This had the added benefit of of increasing the aft keel area, which helped to to maintain directional stability at supersonic speeds. To compensate for the associated decrease in lateral stability, the outer wing panels were given 12 degrees of dihedral.
First flown on 27 May 1958 and entering service in 1960, the Phantom continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force; the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy and the F/A-18 in the U.S. Marine Corps to face such opponents as the MiG-29 Fulcrum.
It remained in use by the USAF in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (radar suppression) roles in the 1991 Gulf War finally leaving the inventory in 1996 apart from use as an unmanned target.
Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5 201 built. This extensive run makes it the second most-produced Western jet fighter, behind the North American F-86 Sabre at just under 10,000 examples.
A superlative aircraft, the Phantom could climb vertically at supersonic speeds and specially equipped examples photographed the initial launch stages of American space shots – the only plane flying that could do so. Fully laden, the Phantom weighed twice as much as a DC-3 Dakota and its external payloads of bombs, rockets, missiles, napalm and cannon pods could weigh up to eight tons, which was 3 tons more than a WW2 Flying Fortress could carry. The fuel alone weighed more than the all-up weight of a Hawker Hunter.
Had a two seat development of the Chance-Vought Crusader been selected, it would have been built for British - and possible export use - by Short Brothers & Harland Ltd in Belfast equipped with a reheated Rolls Royce RB 168 Spey engine and British electronics, air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. Mr H. G. Conway, Joint Managing Director of Shorts, estimated that an order of 50 units could result in each aircraft being built for £ 357 000 - half the cost of the rival McDonnell Douglas Phantom II - and be ready in just two years.
As it was however, the Phantom - albeit also powered by Rolls Royce Spey engines - prevailed in RAF and RN service and the Crusader jobs at Shorts never materialised.
On the basis that - as William Cobbett once said - "one cannot agitate a man with a full stomach" perhaps the Troubles in Ulster would have taken a different form if there had been more jobs and wealth creation available there in the late 1960s?
The United Kingdom became the first foreign customer for the McDonnell Douglas Phantom II with versions based on the US Navy's F-4J. The 28 RN and 20 RAF versions ordered were given the designation F-4K and F-4M respectively, and entered service as the Phantom FG.1 (fighter / ground attack) and Phantom FGR.2 (fighter / ground attack/ reconnaissance).
However, to recover as much work as possible for the UK companies affected by the cancellation of the P1154, the British Government insisted that the powerplant and many of the subsystems should be British. Although making the RN and RAF Phantoms 40% British and stabilising skilled employment at home, not buying F-4Js straight off the production line at St Louis, Missouri meant increased costs and flight envelope restrictions.
The Royal Navy's F-4K differed from the US Navy's F-4J in having 20% larger air intakes, auxilliary air doors in the rear fuselage, a boat tail shaped lower rear fuselage, a slotted tailplane, increased flap area and long nosewheel leg.
This was to provide a sharper angle of attack when being catapulted off HMS Ark Royal - an aircraft carrier much smaller than the latest American nuclear-powered flat-tops. The more complex telescopic long legs were shortened when "Ark" was decommissioned in the late 1970s and - since the aircraft carrier's planned CV-01 replacement had also been cancelled - the Navy's Phantoms (of which only 24 of the planned 28 were delivered for carrier operations) transferred to the RAF.
The air intake and boat tail modifications were necessitated by the introduction of the Rolls Royce Spey engine which was shorter, more powerful and had a greater mass flow rate than the F-4J's General Electric J79. At 12 250 lb of dry and 20 515 lb after burning thrust, each Spey also left a cleaner, less visible exhaust - but its greater weight moved the F-4K's centre of gravity backwards. To improve its longitudinal stability, most UK Phantom training sorties were thus flown with inert missiles in the forward fuselage recesses.
More importantly, despite the awesome acceleration offered to the Royal Navy Phantoms by the pair of Speys, the larger air intakes and boat shaped tail created enough drag to limit the F-4K to Mach 2.1 compared to the Mach 2.3 of the 779 powered all-American F-4J.
Indeed, the F-4K demanded the 203 series Rolls Royce Spey with a reheat ignition response time faster than that of the five seconds offered by the 202 series gas turbines installed in the RAF's F-4M or their 201 series antecedents built into the prototype and early production British Phantoms. This was to make landings on an angled flight deck - with the possibility of an aborted landing ( or "bolter" ) demanding instant maximum power - more safe.
The Royal Air Force F-4Ms externally differed from the F-4K in lacking the drooped ailerons, slotted tailplane, extended nosewheel leg, anti-skid brakes and provision for centreline mounted gun and multi-sensor reconnaissance pods. Under the skin meanwhile, the Navy's Ferranti AWG-11 pulse doppler radar had been upgraded to AWG-12 standard and a new inertial attack and navigation system and high frequency radio added.
Instructors for 228 Operational Conversion Unit were intially taught to fly the Phantom F-4C in the USA before the unit became operational at RAF Coningsby on 1 August 1968 and received the RAF's first Phantom - XT891 - on 23 August 1968.
228 OCU was redesignated 64 (Reserve) Squadron in July 1970 while ground attack and reconaissance Phantoms equipped 6 Squadron in May 1969 and 54 Squadron in September 1969. A typical ground attack mission weapon load consisted of eleven 1 000 lb free fall or retarded bombs or 180 SNEB 68mm armour piercing rockets while from Aprils 1971 and 1972 2 and 41 Squadrons respectively became dedicated reconnaissance units with FGR2s carrying EMI pods featuring optical cameras and synthetic infra-red linescan equipment.
Around 15 RAF squadrons received various marks of Phantom, many of them based in Germany (starting with 14 Squadron at Bruggen on 30 June 1970) while Leuchars based 43 Squadron continued to fly air defence optimized Phantom FG1s for a remarkable twenty years, arriving in September 1969 and departing in July 1989.
In the air defence role, RAF Phantoms were superior to the English Electric Lightning in endurance and look-down radar - especially when facing fast low-flying enemy interdictor aircraft - but was less agile at high altitude. However, the weapons options included BAe Skyflash or AIM 7E Sparrow air to air missiles semi-recessed into the fuselage, four short range AIM-9 Sidewinder infra red missiles on four underwing pylons and a centreline 20mm SUU-23 gun pod.
The interceptor Phantoms were replaced by the Panavia Tornado F3 from the late 1980s onwards, and the last British Phantoms were retired in October 1992 when 74 Squadron disbanded.
Before then however, a number of ground attack Phantoms were re-assigned to protect the United Kingdom Air Defence Region after the introduction of the SEPECAT Jaguar ground attack aircraft in 1974: and although no RAF or RN Phantom ever had to fire a shot in anger a 92 Squadron FGR2 based at Wildenrath did accidentally shoot down a 14 Squadron Jaguar with an AIM-9L Sidewinder during mock combat. Luckily the Jaguar pilot ejected safely and later joined the Phantom crew in getting very drunk...
After the1982 Falklands conflict, a detachment of 29 Squadron FGR2s were deployed to RAF Stanley in October 1982 with 23 Squadron taking over the same air defence machines in March 1983. In November 1988 however, 29 Squadron was redesignated 1435 Flight as the threat to the islands decreased.
To replace 23 Squadron in the British air defence role at Wattisham, 15 upgraded ex-USN/USMC F-4Js, known as the F-4J(UK), were then purchased and entered RAF service with 74 Squadron in October 1984. Regarded as the most capable and pleasant to fly of the RAF Phantoms, the F-4J (UK)s featured General Electric J79 engines, slatted tailplane and high capacity centre line drop tanks and were not withdrawn until early 1991 when 74 Squadron re-equipped with Spey engined FGR2s.
On retirement from the Royal Navy, XT864 was transferrd to the Royal Air Force on 27 November 1978 and was stored at RAF St Athan in Wales for a number of months before being issued to 111 Squadron - formerly of "Black Arrows" Hawker Hunter fame - in 1979.
In December 1988, a year before 111 Squadron were due to re-equip with the Tornado F3, a refuelling bowser damaged the tailplane of XT864 beyond economic repair and led to it replacing an English Electric Lightning as the gate guardian of RAF Leuchars - the first RAF Phantom to be put on public display.
Alternative Phantom armament was a 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary canon with 639 rounds in a centreline pod.
