Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-4>HA1909

General Background

The F-4 Phantom II first entered US Military service in 1960. It was designed as a fleet defense fighter for the US Navy but by 1963 it was adopted as the US Air Force primary fighter-bomber. Despite the size and weight of this Cold War icon the F-4 broke 15 world records and continued to hold five of them until 1975.

Produced from 1960 to 1981 there were 5,195 Phantom IIs manufactured. Eleven countries other than the USA had the Phantom II in their inventory.

The Aircraft

The Phantom was first acquired by the Israeli Defense Forces in September 1969. Phantoms took part in the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War (suffering heavy losses), and the 1982 war in Lebanon. The Phantom was used mainly as a fighter-bomber, although Israeli F-4s scored a total of 116.5 air-to-air kills. The Israeli name for the F-4 was the Kurnass (sledgehammer).

The 201 squadron was officially established in September 1969, and was the first squadron to operate the F-4E Phantom. A month after its creation, the squadron took part in operations against SAM sites near Abu Sueir, and also created sonic booms over Cairo in November of the same year. The first Kurnass air-to-air kill was credited to No.69 Sqn aircrew Ehud Henkin and Achikar Eyal flying a No.201 Sqn mission in No.201 Sqn aircraft Kurnass 08.

Specifications :

Dimensions
Length:	17.7m
Height:	4.7m
Wingspan:	11.6m
Wingarea:	49.2 sq m
No. of Engines:	2
Powerplant :	General Electric J79-GE-10 (A/B 17,900Lb/8,119Kg)
Performance
Range:	2,222 km
Cruise Speed:	908 km/h
Max Speed:	2,299 km/h
Climb:	12,572 m/min
Ceiling:	16,672 m