Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-4>HA1942

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

Between 1971 and 1981 Japan ordered 140 F-4EJ Phantoms of which 138 were built in Japan by Mitsubishi. Ninety-six were later upgraded to the Kai (modernized) standard. One of the Kai F-4EJ is 97-8426 was manufactured in 1979. The aircraft was assigned to the 304th Hikotai and operated with them until 2001. The aircraft was next used by the 3rd Kokudan/8th Hikotai 'Black Panther' before going to the 7th Kokudan/302nd Hikotai. 302 Hikotai symbol has 3 tail feathers, the triangle is the 0 and the eagle has 2 claws.

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