German Air Force F-4 Phantom 50th anniversary

[Martien]

The German Air Force is famous for their special paintings on Air Force jets when it comes to some celebration.
This year is the F-4 Phantoms 50th birthday...reason for the Luftwaffe to do a great paintjob !
Right side on the tail "50 years F-4" left side "35 years F-4F"
Note to understand this painting.....one of the many nicknames of the Phantom is "Rhino"..

This day I was one of the lucky guys who could take some closer pics of this beauty. I am glad we had sun and blue sky that day...which is not self evident in this part of the world...

http://i38.tinypic.com/2jg2sna.jpg

http://i34.tinypic.com/21ne9o0.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/21e47tj.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/2vwa4qh.jpg

...and some more Phantoms displayed that day...if you see the other colours, this grey is just boring...

http://i36.tinypic.com/2epswb6.jpg

...but we want special paintings !! Here are some more shown that day...

http://i33.tinypic.com/2cib6rq.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/24wve4n.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/8wmiw1.jpg

!! PHANTOMS PHOREVER !!

Martien

[FlyingPhotog]

Nice collection of unique paint schemes.

It may be due to compression but these all look just a tad soft to me...

[mlav]

They could all use some sharpening. It's a flying pumpkin!

[Martien]

It may be due to compression but these all look just a tad soft to me...

Tried different programms to compress the pics....."picture-it/Photo studio etc. etc.
They all do the same with the sharpness :rolleyes:....

[FlyingPhotog]

Tried different programms to compress the pics....."picture-it/Photo studio etc. etc.
They all do the same with the sharpness :rolleyes:....

Perhaps do some sharpening after resizing?

[Martien]

....that is why I hate resizing my photo´s :D (...and usually never do it, as you can see..)
I tried it now on one of the resized ones and "volá" it works !!
I will replace all the bad pics lateron...sorry for all this....

[FlyingPhotog]

....that is why I hate resizing my photo´s :D (...and usually never do it, as you can see..)
I tried it now on one of the resized ones and "volá" it works !!
I will replace all the bad pics lateron...sorry for all this....

No worries...

Oh, and sorry for not saying it earlier but, Welcome to POTN ! :)

[Scout7id]

Very nice pics! Love the grey stallion.

[Martien]

.....Welcome to POTN ! :) Thanks !!


Did some work on the pics...they are not perfect now but much better than earlier. Suppose I need some more excersize on resizing photo´s :rolleyes:.
At least now you can see the Phantoms without the fog...

[andrewhuxman]

Very cool Phantoms wish we had those at airshows here .

[RAWuser]

Are those Phantoms still in service by the Germany Air Force? Or are they privately owned?

[CyberDyneSystems]

Very cool to see the Luftwaffe still fly them!
Great shots and what an awesome paint job.. I love the nickname "Rhino" I had never heard that one.
It seems VERY appropriate!

[Martien]

Are those Phantoms still in service by the Germany Air Force? Or are they privately owned?

This one Luftwaffe unit (71 Fighter Wing) still flies them at Wittmund Air base-Northern Germany. As it seems until 2020 !!!
The Phantoms I posted here are all from disabandoned German Units (except for this Rhino and grey one).

[RCoulter]

Very very cool! Great pictures :)

[Martien]

....except for that Horse painted Phantom, they are still in active Luftwaffe service.

[Naturalist]

Excellent and really nice work on the part of the photographer, the painters and the Luftwaffe!

Thanks for sharing!

[RAWuser]

This one Luftwaffe unit (71 Fighter Wing) still flies them at Wittmund Air base-Northern Germany. As it seems until 2020 !!!
The Phantoms I posted here are all from disabandoned German Units (except for this Rhino and grey one). ....except for that Horse painted Phantom, they are still in active Luftwaffe service. That's unreal. I remember seeing a cool-looking, dark gray-camouflaged German Air Force Phantom at an air show in maybe late 1990's. I also remember thinking then that those Phantoms probably won't be in service much longer and that I better enjoy that Phantom as much I could. I took my time exploring and enjoying every surface of that plane. (sorry, no pictures!)

I can't believed they're still in service now and that they will be until 2020? Lol, wow.

Martien, you're truly a lucky guy to see those beautiful still-active Phantoms today and thanks for sharing the awesome pictures with us.

[PhotosGuy]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/Welcome-ChargerRT_020.gif

[zerovision]

Great Pics!!! Always cool to see Phantoms. My favorite plane growing up as a kit. Love the orange one and the horse head.

Feel free to always post pictures of F-4s. Thanks for posting.

[adamsti]

Baddest fighter ever made.

[Martien]

Always cool to see Phantoms. Feel free to always post pictures of F-4s. Thanks for posting.

Okay ! here are some pics I took at other days (...so, not on this 50th anniversary)

http://i33.tinypic.com/1z6ts45.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/2n67zuc.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/2cp7pxy.jpg

.....and this is what I like the Phantom for : smoke and noise (a shame you cannot hear her howl on a photo...)

http://i33.tinypic.com/29yfk1f.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/35jx8n9.jpg

...... :-) sorry for this Swiss F-18 in the front on this next pic :-) ....

http://i35.tinypic.com/zy7ke8.jpg

[RAWuser]

Lol, thanks for the additional pictures!

[Jon Foster]

Very cool shots.

Jon.

[Bogie514]

Great shots of a great airplane. When I was TDY to Germany with my AIr Guard unit, we flew our A-7's with some American and German F-4's. Made our A-7's seem so slow and small. F-4's taking off with their twin J-79 jet engines on full burner is quiet an experience!

[Martien]

Thanks everybody for all the positive comments !!

[spitfirejd]

Great shots, Martien. I'm glad to see they're still flying. In 1999 I got to take a ride on a US KC-135 out of England and much to my surprise we refueled Luftwaffe F-4s over Germany. I got some pretty cool pics, though none in bright paint schemes, but unfortunately they are all on slides and I don't currently have any way of digitizing them to share with y'all.

[Martien]

....I suppose that will always be one of my biggest wishes....
...taking air-to-air shots of Phantoms...

Hope you will find a way ,someday, to show us your slides.

[zerovision]

I really like the shot of the F/A-18 on the runway with the two F-4s in the air. Sooooo Cooool!!!

[FA_Productions]

Great pictures. I am an air traffic controller and have many stories about all the great things that the F-4 can do.

Thanks.

[SRA_Fl]

Great Pics of a GREAT airplane.
brings back memories of MANY LOOOOOOONG hours keeping those things in the air when I was in the Air Force.

Your Quote
.....and this is what I like the Phantom for : smoke and noise (a shame you cannot hear her howl on a photo...)

I can hear it. (smell it too) That sound will never leave you when you heard it for 6 yrs.


"JET NOISE --- The sound of FREEDOM"

[Martien]

:D I knew I would meet some more Phantom phanatics here !! :D

PHANTOMS PHOREVER !!

[3Turner]

Excellent set....I always like seeing all these unique paint jobs on fighters...thanks for sharing.

[Martien]

I am back !!
Last year i posted some F-4F pics I made at the 50th anniv. party of the F-4 at Wittmund AB, Northern-Germany.
Well.....they did it again !! This year was the 50th anniversary of the Jagdgeschwader 71 (Fighter interceptor wing 71)...and yes....another great paintjob !! (...and lot of more Phantoms...will show you some again)
It was very hard weather to take photo´s of grey aircraft....cloudy with sun...then sun....then cloudy without sun etc. ...still I hope you will enjoy some (of the loads) of pics I made last friday. (At this day there were lots of other aircraft....will post some of them in a seperate topic...this topic has to stay : PHANTOM ONLY !)
First...let me introduce myself..... THE PHOTOGRAPHER ..I do love that pic

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/3772/3788andmej.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3788andmej.jpg)

But now where you came for.... JUST PHANTOMS !

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/1943/370315.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=370315.jpg)

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/7258/370314.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=370314.jpg)

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/4126/370322.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=370322.jpg)

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/2764/370312h.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=370312h.jpg)

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6420/370309.jpg (http://img190.imageshack.us/my.php?image=370309.jpg)

....back to the grey ones...

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/7724/378801.jpg (http://img190.imageshack.us/my.php?image=378801.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8752/378804.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=378804.jpg)

...only 8 pics allowed in a reply...so,...more to come within a moment (..if you want...)

[Martien]

...and some more...

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1261/380002.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=380002.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7424/382901.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=382901.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9623/384205.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=384205.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7061/384808.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=384808.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4686/384806p.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=384806p.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/6159/386802.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=386802.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7379/386806.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=386806.jpg)

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4673/img9301q.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9301q.jpg)

....okay....will make one more reply..later...

[Martien]

...the last one...(for today....)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6850/386107.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=386107.jpg)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6305/386108.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=386108.jpg)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6111/img9481d.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9481d.jpg)


http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/600/img9482q.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9482q.jpg)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4191/img9488.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9488.jpg)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/710/img9496.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img9496.jpg)

....and I am terribly sorry....but I also have to show you this one......this was one of the few F-4E´s that was in German service.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9928/f4e75063201.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=f4e75063201.jpg)

That´s all folks !

[Woolburr]

That's a hell of a collection of Phantoms...love the special paint jobs...and that last shot is just tragic...

[DigitalSpecialist]

My father would be so so proud!!! He was one of McDonnells F4 Flight Test Engineers!

[qadsan]

I'm glad to see updates to this thread. I miss the days of seeing the Phantoms flying over our homes and miss seeing them being demonstrated at our local air shows. I can still remember one particular air show where two F4-F's took off side by side and both headed straight up until they were out of sight. The noise, the exhaust fumes, the flames, and the awesomeness of it all left an indelible image with me that I’ll never forget. Later on I worked with a guy who flew recon in a Phantom during Vietnam. He once brought in some declassified images he had kept and I was amazed at the detail in the photos. Funny thing was, he was afraid of heights.

Thanks again for sharing the new photos. Keep them coming 

[PhotosGuy]

...the last one...(for today....) PM sent. Lets hope they're the last ones in this thread, period.

For anyone else wondering why: In the "Share" areas IMAGE POSTING RULES (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=74718) only allow 2 attachments by the OP per thread, OR 8 embedded (linked) images, OR a combination of both totaling 8. (Maximum 1024 pixels on any side.) You can always just post a link to more, though, or better yet, post a link to a gallery so we don't have to click on each image link.
Some exceptions are "Show Me...", "Post your best...", equipment reviews, Tutorials, etc.
You may attach additional photos if requested, but only in a reply to other member's post and request.

[dizzye36m3]

Probably one of the best looking fighters of all time. This makes me miss the F-14 even more.

Thanks for sharing.

[Martien]

Sorry people....
I understand the comment of "PhotosGuy" (and his PM)

Although people "scream" for more Phantom photos.....I suppose this topic is closed for me :cry:
I thought this "50 years anniversary of Fighter interceptor Wing 71 photo´s" had something to do with the "Phantoms 50th anniversary" which was kept last year at this same wing and air base.....that is why I opened this "old" topic again......
I do not understand why I have to open a new "Phantom topic" when there is already one...
But "PhotosGuy" is the boss here and I respect what he is saying :rolleyes:

[spitfirejd]

Great shots, Martien!

For Phantom lovers who may have missed them, I posted some recent QF-4 photos here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=684298

This drone-converted F-4 is making rounds of the US airshow circuit this year. It is flown by the last active-duty US Air Force F-4 qualified pilot. Salute!

[Martien]

My father would be so so proud!!! He was one of McDonnells F4 Flight Test Engineers!

Thank God it gave people like your dad !!
He tested the greatest fighter ever build ! already 51 years (!) in active duty and many more years to come ! (example, Turkey will fly them for many,many more years) Which jetfighter did that before !
Just be proud of your father ! He did a great job !!!

[PhotosGuy]

I do not understand why I have to open a new "Phantom topic" when there is already one... Because (1) it's titled "50th anniversary" & (2) it's not a "Show your best..." thread & (3) because Pekka likes to keep the threads size friendly for all users. And as you pointed out, (4) because it's in the rules & we hold you all to them.

OTOH, there's no reason you can't have a "My best F-4 shots from Saturday." thread & a "My best F-4 shots from Sunday." thread?