F-4E RAAF

PHANTOM'S DOWN UNDER

    In October 1963 the Australian government announced the purchase of the then untested General Dynamics
F-111. The aircraft ordered were due for delivery in 1968 to replace the RAAF's fleet of Government Aircraft
Factory built English Electric Canberra bombers. However by 1969 continuing problems with the F-111
programme and a possible delivery date of 1974, if at all, meant an interim type was required as the Canberra's
were running out of airframe hours. Air Vice Marshal C F Read led a team to the United States to examine
proposals for a interim strike aircraft in May 1970. To the delight of many senior RAAF officers and aircrew,
Read recommended the Mc Donnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II ahead of the Grumman A-6 Intruder and the
British Blackburn Buccaneer.

In June 1970 the Australian government announced the unusual step of leasing twenty four Mc Donnell
Douglas F-4E Phantom II's at a cost of US$34 Million over a two year period inclusive of spares and training.
A little known feature of the agreement was that under U.S law, leased equipment could be demanded on the
basis of...."extraordinary contractual actions to facilitate the national defense"....the U.S could demand the
return of the Phantom's at any time! The agreement also contained an option for Australia to buy the F-4's at
US$12 Million each, should the F-111 program be cancelled.

"PEACE REEF"

    Preparation for the receipt of the Phantom commenced in July 1970 with 39 members of a USAF
Maintenance Training Team arriving at RAAF Amberley,30 miles west of Brisbane,Queensland. A further
20 members of a USAF Maintenance Advisory Team and Mc Donnell Douglas representative Mr Arthur Hyde
arrived in Australia in August 1970. Aircrew training commenced in July 1970 at the 4530th TFTS at McDill AFB
in Tampa, Florida with navigators undergoing some initial systems work at Davis Monthan AFB in Tuscon,
Arizona for a few weeks. Personnel of 1 and 6 Squadron's (82 Wing) RAAF whom were tasked with operating
the Phantom completed their conversion to type by September 1970.

    The programme supplying Phantom's to Australia was codenamed "Peace Reef " and involved factory
fresh aircraft from USAF Fiscal Year 1969 contracts. All aircraft were Block 43 F-4E-43-MC and supplied in
standard USAF Technical Order 1-1-4 camouflage (the so called Vietnam or South East Asia camouflage).
The Phantom's retained the USAF Serial Number in black on the fin and the last one or two digits of the serial
number in white were later applied at Amberley for easy identification in RAAF service. Phantoms were
allocated the out of sequence A69 serial number prefix in the Australian military aircraft serial system but the
aircraft were never marked with this prefix.Furthermore RAAF Phantom's were on charge to RAAF 482
(Maintenance) Squadron and aircraft were crewed by 1 Sqn or 6 Sqn as the operations required so the
aircraft carried no squadron markings. (Refer below for a complete list of RAAF Phantom serial numbers).

"AMBERLEY APPROACH.ARRIVAL'S RUNWAY ZERO ONE. CAVOK"

    The first F-4 to arrive at RAAF Amberley from St Louis,Missouri was 69-0306 flown by Wing Commander
Roy Frost, Commanding Officer 6 Sqn RAAF, which arrived with four other aircraft on September 14th
1970. The aircraft touched down fitted with a centreline 600 US Gallon ferry tank, wing mounted 370 US
Gallon drop tanks and MXU-648 travel pod fitted to the port inner wing pylon. A sixth aircraft with FLTLT
John Ellis at the controls was delayed when some 200 miles south of Guam a red warning light indicated an
overheating engine. The aircraft returned safely to Guam for repairs. Six more aircraft arrived September
19th, seven on September 26th, four on October 3rd and the final two aircraft arrived the following day.

    The Phantom delivery flight's were each accompanied by a USAF Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker on the
St Louis, George AFB,California, Hickam AFB,Hawaii, Anderson AFB,Guam sectors. The RAAF supplied a
Lockheed P-3B Orion from 11 Squadron for the Guam to Amberley section providing weather
reconnaissance and search and rescue support. The Phantom's carried a RAAF and USAF combination of
aircrew.

SPOOK WITH A SLOUCH HAT

    The versatility of the Phantom is legendary, yet in RAAF service the aircraft was limited to the strike role
only, due to the interim nature of it's service. Phantoms served with 1 and 6 Squadron, 82 Wing RAAF and
whilst the ARDU assisted with some trials using the Phantom, the aircraft always remained part of 82 Wing.
Initial RAAF operations began on September 17th, just 3 days after the first aircraft arrived. October 1970
saw the first night operations and late November saw the commencement of practice bombing. January 1971
witnessed defensive tactics against RAAF Government Aircraft Factory built Dassault Mirage IIIO's, ground
attack sorties in February and high explosive bombing in June 1971. Phantoms also flew ops involving another
legend, the Douglas A-4G Skyhawk of the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet Air Arm when in July 1971
the Phantom crews developed maritime strike procedures working with RAN ships HMAS Melbourne and
HMAS Vendetta.

   RAAF Phantom's also had the honour of participating in RAAF 50th Anniversary Air Shows held
throughout Australia during 1971, including Squadron Leader K G Smith's "wing walking" a Phantom. Smith
"stirred" the control column continually so the aircraft oscillated dramatically around it's axis whilst flying
past the crowd at low level....and stated by some to be the best solo display by a RAAF pilot since 1946!
Airshow dates were:-

RAAF Pearce,WA 28th March 1971
RAAF Fairbairn,ACT 3rd April 1971
RAAF Richmond,NSW 4th April 1971
RAAF Edinburgh,SA 17th April 1971
RAAF Laverton,Vic 18th April 1971
RAAF Amberley,24th April 1971
RAAF Townsville,Qld 25 April,1971

     Major defence exercises in which Phantoms took part included "Pepper Pot" (21/10/71 - 06/11/71) working
out of RAAF Darwin,NT with 77Sqn Mirages . After the exercise in November 1971 two Phantom's flew in excess
of 2,800 kms from RAAF Darwin to their homebase RAAF Amberley, Queensland non stop. Another exercise was
"Top Limit" during May 1972 again in Darwin with the F-4s "attacking" Darwin defended by RAAF Mirages and
then October 1972 the Phantoms attacked a splash towed target by HMAS Duchess off the coast near Gladstone,Qld.

PHANTOM'S....FIXED OR IT'S FREE

In the short service life of the F-4E in the RAAF, several modifications were carried out. These included
changes to the Westinghouse APQ-120 radar (completed June 1971), a check of all aircraft for defects in the
flap emergency system (September 1971) with four aircraft having loose or broken lines. The most obvious
modification to the RAAF Phantom fleet was the addition of low voltage formation strip lighting on the
fuselage, vertical fin and wing tips, plus the "Midas 4" gun blast diffuser. The "Midas 4" mod was an extension
to the aircraft nose cannon which allowed gun gas to be dispersed to stop engine flameout and a loud whistle,
which could be heard from approaching F-4E's as experienced by the USAF. Furthermore some Phantom's
required X-rays in early 1972, after the discovery of a large crack in the stabilators of 69-7234 "34" (during her
rebuild....refer below) and it was discovered 69-7209 "09" was similarly effected.

ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN

Originally, the aircraft alloted to the RAAF were delivered off the line in production sequence. Aircraft
69-7218 was on the first leg of the delivery flight from St Louis to George AFB, California when, during the
air-refuelling system check, the boom stuck in the refuelling receptacle. Despite all efforts it remained stuck
and a brute force disconnect damaged the aircraft. The aircraft returned to St Louis and was replaced by
the spare, 69-7234, hence the sequential numbering of RAAF Phantoms was broken.

    A cruel twist of fate involved 69-7234 (the replacement aircraft) on her very first flight out of Amberley
after delivery. On October 19th, 1970, FLTLT Jack Ellis and SQNLDR Brian Bolger experienced a generator
and bus tie contactor failure. This meant a loss of nosewheel steering and anti-skid brakes together with a
few other control systems. With a strong crosswind at Amberley, Ellis wisely elected to engage the arrestor
cable for recovery. Unfortunately, the cable snapped on engagement and the huge shock absorber was
dragged through the hook, breaking it off but also imparting a turning and nose rearing component to
the flight path. The aircraft came back on the runway with about 30 degrees of drift, then proceeded to
slide off the sealed surface sideways, ground looped during which the right main gear and the nosewheel
collapsed. When the aircraft came to a stop, Bolger blew the rear canopy off and exited, while Ellis,
opened his and followed rapidly. They both suffered only minor, superficial injuries .The damage
assessment indicated that the aircraft would have to be returned to the factory for repair but RAAF
engineers had other ideas. Over the next 350 odd days, they constructed jigs, removed the damaged
components and did a first class job of repairing her to better than new condition. SQNLDR Ken Smith
and FLT LT Frank Burtt did the test flight and cleared her to return to the line without a snag. The task
was a credit to the RAAF engineers involved as the USAF said it could not be done!.

    The occupational hazards of flying high performance aircraft in hazardous conditions was brought home to
the RAAF Phantom community on the night of June 16th,1971. After taking off from RAAF Amberley at 18:13
hours, F-4E 69-7203 "3" took part in a Hi-Lo navigational exercise, following night bombing on the Evans Head
Bombing Range, New South Wales. The 1 Sqn crew had completed the exercise in inclement weather at around
19:43 hours and was about to re-join formation with another Phantom when contact was lost. 69-7203 "3" had
crashed into the sea off Evans Head with the loss of her experienced crew (the Pilot being a qualified Test Pilot
and Instructor, whilst the Navigator a 2 Sqn, RAAF Vietnam combat veteran). The following day after an extensive
search had been initiated using military and civilian aircraft and shipping, pieces of wreckage were recovered
and the aircraft officially identified as that of the missing Phantom.

    On January 28th,1972 69-7206 "06" blew a tyre on take off with 6 Sqn crew of FLGOFF John Ross and
FLTLT Mick Nott aboard. Unfortunately, the disintegrating tyre and rim caused a lot of damage to the underside
of the wing. Her repair required a lot of spares from the US and work by the RAAF engineers, but six months
later she was back on the line. Another incident on 12 December 1972 involved 69-0307 in a wheels-up touch and go,
which was rather embarrassing for the Phantom crew. The aircraft touched down on the 374 gallon tanks and went
around after the horrible noise. After the runway was cleared of metal shavings and an airborne inspection from
another aircraft, the crew then lowered the gear and landed normally. The damage was limited to the 370 gal drop
tanks and the inboard flaps, all of which were replaced and after a few ground checks, the aircraft was back in the air
about a week later. The F-4E was built like a truck !.

PHANTOM FAREWELL

    On October 25th,1972 six RAAF Phantom's (69-0305, 69-7204, 69-7212, 69-7213, 69-7214 and 69-7234) flown
by USAF crews from the 388th TFW returned to the United States along with KC-135A Stratotanker support.
Five Phantom's (69-0306, 69-7202, 69-7209, 69-7217 and 69-7220) returned to the US in November 1972, six
more departed on June 6th 1973 and another four returned on June 21st,1973. The last official RAAF Phantom
flight was June 20th,1973 with Pilot SQNLDR Dave Rogers and Navigator FLTLT Lester Cavanagh onboard
69-7208 "8". Finally on June 22nd,1973 the last two Phantom's departed for their US home. After only 2 years
9 months and 3 days the Phantom's RAAF tour of duty was complete.

    At the time of the Phantom's arrival RAAF members were brimming with enthusiasm to fly the F-4E, as the
troubled F-111 was some years away. The prospect of a ground job or flying the Canberra for 8-10 hours a month
on unproductive tasks was an unpalatable alternate. The Phantom was much more than a giant step ahead
of the Canberra's in RAAF service and provided great experience leading into the introduction of the F-111.
The USAF did offer the remaining 23 F-4E's to the RAAF for AUD$54 Million, however this did not include spares
and ground handling equipment, items which had not been procurred due to the lease deal. However the deal
with General Dynamics for the then still troubled F-111 was binding and the procurement went ahead.

RAAF F-4E's in USAF SERVICE

    Despite rumours abounding at the time no ex RAAF F-4E's were transferred to the Israeli Air Force. Remember
this was at a time when the Middle East was very volatile. In fact the end of RAAF service for the 23 remaining
F-4E's was the begining of a long, varied and interesting career for most of the aircraft. Some 21 aircraft were
converted to F-4G configuration in the initial batch of conversions performed between 1976 and 1981. The remaining
two airframes 69-0305 and 69-0307 were modified in the second run during 1987. Ex RAAF F-4E 69-7213 "13"
converted to F-4G had the misfortune to be the very first F-4G lost by the USAF (along with her crew) when she crashed
near Zaragosa, Spain on March 13th,1980.

    A total of 9 ex RAAF F-4E's converted to F-4G (69-0304 "04", 69-7201 "1", 69-7202 "2", 69-7207 "7", 69-7209 "9",
69-7210 "10", 69-7212 "12", 69-7216 "16" and 69-7234 "34") saw service in the first Gulf War during the early 1990's.
Some claimed several "kills" against enemy radar sites and 69-7209 "9" was credited by the USAF with destroying
a taxiing Iraqi Ilyushin IL-76 using a AGM-65 Maverick.

THEY SHOOT PHANTOMS,DON'T THEY?

    A total of 15 of the 23 former RAAF F-4E's converted to F-4G were further modified to QF-4G standard. All have
now been destroyed whilst in use as target drones, with 69-7204 lasting as late as August 2006....and the F-4E rebuilt
by 3AD the mighty 69-7234 "34" was sadly brought down in July 2005 almost 36 years after her Amberley incident.

PHANTOMS PHOREVER!