McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
Fighter-bomberWikipedia
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Search complete. 101 mentions across 56 episodes found for "McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II".
Oct 31, 2026
Scott ManleyHOST
It'll cruise at just over Mach 1, and thanks to the aircraft's lightweight, no-frills design, it was able to set a number of time-to-climb records in 1962.
Scott ManleyHOST
Records that it held for about a month before the F-4 Phantom came and took them away.
Scott ManleyHOST
When it was introduced, it was considered a lot easier to fly than the combat jets of the era.
Scott ManleyHOST
But as the aircraft with more modern flight control systems have been introduced, the situation has been reversed.
Ron CooperGUEST
The number three man was shot down and the backseater, whom I knew very well, both front and backseater, but four aircraft went up, eight people.
Ron CooperGUEST
It's a F-4, it's a two person airplane.
Ron CooperGUEST
And we brought three aircraft back.
Ron CooperGUEST
So the two were shot down and they became MIA and we believe we're KIA at this point.
RainHOST
Well, I want to kick it off.
RainHOST
You can kind of give me the elevator pitch of who you are, your career, and then we'll dive in probably from the beginning and along this journey.
Ron CooperGUEST
Well, Dwayne, very briefly for your listeners, I am Ron Cooper, a former F-4 pilot, 22 years with the U.S. Air Force, and I have 300 combat missions.
Ron CooperGUEST
I am an inspirational speaker.
DaveAUDIENCE
Three pictures of fighter pilots, the first from World War II, a Mustang pilot coming back from, you know, just headshots in the cockpits on the first two.
DaveAUDIENCE
The second was a Vietnamese Vietnam F-4 pilot, and the picture of you that's out there was the third one.
DaveAUDIENCE
I just combed in a little more than a
Greg KellyHOST
thing.
DaveAUDIENCE
Three pictures of fighter pilots, the first from World War II, a Mustang pilot coming back from, you know, just headshots in the cockpits on the first two.
DaveAUDIENCE
The second was a Vietnamese Vietnam F-4 pilot, and the picture of you that's out there was the third one.
DaveAUDIENCE
I just combed in a little more than a thing.
Greg KellyHOST
And the point was that, like, aviation has kind of plateaued in a way, right?
Bill LeffGUEST
I hope he doesn't pull out, and he did.
Bill LeffGUEST
So I remembered a guy that I used to fly with who was an F-4 pilot.
Bill LeffGUEST
He used to talk about how they would, to get rid of speed, because the approach speeds on those were really high, what they would do is they'd make a hard landing, and that would take some of the energy out of the forward momentum of the airplane.
Rob ReiderHOST
So somehow I thought of that.
Bill LeffGUEST
Right.
Bill LeffGUEST
Even on a real runway.
Bill LeffGUEST
We used to talk about, when I worked out at Ray Patterson, we used to watch the F-4s come in.
Bill LeffGUEST
You could tell whether it was a Navy F-4 or an Air Force F-4, even though you couldn't see the paint job.
Terry DunnHOST
You can actually walk up into that and poke around.
Fitz WalkerHOST
Let's see, what, F-18, F-16, F-15, F-14, F-111, F-4.
Fitz WalkerHOST
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Fitz WalkerHOST
Is that a THUD? Uh-huh, F-105.
Vago MuradianHOST
But the Air Force also had concerns about building that force for the future and the capabilities that were necessary for the future.
Vago MuradianHOST
And Mike Wynn used to tell a very compelling story His brother died in Vietnam flying an F-4 Phantom because the Russians furnished the Vietnamese with cutting edge air defenses.
Vago MuradianHOST
And so that's the reason why we need this capability, because there will be you know, the Russians are making triple digit SAMs and will provide it to other nations so that we shouldn't be thinking about whether or not.
Vago MuradianHOST
you know a particular country is developing this capability they can also buy it they can buy it from the chinese they can buy it from the russians so at base there were a lot of other issues that in at play as you noted um that you know and ended up in this in this clash uh that cost uh buzz uh and mike their jobs and unfortunately the nuclear issue and you know volumes have been written about How much of it was their obligation and fault? It did happen on their watch and served as a way, you know, at the time when you did talk to Secretary Gates's team, this was more also about the sort of discipline he wanted to see from the team, right? This was the plan.
Cathryn YerageGUEST
So it's kind of a funny story because my dad flew almost all my entire life.
Cathryn YerageGUEST
He flew the F-4 Phantom, the Strike Eagle, so airplanes were something that I was always around.
Cathryn YerageGUEST
but it wasn't until I was in college and actually my senior year of college that I decided it's something that I wanted to do.
Cathryn YerageGUEST
And I think it goes to the point of when you see somebody who looks like you doing something, you're much more kin of putting yourself in that position.
Vishnu SomHOST
What an aircraft.
Vishnu SomHOST
You know, I mean, there was a worry that the engine that it had, which also powered the F-4, would ultimately be problematic in terms of, you know, whether the Americans would let us have it.
Vishnu SomHOST
So, I guess the J-79, I would stand corrected on the engine, this thing, but it didn't work out because of that reason.
Vishnu SomHOST
So, we will worry about the Americans then, not worry about them at all at the moment, but when it comes to fighter aircraft, we've gone the way of the French.
17 MINS LATER
Shiv AroorHOST
Also very exciting.
Shiv AroorHOST
What an incredible run Boeing is having, Vishnu.
Shiv AroorHOST
First, the F-47 last year.
Shiv AroorHOST
Today, now they've won the Hornet replacement, sixth-generation carrier-based fighter, the F-A-XX, which is the talk of the town as well.
Monica LangleyHOST
When,
Scott KirbyGUEST
how? When I was a cadet at the Air Force Academy flying in an F-4 out over the Gulf, a super cool, super fun experience.
Monica LangleyHOST
Wow, okay, now let's talk about innovation because supersonic's innovative.
Monica LangleyHOST
What is your next big innovation that you're working on right now, Scott?
Scott KirbyGUEST
I hope to someday.
Scott KirbyGUEST
So I wanted to be a fighter pilot and then become an astronaut.
Scott KirbyGUEST
And by the way, my story of the F-4 is why I didn't become a fighter pilot.
Scott KirbyGUEST
I was out over the Gulf.
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