Well, Newt, considering that within 6 months of leaving Germany I was checked out on the F4 with Pulse Doppler radar, 4 genuine head-on missiles that did not need a target going fast enough for skin heat, 4 reliable IR missiles with better performance than Firestreak or Red Flop, a gun and enough fuel to loiter for more than a couple of hours - and it performed adequately for not only the AD role but Recce and GA too. Add nuclear strike to it's repertoire as well!
Yes, the Lightning was a superb sports machine and very impressive but not as good as people who did not operate a real war machine think.
I rest my case.