Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flew the Phantom solo all the time during their Air Show Performances....and they did a darn nice job of it too!:ok:

choppe2004,

Certainly all the US military air base shows "near" me are entirely free. In my area, you can divide the distance by the speed limit and that's how long it takes to get there - unlike the UK in general and specifically Fairford !

mopardave,

Actually that Phantom is normally flown without even a pilot in it - it is / was one of the last of the QF-4E targets drones !

[quotemopardave,

Actually that Phantom is normally flown without even a pilot in it - it is / was one of the last of the QF-4E targets drones ! ][/quote]

good god.......every day is a school day! I've heard of them.....I just didn't think the pilot was "optional".....I assumed it was just a drone!!

thanks for clearing that up RAFeng.
:ok:

Not quite true, that particular Phantom would be flown 'manned' until scheduled for 'termination' once it was out of airframe hours etc, where it would then gain dayglo orange outer wing panels and tail fin. There are still around 25-30 QF-4E's at Holloman AFB, they should last to the end of the year when the QF-4 programme is finally due to draw to a close, unless the QF-16's are still not up to speed, whereby they may soldier on for a while longer.

-RP

Perhaps they'll sell one or two off first. At least I hope they do. Not so far fetched as this probably sounds to UK ppruners; there's a private AV8, and a host of MiGs including at least one MiG29 on the display circuit.

Highly unlikely that the DoD will approve the sale of an airworthy F-4 to a private individual in the US, or elsewhere for that matter. It took an act of Congress to get approval for the Collings Foundation to operate their F-4D, and the USAF, among others, have been trying to reverse that decision ever since! They tried to get approval to add a F-105 to their flying collection as well and have been refused this request at every attempt...

-RP