F-4 Phantom II Society

Last week, we lost our friend and Air Warrior, Kermit "Frog" Armbruster to cancer.  Kerm was a frequent attendee of PhanCons and loved the F-4 Phantom II Society.  We love you back, Kerm!  Thanks for the memories.  We thank member, Roger Mills for sending this excerpt to us to share with all of you.

Ron Downey was an Aeronautical Engineer with McDonnell Douglas for 40 years.  Below and on our Reference Material Tab, we have linked to Ron's website/blog featuring photos and manuals for the F-4 Phantom as well as other MCD products.

http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/2012/04/f-4-phantoms.html

The Rockband Voltraid, based in Germany, performs "The Phantom Song" in the linked video.  They are Phantom Phans just like us...but maybe more musically inclined.  The video was filmed on location at a German base with airframe 38+13.  Below is the lead singer's letter to us and links to the YouTube video and the Band's website. 

 Lt. Col. Angelica "Angel" Pilato is a member of the F-4 Phantom II Society and spoke to our conference in 2015 on "Her Love Affair with the F-4 Phantom." She received a standing ovation and kept the audience laughing with her engaging stories.

Photos of the last QF-4 Drone to leave BAE Flight Systems in Mojave, California (11/18/2013) were contributed by one of our members, who was present.  We thank Damon Duran for sharing these with us.  Sadly, the pilot for this flight, Jeffrey "Igor" Percy, was lost in 2015 when a Sabreliner he was flying in collided with a Cessna 172 near Brown Field Municipal Airport outside San Diego.

In 2016, during Homecoming, the USAFA Class of 1971 will dedicate The Air Warrior Combat Memorial to Colonel Robin Olds in B-52 Park.  The memorial will feature a life sized bronze statue of Col. Olds with 3 scale aircraft which he flew to victory during his career.   For the full story, click on the link below.

We are looking for photos from past Phantom Conferences held at Tyndall AFB.  The base hosted many of our PhanCons and we are planning to publish a photo tribute for their support.  The Editor is looking for photos from 1998 and 2006, as we have many images on our website from more recent years.  If you would like to contribute and see one of your photos in the next edition of Smoke Trails, contact the Editor at smoketrails@f4phantom.com .

Now that PhanCon 2015 has wrapped up, we invite the attendees to share some of their photos from our visits to Davis Monthan AFB, the 309th AMARG and Pima Air and Space Museum. 

The Phinal QF-4 Phantom departs Tyndall Air Force Base on 23 July, 2015.  This photo, appropriately taken at sunset, depicts the flagship of the 53rd Weapons Group powering off the runway to join the remaining fleet at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.  Photo courtesy of Tyndall Public Affairs.

The following article is courtesy of Public Affairs at Tyndall Air Force Base.  Sure looks weird to see a pilotless Phantom taking off.