The F-4 Phantom

            
             My fourth quarter project is about the F-4 Phantom II. A few things I will be talking about are the aircraft itself, the history of the aircraft and the time era it was in.
             The F-4 Phantom II is a U.S. aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas Corporation. It was a two place supersonic, long range, all weather fighter-bomber built in 1958 during the Vietnam War era. The Phantom's multi-role missions were air superiority, including long range, high- altitude intercepts using air-to-air missiles as their primary armament. There was a wingspan of 38 ft 5 inches, length of 63 ft, height of 16 ft 5 in and a weight of 31,500 lbs to 33,000 lbs. The F-4 was called the "Rhino" and "Smoker" because of the thin trail of smoke left by the General Electric J79 engines. The Phantom was first flown in 1958 and entered U.S. Navy service in 1961. The Air Force version debuted in 1963. The Marine Corp also flew it. The military retired the F-4 in 1996.The total production was 5,195 aircraft built by Mc Donnell Douglas Corporation. There were also 138 Phantoms constructed by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company for the Japanese Self Defense Force.
             The aircraft thrust is provided by two axial-flow turbo jet engines with variable stators and variable afterburner. Two General Electric J79-GE-17 engines power the airplane. The engines are light weight (approximately 4000 pounds each) high thrust axial-flow turbojets equipped with afterburner for thrust augmentation. It developed 11,870 pound's thrust at Mil power, while at Max power it is rated at 17,900 pounds of thrust. The plane had a max speed of Mach 2.2+ or greater than 1,500 mph. The cruising speed is 585 mph. it's initial climb rate is 61,400 feet per minute. It's service ceiling is 62,250.