Posted on 03/09/2010 10:43:24 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The Turkish air force has received its first of 16 McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms to be upgraded under a $24 million deal with local supplier Aselsan.
Dubbed Simsek (Lightning), the project will equip the strike aircraft with new avionics, navigation and secure digital communications equipment, plus replacement flight software and improved mission planning equipment. Related structural renovation work is being conducted by the air force's 1st air supply and maintenance centre in Eskisehir. The effort follows an earlier project to modernise some of the air force's reconnaissance-configured RF-4Es, which delivered its first aircraft last year.
"The F-4E has been operated in Turkey since 1974, and with this modernisation it will be safer and more efficient," says air force commander Gen Hasan Aksay.
Turkey signed its first Phantom upgrade in 1994, selecting Israel Aerospace Industries to modify 54 aircraft as F-4E 2020 Terminators. Deliveries of the improved model started in 2000, and it is now operated by the air force's 111 Sqn in Eskisehir, 132 Sqn in Konya and 171 Sqn in Malatya.
The Turkish air force has 161 F/RF-4Es in its active inventory, as recorded in Flightglobal's MiliCAS database.
(Excerpt) Read more at flightglobal.com ...
She can take a licking and keeps on ticking.
I’ve always had a very soft spot in my heart for the Phantom. In primary school I used to have stickers (some bubble gum sold in Kenya would have wrappers that had pictures of the various Phantom variants inside) of the plane. As the saying goes, put enough thrust in the engines and even a brick can fly.
I also have a very soft spot for the Phantom.
I loved it when I was a kid and The Blue Angels flew Phantoms. I looked forward every year to going to Miramar for the show.
Nothing like standing on the ramp at Terre Haute, in the pre-dawn hour, watching the fire coming from those engines on takeoff....
I have never seen anything move as fast as a F-4J taking off with afterburners lit. Blink once and you missed it all.
spook and I are FRiends,*grins*
Hey Doogle, How You doing?
I’m a second generation F-4 pilot. My dad flew RF-4’s in Vietnam when they were new and I flew F-4C’s and D’s when they were on the way to the boneyard. I’ll always remember my final flight up initial.
It was a warm spring evening at the Duluth Mn ANG Base. I was tucked in on the right wing of our squadron commander, Ltc Biele. His Phantom was bathed in sunset light. I let the view of his jet burn into my memory as he broke hard left over the numbers. Waited 3 seconds for spacing, and briskly banked left to 80 degrees and pulled to 4 gs to bleed speed down from 300 knots. I sure enjoyed the final trip around the flagpole in big ol double ugly....
*incoming*
Ping
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