Details

This promotional film on the history of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom dates from the occassion of the 5,000th aircraft produced, which is a highlight event captured in the movie.

On May 24, 1978, McDonnell Douglas delivered the 5,000th F-4 Phantom II, F-4E-65-MC 77-0290 to the United States Air Force in a very special ceremony at the builder’s St. Louis, Missouri factory.

The F-4 Phantom II was introduced to combat service during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia which was a conflict that spanned the mid 1960s to the early 1970s.

The F-4 Phantom served with the US Air Force in active front line service through April, 1996. The F4 Phantom remained in Air National Guard and other special services for a few more years until the very last operational flight was flown by an F-4G Wild Weasel assigned to the Idaho Air National Guard. In total 5,195 F-4 Phantom IIs were built by McDonnell Douglas at their St. Louis factory, with 138 examples being license built in Japan by Mitsubishi.