Got to see the modern Luftwaffe fling one of their F-4Fs around at an air show in Ohio (yes, they flew it from Germany to Dayton to show off at an airshow) about 12 years ago. I still maintain, after seeing it perform, that a Phantom II is the loudest airplane ever in terms of decibels-per-ton. B-1s and the Concorde are louder in terms of raw sound, but something about the Phantom (the older engines I guess) seem to make it even louder than an F-15. A pair of J79s on full afterburner 500 feet over your head will damn sure wake you up.
}:-)4
You should try having one fly over head at about 50 feet.It’s deafening,Not to forget scary as hell.
In 1977 I was based at Patrick AFB in Cocoa Beach Florida.I was driving south bound on rt.A1A and as I neared the runway approach a Phantom flew over my vehicle and scared the stuffing out of me.That plane was unbelievably loud.
During 1972 Easter Offensive in Vietnam, F-4 pairs did night afterburner takeoffs from the nearby air base. The ground shook when the burners cut in with a huge flame trail. The noise continued until the pair was a mile after takeoff then all was quiet. Sleep impossible, might as well watch.
We were Huey pilots and grateful for the close air support. I asked a F-4 driver how the aircraft actually flew and he couldn’t answer except there was so much horsepower it didn’t matter how small the wing area was.
“Got to see the modern Luftwaffe fling one of their F-4Fs around at an air show in Ohio (yes, they flew it from Germany to Dayton to show off at an airshow) about 12 years ago.”
They did not fly’em in from germany they had those based in goosebay canada for training. They got’em relocated to Holloman AFB,NM about 10 years ago.
P.s. The germans have some nice names for the F-4:
- Air Defence Diesel
- Oil oven