My association with the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II began in April 1986 at 228 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) Coningsby. The FGR.2 was an intimidating beast to get to grips with and I treated her tentatively for many hours. She was honest but extremely demanding and never stopped chatting to her pilot, frequently reminding them of her many aerodynamic idiosyncrasies. Many of her musings were gentle warnings so that those who sought to extract maximum performance had to listen carefully and coax her along with a deft touch. There were no arguments; she could abruptly stop flying if pushed too far. Teamwork was everything with the F-4, both between front and back scats and between man and machine. I have never flown an aircraft with so much character nor one whose operation led to such extraordinary satisfaction. Next came 111(F) Squadron at Leuchars, equipped with the quirky ex-Navy FG.l, full of carrier mods but no battery! The joy of low-level practice intercepts amongst the Western Isles of Scotland on glorious summer evenings will remain with me always. An ex-QFI (Qualified Weapons Instructor), I soon found myself in the back of our homemade two-sticker. From the rear seat, the forward view was dire (I prayed for a cross-wind on the approach) and the cockpit ergonomics made for a frightful instrument scan.
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