Citizen8448

Still here.

[Steve Giordano @SteveNomadic]

A masterpiece

[B&S @_B___S]

Dog Plays The Wind Chimes Every Day So She Can Sing Along

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

I’ll never stop being amazed by the remarkable things humans can do

[KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨‍✈️ B-737 Wrangler @MCCCANM]

Fantastic video. I personally think these kind of “newsreels” should come back. Same voice, background music, themes, etc..

Anyway, here are random interesting things about the F-4 “Phantom” II:

• Very unusual design for its time; it didn’t look like any other fighter. Horizontal stabilizers on the tail pointing down, wingtips pointing up

• Massive, thirsty engines; it had a unique appearance but big thrust & crews said it was proof “even a brick will fly if you put enough thrust behind it” (paraphrasing).

• The F-4 was once used to pull up & fly alongside the Saturn V rocket – which eventually took us to the moon – after launch to photograph stress points & how it behaved aerodynamically.

• Max Climb: 41,300’ per minute.

• The F-4 was originally built without a gun; at the time, leaders thought missiles were the only way. They were wrong & a gun pod was eventually put on it, with later versions incorporating a cannon in the nose.

• (in my opinion) the most famous F-4 exploit was “Operation Bolo”. North Vietnamese fighters had been preying on bombers & attack jets, using radar, callsign & flight patterns to identify their targets & avoid F-4s. So, in Bolo, F-4s just used the bomber callsigns & flew like the bombers did on radar. The North Vietnamese got a terrible surprise when they showed up & it was a squadron of F-4s. A terrible, last surprise.

(Bolo should already be a Hollywood movie & it’s a shame it isn’t. Attention, @JustineBateman. I’ll help you write it if needed. The mustache of Robin Olds & his relationship w/ “Chappie” alone is a feel good story…they literally called the pair “Blackman & Robin”…and then they kill a bunch of communists)

• The original “Phantom” was built by McDonnell Douglas for the Navy. It was the first jet aircraft to land on a carrier & the first jet to be deployed by the Marine Corps. It was not very impressive & only 62 were built.

• 5,195 F-4 Phantom II’s were built, adopted by the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force & many other countries, making it the most produced *American* supersonic fighter in history.

• Entering service in 1961, the last Phantom was built in 1981 & was retired from the U.S. inventory in 1996, though it flew on in other countries. South Korea retired their last F-4 in 2024.

• As the video says, the F-4 set a series of records that remained until the F-15 arrived. I’m not going to expand on that, watch the video.

• The F-4 was a big fighter & not super maneuverable, as it was designed to shoot missiles from a distance. Nevertheless, in combat the rule for F-4 pilots was “Speed is life”. The F-4 could accelerate away from enemy fighters at will, giving pilots the ability to both engage in combat & disengage as they saw fit. They fight when they think they can win, and escape when things don’t look good.

• The US Air Force eventually became the biggest operator of F-4s, but many other countries were eager to buy them. Iran & Turkey were the biggest consumers (prior to the 1979 Iran revolution).

• Crews also called the F-4 the “World’s largest distributor of used MiG parts”.

• The F-4 is the only jet to be used by both of the U.S. military aerial demonstration teams, the Air Force “Thunderbirds” & Navy “Blue Angels”. Its’ thirsty engines killed it during the 1970’s OPEC oil embargo.

• The first & only recorded supersonic, air-to-air gun kill was in 1972, when Major Handley squeezed the trigger of his F-4 at Mach 1.2 & downed a MiG 19 over “Thud Ridge” in Vietnam.

• In 1989, a coup erupted in the Philippines. President Bush ordered F-4s to “buzz” (fly low over) rebel airfields & discourage them from employing air power. This led to the collapse of the coup.

• After retirement from active service, 314 F-4s were eventually converted to remotely piloted target drones, to be shot down in training exercises.

• The only civilian, “air-worthy” F-4 flying the airshow circuit belongs to the Collings Foundation, and just started in 2026.

[Henry Winkler @hwinkler4real]

IMPORTANT

[Citizen8448 @citizen8448]

@OW_Photography tomato worm?

[Michael Beschloss @BeschlossDC]

US troops above Omaha Beach, D-Day plus one, today 1944:

[Christopher Hale @ChristopherHale]

“If you think the world is selfish and rotten, go to the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer overlooking Omaha Beach. See what one group of men did for another on D-Day, June 6th, 1944.” — Andy Rooney

[National Memorial Day Concert @MemorialDayPBS]

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Charles Durning was among the thousands of Americans who stormed the beaches of Normandy. Today, we honor his legacy by sharing the Purple Heart recipient’s powerful firsthand account from the 2004 National Memorial Day Concert.
#MemDayPBS #DDay #CharlesDurning #WWII

[Grant Tosterud @granttosterudwx]

Wow! A viewer was flying out of Albuquerque as the dust storm blew in!
Courtesy of Christine Tenenholtz. #NMwx

[Matthew Keys @MatthewKeysLive]

This is the final CBS News Radio broadcast, aired between 11 p.m. (the top of the hour is first) and 11:30 p.m. (the final special report).

After 99 years on the air, CBS Radio News has ended.

(Captured by @TheDeskDotNet)

[KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨‍✈️ B-737 Wrangler @MCCCANM]

Good illustration of ejection seat technology:

Look at where the rockets on the seats fire. Both jets are inverted when the ejection is initiated, so the seat should fire the pilots straight at the ground…

But they are smart. They fire enough to clear the jet, then re-orient themselves & fire enough to slow the descent. Once they do, the seats cut the occupants loose from the straps & deploy the parachute.

Look where the parachutes deploy in relation to the jets. Absolutely incredible technology!

[Citizen8448 @citizen8448]

@chrisfralic Agreed. Amazing research and writing.

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

Training a Golden Retriever.. 😂

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

😂

[We don't deserve cats 😺 @catsareblessing]

Touched up by the hand of the cat master at long last
the piece of pottery

[Citizen8448 @citizen8448]

@MCCCANM What are your thoughts on what happened with the Sioux City 1989 crash?

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

Wait for it.. 😂

[Citizen8448 @citizen8448]

@MCCCANM I'm so sorry for your loss, and I wish you relief from the pain.

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

Cats are cats, no matter the size.. 😅