03 November 2016 (12:10 UTC-07 Tango 01) 13 Aban 1395/02 Safar 1438/04 Ji Hai 4714
“I felt like we had an opportunity and an obligation to get this aircraft on the road one more time because so many people have this connection with it. It’s just been absolutely amazing for me to do this.”-Lieutenant Colonel Ron King
One of two QF-4 Phantoms on Phinal Phlight at Hill AFB
At the end of October, just in time for Halloween, a couple of Phunky Phantoms of the U.S. Air Force drone type made their phinal phlights at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
In the 1990s iconic F-4 Phantom-2s were converted, at Davis-Monthan in Arizona, into QF-4 target drones for the U.S. military. In 2015 they were transferred to Holloman in New Mexico for phinal phlight preps. The last unmanned drone phlight took place in August 2016: “Ironically, the majority of QF-4 missions are flown in the manned configuration to support manned presentation, unmanned flight chase missions, and pilot proficiency training.”– Scott Johnson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
The remaining 13 USAF QF-4s will be converted to ground targets for use at White Sands in New Mexico. Utah’s Hill AFB AFLCMC (Air Force Life Cycle Management Center) System Program Office will continue to be involved with the creation of new target drones for the USAF, like the QF-16.
Official USAF video explainer: