For educational purposes
By the 1970's, the Phantom II had truly become the mainstay of the West's air defence, this GREAT PLANE was the all time, all round, jet fighter success story.
A multi world record breaker, an air combat success over Vietnam and the Middle East, a thumping financial success for McDonnells, an extremely versatile aircraft, so many roles, so many air forces and navies.
In short, a GREAT PLANE: an outright winner.
Yet this powerful aircraft was originally an official loser the failed contender for a U.S. Navy contract. To the immense credit of the McDonnell team, they kept faith with their design and forced the authorities to rethink.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps soon demanded the Phantom and then the U.S. Air Force adopted it as their standard weapons system for Tactical Air Command. Vietnam air war experience confirmed the rightness of all these decisions.
From then on, this GREAT PLANE - affectionately known as the St Louis Slugger became the natural choice for many air arms, including the British Air Force and Royal Navy.
This GREAT PLANES video uses outstanding colour action footage to faithfully trace this intriguing story.
It puts you right in the cockpit of a truly GREAT PLANE - the McDonnell Phantom II.
