Final flight of German F-4F

[riacrato]

JG 71 performed the final flight of the Phantom in Luftwaffe service past week. The fighter is now fully retired and replaced by the Eurofighter after serving for 40 years, longer than any other fighter the Luftwaffe fielded.

 

[Gixxerman]

It's quite an incredible feat....imagine the Me 109 or Spitfire in front-line service until the 80's!
I suspect that as budgets tighten credible large-scale enemies evaporate we will see more of this, isn't the B 52 scheduled to go on 75yrs?
I can imagine Eurofighter Typhoon doing something very similar everywhere it is used, ditto for the likes of the F22 F35
(provided the F35 survives in any large numbers).

 

[Marcel]

When I lived up north of the Netherlands, I lived in a low flying zone. German F4's regularly thundered past. Something I'll always remember. Sad to see them go. They were an impressive sight in the air.

 

[riacrato]

It's quite an incredible feat....imagine the Me 109 or Spitfire in front-line service until the 80's!
I suspect that as budgets tighten credible large-scale enemies evaporate we will see more of this, isn't the B 52 scheduled to go on 75yrs?
I can imagine Eurofighter Typhoon doing something very similar everywhere it is used, ditto for the likes of the F22 F35
(provided the F35 survives in any large numbers).

You bet. The Typhoon is the first combat aircraft Germany has adopted since the end of the cold war, unless we have another cold war like scenario, i can see it soldiering on for 40 years and it may well be the last manned combat aircraft to see service.

 

[vikingBerserker]

The end of an era. The last base my dad was stationed at had RF-4's. I spent night upon nights watching them take off.

 

[Gnomey]

Certainly sad to see them go. The end of an era for sure.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Airframes]

Certainly sad to see them go, after such long and good service. One of my lasting memories is of a Luftwaffe F-4 roaring out of a sea haze, at around 500 feet, maybe a touch more, directly over Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland coast, with a RAF Phantom in hot pursuit, during a NATO exercise in the 1980s. Better than any air show!

 

[futuredogfight]

I'm so sad , well at least it served the Germans long and well.