F-4 Phantom: Arming and Underwing Stores Question

Ok, scratch the Air Force Phantom remarks. I got your build confused with Silentbob's. he is doing the F-4C/D. I see your doing a Marine Corps Phantom. IIRC, they tended to operate primarily in the CAS role in South Vietnam, and interdiction role in the adjoining areas of North Vietnam and Laos.

I believe he's doing a USAF Phantom. As Rex said, Sparrow load out will vary, mostly based upon mission tasking when loaded before take off. Another variable is the phase of the air war. During the 1972 air campaigns, it was common for AF Phantoms to carry an ECM pod in one of the forward Sparrow wells, sometimes in both. AF used AIM-9Bs originally, and starting in'67 or so the AIM-9E was carried until late 1972 when the -9J made its combat debut. F-4Ds carried AIM-4 Falcons with horrible results between  1967 and 1972. Just in case you felt like arming yours with something different. The AIM-9D/G was a Navy/Marine Corps only missile, and the 9L/M all aspect multi service Sidewinder did not go operational until many years after the Vietnam war ended.

You will get different answers on that Sparrow question. That is because different things were done at different times.

If you are doing an early war USMC F-4B, then you can either put 4 Sparrows in their mounts, or just the front 2. Later on in the war, after a few mishaps and the discovery that the Sparrow wasn't that great anyway, just put 2 in the rear. There are stories of "don't ever put Sparrows in front of the Center tank",,,,,but, in Navair usage, those tanks were punched off before the wild maneuvering started anyway,,,,,,,so, you can just follow what your photos show and put 2 in the rear, 2 in the front, or all 4 on the aircraft.

I am sort of wondering how you are going to fill up 2 MERs and 2 TERs with one weapons set, though,,,,unless you bought more sets? (oops, just looked, 1 set gives you 12 500s and 6 500s with extensions, you have enough)

Early USN Sidewinders on the F-4B were the AIM-9B version that comes in your missile set.

After already spending lots of extra money (almost as much as the kit itself) on AM stuff, I think I will 'cheat' and cut the pylon off the outboard fuel tanks and use them for the MERs. TERs on the inboard with Sidewinders and the centreline tank. NOW, the big question...would they still pack in the Sparrows in the fuselage??

I do have a large amount of Sidewinders in the Air to Air weapons set, so, 4 x Sidewinders is definitely an option...many thanks guys!!

you can mount LAU-33 twin Zuni on the inboard side on the Sidewinder rails that come in your kit. If you do that, most photos show the outboard rails removed, with the "bolt tubes" bolted on. (they look like huge thick washers)

4 Sidewinders is another popular option. The Napalm carried in Vietnam by Marine F-4s is not the same type as you got in your weapons set. and it is so heavy that it wouldn't go on those rails, it would mount in pairs on those TERs. Empty Sidewinder rails is another option, most of the time a Phantom didn't take off with a full load of Fuel, Missiles and Bombs.

Things had to be adjusted for total take off weight. (and Cat strength/runway length at Chu Lai,,,,,,,,little talked about fact is that those two J-79s would lose power due to age on them as they launched so many sorties, sometimes reducing the loads the aircraft could carry until they were replaced by new/refurbished jets,,they put in more total hours per day than the same engines mounted on a Phantom, after all, and had to do everything from Skyhawks up to Phantoms, and Intruders, same thing, but to a lesser extent with the J-79s on the MOREST Gear end)

Rex

I am pretty sure that only sidewinder rails can mount above the TER on Air Force inboard F-4 pylons. I have seen Marine Phantoms with twin Zuni 5" tubes on those stations, but never come across a photo of Air Force Phantoms mounting those.

Thanks guys. I suppose for the centreline MER, I could recycle the fuel tank pylon as it would be buried under all the bombs and MER itself. As for the TER, I see from that excellent pic that it mounts on the same kit part I have so, that's good. So, for my build, I'm thinking outboard: fuel tanks, inboard: TER, Centreline: MER. Now, would they have put anything on either side above the TER? Perhaps Napalm or Sidewinders?

In 1/72, it would be pretty easy to scratch the outboard wing and centerline pylons from strip styrene.

here's a link to a page I made for this question a while back

sites.google.com/.../phantom-pylons

I am not sure if you want to go to the aftermarket for the pylons or not, but, a lot of modelers just cut the tanks off of the outer pylons and mount their MERs on those if they don't want to invest in resin parts. (its not strictly correct, but, it is easiest and quickest)

If you really want the whole pylon set up, I will be glad to lay it all out for you. (most people don't want to go that deep)

Rex

I presume you are talking about the centerline hard point. Yes there should be a pylon to attach any ordnance to that hard point. MERs, TERs, large bombs, gun pods, etc. are attached to a pylon.