Hobby Master 1/72 HA1970 McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II BuNo 152292/AB101, USS John F. Kennedy, Nov. 1972
One of the most famous and easily recognized fighter aircraft of the post-WWII era was the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. This aircraft was developed as a private venture by the aircraft company but was soon ordered by the USN as a carrier-based attack aircraft. Its first flight took place on May 27, 1958 and it entered active service in December 1960. It wasn’t long after the F-4B appeared that a fly-off was set up with USAF front-line fighters. It was no contest, the F-4 performed so well that the USAF ordered their own variant, the F-4C. As time went on, the F-4 evolved into well over a dozen variants.
From December 1, 1971 until October 6, 1972 VF-14 “Tophatters” were assigned to the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier and spent this time on a North Atlantic and Mediterranean deployment “Exercise Strong Express”. McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II 152292 AB101 was assigned to Commander Ted Kujawski and Lieutenant S. Kraswieski and later was upgraded to an F-4N. In January 1974 the VF-14 F-4s were replaced by the new F-14 so in 1978 the F-4 152292 was sent to be scrapped.