Crew Returns Phantom To Florida Sky | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Mon, May 17, 2004

Crew Returns Phantom To Florida Sky

Drone Will Fly Again

Arizona-based technicians saved the military $620,000 when they recently rebuilt a QF-4 Phantom II full-scale aerial target drone. The drone had suffered extensive missile damage to its aft section during a warfare exercise over the Atlantic Ocean near Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base.

Even though shrapnel had shattered the QF-4's blast shields and tail hook, the remotely controlled drone returned here safely.

Maintainers from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AZ) revived the drone, which belongs to the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron here.

"The plane was damaged beyond our repair capability," said Marion Dillon, an aerial target maintenance supervisor. "This aircraft suffered major structural damage, and we knew (the regeneration center’s technicians) had the knowledge and skill to make it flyable again. We knew (they) could do it."

With a price of more than $725,000 for a replacement drone, officials decided to return the aircraft to the sky by repairing the aircraft. A four-person crew went to Tyndall to begin the drone's repair process.

They called in Tyndall firefighters to use a rescue saw to remove the mangled sheets of blast shield and expose the extensive internal damage.

Replacement parts, including the titanium blast shields and a tail hook, were taken from other aircraft; however, correcting the damage to the F-4's keel beam proved to be a testimony of the work crews' versatility, officials said.

To repair breaks in the beam, stainless-steel panels had to be custom made to line up with the existing rivet holes, center experts said.

Eugene Fischer, an aircraft structural mechanic, made the stainless-steel panels, completely recreating the aircraft's main lower structure by hand.

"The only thing more challenging than this job would have been trying to get the job done while being fired at," said Mr. Fischer, who served in Vietnam repairing battle-damaged helicopters.

This Phantom II began its active-duty service life in 1969. It was eventually retired from the 35th Fighter Wing at George AFB (CA) and entered the regeneration center in March 1992, where it remained for seven years.

The aircraft was selected for the F-4 drone program and returned to flight status in March 1999.

There are more than 600 F-4 aircraft at center, many of which will be used in the drone program following a seven-month regeneration process.

FMI: www.af.mil

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC