Originally Posted by
roughair
Is there some place to find out if someone was a Navy F4 driver in Vietnam?
A friend of mine (a Vietnam Navy Senior Chief) has doubts about a guy at the airport.
1. Ask if he remembers the name of the unofficial "mascot" of the F-4. (Answer: "L'il Spook," a kind of Mad-Magazine 'Spy-vs-Spy" looking guy).
http://topflightimaging.com/modeling/gunfighter.html
2. Ask if he remembers the Boldface (Memory Items) for Emergency Ground Egress (this is Air Force; I assume Navy was the same):
Lower Guard-UP
Shoulder Harness-RELEASE
Inside Handle-ROTATE AFT
Outside Handle-LOCK UP
3. Ask how the canopy was raised or lowered (Answer: stored pneumatic pressure, from a pump driven by the hyraulic system).
4. Ask how the throttles were put into afterburner (Answer: have to go outboard first, then forward; often awkward if jammed against the mil-stop, and there was a 'dent' there).
5. Ask how much altitude was lost in a spin: 15,000 ft, if you recovered.