Toys and Stuff: F-4

Showing posts with label F-4. Show all posts

Monday, October 15, 2018

Ertl Force One Diecast McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom

The F-4 first entered service in 1960 with the Navy and is still flown by some countries. Originally outfitted only with external missiles or pods as it was thought at the time that the day of air-to-air dogfights was over especially when flying supersonic aircraft. But a combination of unreliable missiles and rules of engagement restrictions limiting long range missile attacks necessitated a need for an internal gun of some sort. The F-4E variant solved the problem with inclusion of an internally mounted M61A1 Vulcan Gatling cannon.

Here's another Phantom in the collection, Ertl's F-4 from their Force One series of diecast military toys produced from about 1986-1993 or so. Finding these uncarded and in good shape is very hard. My sample is missing the 'shark nose' applique' on the nose as well as all the external missiles and pods which came in white plastic. In addition, you'll notice in the photos that the main wheels splay outwards quite unrealistically. The toy measures 7 1/2" (19.05cm) L x 5" (12.7cm) wingspan x 2" (5.08cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

F-4Ds 435th TFS over Vietnam

Courtesy Wikipedia

Bandai GoBot with Ertl F-4

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Bandai GoBots Diecast F-4 Phantom Leader MR-51 1985

I'm not really into Transformer-like toys although a few have made their way into The Cave and harassing my other toys :-) No, the reason I bought this was because it was an F-4 Phantom. For some reason the F-4 Phantom was a pretty much neglected airplane among toy manufacturers. There are a few out there to be sure but other planes seem to have stole its thunder. That's a shame because the real plane, first developed for the Navy for aircraft carrier use and then adopted by the Air Force and Marines, has been in service since 1960 but try to find a toy Phantom made by any of the Big Name toy companies during the '60s or '70s!

Okay, on to the the gizmo. This version of the F-4 was made in 1985 and is rather small at 3 3/4" (9.52cm) L x 2 5/8" (6.66cm) wingspan x 1 1/4" (3.17cm) H (all dimensions are with the aircraft 'tucked-in'). It's a clever little addition to the fleet and can do double duty alongside my other Transformer-ish toys. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The Bandai F-4 next to an Ertl F-4

Monday, November 10, 2014

Nellis AFB Aviation Nation Air Show 2014 - Pt 1

This past Saturday Bettina and I attended the Aviation Nation Air Show at Nellis Air Force Base and had a blast. It's her first air show in many years, while I had tried to make them every year. Last year due to budget constraints there was no show but they made up for it this time. For me personally, I go for the vintage aircraft as the modern stuff buzzes around the skies like flies here all the time and this year there were a couple of treats. It took so long to get a blog post going because between Bettina and myself we took over 1200 pics and I've been trying to sort through them. Also, we did not get a photo of each and every single aircraft out there. Planes belonging to the Civil Air Patrol or other civilian organisations like the police simply didn't make the cut and we would have ended up being there a lot longer. It was taxing enough for us as is. Without further ado - Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

From the Nellis facebook page is this parking diagram. The far left represents the south side of the runway where we started our tour.

B-1 Bomber

First seen as you enter the flightline area is the B-1 Lancer bomber

Unknown

Can't honestly say what these are. The parking diagram says this spot is for the 'Coffee Works' - these must be a new way of brewing coffee!!

Unfortunately the free base newspaper handed out at the entrance which covers the air show doesn't go into detail on all the birds appearing at the show.

B-52

One of the oldest aircraft in the inventory, the venerable B-52 bomber

HH-60

Many of the static displays allowed people to go inside the cockpit and/or cargo space but we were loaded down with gear and doing that would lengthen our day considerably.