Illuminating history: F-4 Phantom II restoration

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jennifer Gonzales
  • 86th Airlift Wing/Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The 86th Maintenance Group, 86th Civil Engineer Group and the 435th Construction and Training Squadron recently completed the restoration and installation of an RF-4C Phantom II aircraft.

The RF-4C was towed to its final destination – the roundabout near the Northside Fitness Center – on June 4. The installation was completed on June 8.

Although this aircraft is now a static model, it played a vital role in Ramstein’s history. Tail number 68-0554 spent its operational life supporting units assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. This jet provided NATO with a reliable Cold War workhorse and a stable tactical reconnaissance platform. The F-4 provided ground training for the Construction and Training Squadron and it flew sorties and missions when the 86th Airlift Wing was a tactical wing.

This specific model of the RF-4C carried a variety of cameras in three different stations in the nose section that were capable of forward, oblique and mapping photography. These cameras could take photographs from high or low altitudes, during the day or at night with flash cartridges.

The RF-4C didn’t carry offensive armament, although during the last few years of its service, some were fitted with four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for defense, according to Dr. John Treiber, 86th AW historian.

“This aircraft hit Mach 2.2 and was able to give the Department of Defense a leg up in the early 1960s until the F-15 and F-16 rolled out of production in the mid to late 1970s,” said Master Sgt. Zachary H. Sidlovsky, 86th Maintenance Squadron assistant fabrication flight chief.

Crews of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing based at Zweibrücken Air Base, Germany, deployed the aircraft to Southwest Asia in 1991 where it flew a number of combat missions during Operation Desert Storm.

The end of the Cold War resulted in a number of base closures in Europe, among them Zweibrücken Air Base, and the deactivation of the 26th TRW. The aircraft was retired in late 1991.

“It was last flown at Zweibrucken Air Base as a NATO asset until October 1991 before coming to Ramstein Air Base, after which it became a trainer here,” Sidlovsky said.

The task of restoring the aircraft was a joint effort between the 86th MXG and the 86th CEG, which took half a decade to complete. Numerous challenges were met and overcome by everyone involved with the project.

“First and foremost, none of this would have ever been done without Mr. Andreas May of (the 86th Civil Engineer Squadron),” Sidlovsky said. “He found and gave life to this beautiful product you see today. Along with the aircraft maintenance expert of Senior Master Sgt. Joseph Slaughter, who took this project on and started the paperwork that entails with making a static aircraft.”

“From start to finish would be five years,” Sidlovsky said. “But most of the real hands-on work took two years – the summer of 2018 until this summer. The biggest obstacle, which took the longest time, was getting the F-4 moved from the other side of base to the maintenance group facilities, along with sourcing and reaching out to the local German air force bases who had the appropriate engine trailers we could utilize to remove (the engines) from the aircraft.”

A light at the end of the tunnel was found in an experienced local national with an in-depth knowledge of the aircraft.

“Mr. Tino Weichel, 86th MXS mechanic, worked on the German F-4s during his military career and had connections to outside units in order to save the aircraft, and assist with towing requirements and removal of the engines,” Sidlovsky said.

Reading up on the history of these aircraft can be informing, however, seeing it with one’s own eyes can be a different experience.

The RF-4C Phantom II is a part of Ramstein’s history and it, along with everyone who worked to restore it, can be reminders of what makes this the World’s Best Wing.