{"id":60444,"date":"2025-08-05T23:31:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T21:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=60444"},"modified":"2026-08-05T00:17:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:17:50","slug":"the-restoration-of-153879-the-last-f-4-phantom-ii-fighter-to-take-off-from-a-carrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/08\/05\/the-restoration-of-153879-the-last-f-4-phantom-ii-fighter-to-take-off-from-a-carrier\/","title":{"rendered":"The restoration of 153879, the last F-4 Phantom II fighter to take off from a carrier"},"content":{"rendered":"

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an excellent fighter that made its first flight on May 27, 1958, and still serves in some countries.<\/p>\n

The Spanish F-4 Phantom II fighters, their tanker aircraft and the sad end of many of them<\/a><\/rel>
\nSpanish and US F-4 Phantom II fighters in the CASA hangars in Getafe in 1980<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The United States Navy (USN) began using this fighter before the Air Force (USAF).<\/strong> The first F-4As were delivered to the USN in 1960, being upgraded to successive versions, until the F-4S variant was retired from service in 1987<\/strong> (the Marines continued using it until 1992, while the USAF used the F-4G until 1996). After its operational life as a fighter was over, the USN used the F-4 as a remote-controlled aerial target<\/strong> (the QF-4 variant) until 2004.<\/p>\n

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The last F-4 takeoff from an aircraft carrier was by an F-4S of the USN squadron VF-151 Vigilantes on March 25, 1986<\/b>. The aircraft in question was 153879, a fighter built as an F-4J and which began serving with the Marines' squadron VMFA-235 Death Angels with the serial DB-9.<\/p>\n

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After a brief service in the Marines, 153879 was transferred to the Navy's VF-194 Red Lightnings in 1976<\/strong>, and then assigned to VF-121 Pacemakers in 1978. In 1980 it was upgraded to the F-4S version<\/b>, being assigned to VF-151 shortly before its last shipborne takeoff.<\/p>\n

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That historic final takeoff took place on the flight deck of the USS Midway CV-41<\/b>, an aircraft carrier launched on September 10, 1945, a few days after the end of World War II, and which was the first of its class, serving in the USN until April 11, 1992.<\/p>\n

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In turn, the last landing of an F-4 on an aircraft carrier took place on October 18, 1986 on the USS Forrestal CV-59<\/b> by an F-4S of VF-202 Superheats, a Naval Reserve squadron.<\/p>\n

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After being retired from service, F-4S 153879 (construction number 2461) was transferred to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola<\/b>, Florida, then to the restoration workshops at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California, and finally to the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California<\/b>. There, it has undergone a restoration process that began in 2020.<\/p>\n

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The photos you can see here were posted on the website<\/a> and the USS Hornet Museum Facebook page<\/a>. The first photo shows the bright livery that 153879 wore when it served in the Marines<\/strong>, at the beginning of its operational life in 1975, when it served with VMFA-235 Death Angels. The next two photos are from that historic last takeoff<\/b>, in which 153879 wore the low-visibility livery that the aircraft of VF-151 Vigilantes had at that time.<\/p>\n

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The most striking original livery of VF-151 was chosen for the restoration<\/b>. The squadron was founded on August 6, 1948 and still active, flying single-seat F\/A-18E Super Hornet fighters.<\/p>\n

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On July 28, the USS Hornet Museum announced that the restoration process is now complete<\/a>, showing these images of the aircraft now ready to be visited by the public in the hangars of the museum ship.<\/p>\n

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A few days ago, the USS Hornet Museum published an interesting video showing the restoration process<\/b> and interviewing pilot Alan \"Mullet\" Colegrove and systems operator Gregg \"Ichabod\" Blankenship who carried out that final takeoff:<\/p>\n