{"id":65423,"date":"2026-06-10T21:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=65423"},"modified":"2026-06-10T22:15:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:15:01","slug":"the-only-operational-f-4-phantom-ii-in-private-hands-flew-again-seven-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/06\/10\/the-only-operational-f-4-phantom-ii-in-private-hands-flew-again-seven-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"The only operational F-4 Phantom II in private hands flew again seven years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a formidable and legendary fighter jet that made its first flight on May 27, 1958.<\/p>\n

Beautiful images of the last F-4 Phantom II fighters active in Europe<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe restoration of 153879, the last F-4 Phantom II fighter to take off from a carrier<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

This aircraft entered service on December 30, 1960, with the United States Navy<\/strong>, and was later acquired by the United States Marine Corps and Air Force (USAF), as well as by the air and naval forces of other countries. The United States retired its last Phantom IIs in 1996<\/strong>, when its Air Force retired its F-4G Wild Weasels.<\/p>\n

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The F-4D 65-0749 in a photo taken on October 10, 2004, when this aircraft was flying with the serial number of Richard Stephen Ritchie's F-4D 66-7463 (Photo: Christopher Ebdon<\/a>).<\/div>\n

After its retirement from service in the United States, a href=\"https:\/\/www.collingsfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Fundaci\u00f3n Collings<\/a>, which has a major museum in Stow, Massachusetts, became interested in acquiring an F-4 Phantom II to add to its fleet of historic aircraft in flying condition<\/strong>. The process was not easy, as the Phantom II was still considered a warplane (several countries still use it as a fighter jet today).<\/p>\n

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The F-4D 65-0749 in a photo taken on April 23, 2009, already with its current livery as Robin Olds' F-4D 66-7680 (Photo: Christopher Ebdon<\/a>).<\/div>\n

That entity points out<\/a> that \"it took an act of Congress<\/strong> by means of an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill of 1999 to allow the Collings Foundation to acquire its F-4 Phantom<\/strong>.\"<\/em>. Finally, the foundation managed to acquire one of the now historic aircraft, an F-4D, serial number 65-0749, an aircraft built in 1965<\/strong>, operated by the USAF (according to Aerialvisuals.ca<\/a>, its last assignment there was the 127th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at McConnell AFB, Kansas) and sent to the Davis-Monthan AFB aircraft graveyard<\/a> on January 12, 1990.<\/p>\n

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The F-4D 65-0749 flying alongside another of the Collings Foundation's aircraft, the TA-4J Skyhawk 153524, before the recent restoration process (Photo: Collings Foundation<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Once Congressional authorization was obtained, the problems didn't end there.<\/strong> The foundation notes the following: \"Available Phantoms that were stored at Davis Monthan AFB had baked in the hot Arizona sun for over nine years. To make the situation worse, the F-4\u2019s had been operated under highly demanding and stressful conditions for decades, such use had taken its toll.<\/strong>\"<\/em><\/p>\n

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An impressive photo of the F-4D 65-0749 taken in the middle of the last decade (Photo: Collings Foundation<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The process of making the 65-0749 airworthy involved arduous work and a complete overhaul:<\/strong> \"engines were replaced with zero-time units, avionics upgraded, hydraulic systems and components were overhauled, structural items tested and repaired, ejection seats located, and much more. After thousands of hours of labor, the Collings F-4 took to the sky in August of 1999.<\/strong>\"<\/em><\/p>\n

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To this day, the 65-0749 is the only operational F-4 Phantom II fighter jet in private hands (Photo: Collings Foundation<\/a>).<\/div>\n

During that restoration process, the F-4D 65-0749 received the civil registration N749CF and was initially decorated as the F-4D 66\u20137463<\/strong>, an aircraft flown by Richard Stephen Ritchie during the 1972 Operation Linebacker in Vietnam, and later as the F-4D 66-7680<\/strong>, one of the aircraft flown during the Vietnam War by USAF ace Robin Olds (the original 66-7680 was lost in the Gulf of Tonkin on July 5, 1972<\/a>). The Collings Foundation F-4 was operated by the Vietnam War Flight Museum<\/a> in Houston, Texas, participating for years in numerous air shows.<\/p>\n

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The F-4D 66-7463 with the volunteers who worked on this restoration process (Photo: Vietnam War Flight Museum<\/a>).<\/div>\n

A few years ago, F-4D 66-7680 underwent a new restoration process<\/strong>, carried out by volunteers with the support of the Collings Foundation and the Vietnam War Museum of Flight. Finally, after seven years of work, 66-7680 flew again on June 8 at Ellington Airfield, Houston, piloted by veteran aviator Harry \"D-Day\" Daye<\/strong>, with Jet Jerod in the weapons systems officer position. Diesel Thunder Aviation<\/a> has posted this video of this historic flight:<\/strong><\/p>\n