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F4 C/D in Alaska

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James M
F4 C/D in Alaska

Were there any C/D models stationed in Alaska, specifically ones with the AK tail code.

I have read the Wikipedia artical and it says that they didn't start deploying the F4 to Elmendorf until the E model.

Any help would be great

vietnam vet
According to a couple of my

According to a couple of my sources there were no C or D model Phantoms with the AK tail code. The first tail code for Alaska was FC when the F-4E was assigned to Elmendorf in 1970. They changed to the AK tail code by the end of 1972. In 1982 the F-4E was phased out and the A-10 and eventually the F-15 were assigned there. I got this info from a book called "Tail Code" which is a complete history of all Air Force tail codes

James M
Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the reply.

Do you know any information about the Air Force F4 at the Seattle museum of flight with the camo paint scheme and AK tail code.

is this an actual paint scheme and markings?



vietnam vet
Okay, long story here. I went

Okay, long story here. I went to that sight and found pictures of that aircraft. F-4C, serial number 64-0776. In 1967 it was assigned to the 366 TFW, 389 TFS in Vietnam. It is credited with 3 kills with 2 different sets of crews. As far as the tail code goes, normally a tail code is assigned to a squadron and all the aircraft in that squadron have that tail code, but each individual plane in that squadron is identified separately usually by a number of sorts, like 1 or 10 or 20 or whatever. In the case of the above squadron they decided to do the tail codes as follows. The letter "A" denoted the 389 TFS and the second letter denoted each individual aircraft in that squadron, so therefore aircraft 64-0776 had a tail code of "AK". So thats why their tail code is "AK". "AK has been the tail code for Alaska based aircraft since about 1972. By the way, after the war the plane was assigned to the Oregon Air National Guard in Portlandfor 9 years and then retired and eventually put on display. So that is the story on that aircraft. Now just for grins, I was going through a book called "And Kill Migs" by Lou Drendel detailing  air to air combat in Vietnam. It was written with the help of a "Vietnam Studies Group". Anyway, there are 2 pictures of aircraft F-4C 64-0820 (from the same squadron) in the book with a picture of the whole squadron and saying it was taken after it shot down 2 Migs on May 22, 1967 which is the same info for the plane in Seattle. So, something is fishy there it seems. But, the info for the Seattle aircraft is correct and there are a few die cast models out there for sale detailing it's history. Hope this helps out and makes sense to you.


F-4 in Alaska

I was stationed in Alaska from 1978 to 1980, assigned to the new 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying the F-4E.  The tail code on all the F-4's was FC (we said it stood for F**king Cold).  The base/wing historian should be a good source to answer your question about F-4C/D in Alaska.  There is an F-4C/D in the airpower park on base, but that isn't a guarantee the C/D's were ever stationed at Elmendorf.


I was a original member of the 43rd TFS at MacDill AFB. I joined the squadron in 1969 as one of the Jet Engine Mechanics/Technicians. We originally sent 18 F-4Es up to Alaska in May 1970. I stayed behind along with a handful of Mechanics to ready the remaining Phantoms (6) to fly up in June 1970. We had a total of 24 F-4E brand new Phantoms for our squadron. Our Commander at this time was Col.Tom Humphrys.

we lost one Phantom & Air Crew due to a crash into Mt.McKinley ( while on a mission) in December 1970.

we later received a replacement Phantom which was a F4-D model returning from Southeast Asia..

if my memory is correct we lost another Phantom over & into the Kinik River ( near by Elmendorf AFB) durning the winter of 1971. The Air Crew survived the ejection & were rescued from the icy waters, which was one of the first rescues in open water durning winter time. Thanks to  The 5040th HH-3 Helicopter Crew that was in the area at this time.

in 1972 we were deployed to Vietnam but only two Phantoms were sent. Our entire squadron was on RedAlert & I personally was loaded up on a C-130 and spent 18 hours waiting to take off for Nam.we were never told where in Vietnam we were going to..Our two Phantoms returned with two red stars on the intakes! I've never found out where our Phantoms flew their missions from in Vietnam...please help me out if you can.

Col.Haselhorst was our Commander at the time when my tour was ending with the 43rd. He was a great guy to serve with & was our main test pilot after engine changes. His nick name was Crazy Horst. :)

it was a complete Honor & Pleasure to be a part of the 43rd TFS Squadron. I had the pleasure of working with the best in the USAF. We were given stickers(decals) that read "we kept the rest and sent the best" 43rd TFS from MacDill to Elmendorf AFB 1970, the stickers had "Spook" on them also. Please update me as you find out more information about the 43rd TFS  thanks, Over n out...Frank Flanagan, my new email address is:


F4 C/D in Alaska

I flew the F-4 with the 43rd TFS in Alaska from 1975 to 1979.  As far as I know the squadron had the E model when it relocated from MacDill in 1970 and never had any other F-4 model.  The tail code was FC when I was there. 

Which version of the AIM-9's

Which version of the AIM-9's dis you all have loaded on your F-4E's ?

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