CBeal55

One more correction: 22 September 72 your list shows F-4E 0385 as being lost by skidding off the runway while landing during heavy rain. I believe the correct tail number is 0309. I had been on a 5-day R&R upcountry and heard about it from the crew chief, Al Dragos, and the rest of the guys.

Correction: 12 Oct 72, F-4E 0276 is listed as belonging to the 34th TFS. Actually it was still assigned to the 469th. The deactivation of the 469th did not occur until 31 Oct 72. Source: it was my plane. 276 transferred in from Seymour-Johnson in early June 72, with a little over 600 air-frame hours. A major write-up on its first flight was that the pilot had to light the afterburners to keep up with the tanker. In August the squadron commander almost got a Mig-21 kill, but could only claim a probable as he watched it make a semi-controlled crash landing. He had tried to fire missiles, but none of the seven would come off the rails. The commander emptied the gun on the Mig. The weapons shop performed a 283 MITS check, pronounced the aircraft combat ready. On 12 September Major Gary Retterbush got a Mig-21, again using the gun, with a second and one-half burst, since the missiles still failed to come off the rails. The MITS check still failed to determine a cause, showing the missile system was functional. Clint Beal, MSgt, USAF, Ret.