ravenclaw_007

2 hours ago, streakeagle said:

Also note: in the last photo I posted, the radome got replaced with one that didn't have shark's teeth on it. The camo aft of the black area clearly does not match the rest of the aircraft.

yap   and the green color on the radome is different than the one on the aircraft , looks like as if they aircraft got a new radome 

an other question what year did this reinforcement plates on the stabilizers appear ???  i have them now on the F-4E_72 onward except for the hard wing birds

thats how the look now on the F-4E_72

6 hours ago, streakeagle said:

This bird is older (67-0333), but shots of this unit are so rare and somehow this one is a MiG killer as well as having the later gun muzzle.

interesting is that on both pictures is the same aircraft bud in the upper one the ejection seat & canopy warning is just in red on the picture below it is with the white outline

i have this  version ( F-4E with hard wing and MIDAS 4 nozzle ) in the F-4E pack including the squadron , i just think about the shark mouth should i make a new one for this squadron ???

i made a new tail for the F-4E/F/G´s and thats how it looks now i did not add the pilots name yet for the 68-0317 because there is a small problem with the canopy frames and i dont have the names for the 68-0307

and here is the F-4E_72_TISEO , it is still a BETA version but a very close to final one

F-4E_72_TISEO.7z

the aircraft has the 1971 cockpit , it is a early cockpit and therefor no ripple quantity selection , if you select for example the Mk82 bomb and you have 18 of them hang on the aircraft than all 18 will drop as soon as you press the button , the only selection you have is the ripple interval with 0.08 sec , 0.10 sec and 0.14 sec

if you carry nuclear bombs you may look at the right side panel there is a functioning DCU-94A bomb control panel for them

if you go true the radar options you will come also to the TISEO ( is on the 2nd ground mapping ) it has no lock on function it is just fixed view

thanks for all the help on this one 

thats how they look like now

any idea what that could be ???  looks like a kiwi 

22 minutes ago, streakeagle said:

The lower photo is a bird I struggled to find before. It is "Hey Jude", which was the box art for the Revell 1/32 F-4E in my childhood, H198.

Revell 1/32 McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II Hey Jude, H198 (oldmodelkits.com)

Here is a modern decal sheet: F-4 Phantom Hey Jude Graphics Set – Callie Graphics (callie-graphics.com)

I did find a photo or two, maybe I have them linked on my Facebook?

 

Thank You so much , now i have the name and 1 Serial number 

would it be safe to assume that the other serial number is 68-0307  ????

i found this 2 pictures showing early F-4E´s with TISEO  ( about 1971 -1972 ) i would like to add them to my upcoming F-4E pack  , my problem is that i cant find any reference on the serial numbers , the only thing i can see is the 307 and the 317 , i was searching with 66-0307 / 67-0307 / 68-0307 and 69-0307 with no result the same i did with the 317 

both aircraft belong to the 421st TFS based at DA Nang AFB , the picture from 307 was taken 1972 at Clark AFB , the picture of 317 showing 2 ECM-pods 

if any body has some info on this 2 aircraft please send them to me , the 307 had the name "PROMETHEUS" on the left side of the nose the 317 has a name to but i have no clue what name

wow , that A-6 is looking good  

1 minute ago, daddyairplanes said:

judging usual development times and fact that several systems were put into "provisional" service, i would not be suprised to see some on Desert Storm birds. that might not be the official date of IOC, but look at the E-8A JSTARS. the two prototypes got sent to the desert still wearing civil codes from their development work!

AN/ALQ-131 block II was used in Desert Storm  based on my info as well as the AN/ALQ-184 , the service start years i found so far for this version is between 1987 and 1989 but  this are not 100% sure thats why i keep searching for better info

here is the AN/ALQ-131 Beta pack for testing , includet are the Block I , Block II and the EAPUP 

ALQ-131 Beta pack.7z

the service years as well as some settings could be subject for change

if you use them on the F-16A/B/C/D you may have to adjust the centerline  attachment positions 

thats the one i use for the TW F-16A , it is a new entry in the data.ini

[CenterlineStation_ECM]
SystemType=WEAPON_STATION
StationID=13
StationGroupID=5
StationType=EXTERNAL
AttachmentPosition= 0.0,-0.37,-1.09
AttachmentAngles=0.0,-1.0,0.0
LoadLimit=1000.0
AllowedWeaponClass=EP
AttachmentType=NATO,USAF
ModelNodeName=pylon_centerline
PylonMass=78.02
PylonDragArea=0.02

includet in the pack are 

AN/ALQ-131 Block I

AN/ALQ-131 Block II

AN/ALQ-131 EAPUP

got more info on the service years for Block 1 and Block 2

• Block 1 development started in the 1970´s , service start in 1980
• block 2 development and start of production in 1983 , no word when it was available for the squadrons though

AN/ALQ-131(V)-4 Block-1 ( deep ) with EURO-1 camo

i found more on the EAPUP , the contract to Northrop-Grumman for the upgrade was awarded in 2012  , the 44 million contract i mention above is the 3rd additional order placed 

this is the original text from Airforce Technology

" the US Air Force (USAF) has awarded the third production order to Northrop Grumman for the Electronic Attack Pod Upgrade Program (EAPUP).

The $44m order is part of an existing contract and will significantly increase the number of EAPUP systems for the USAF.

In April 2012, Northrop Grumman secured a $52.8m, 27-month engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract to upgrade the USAF’s electronic attack (EA) pods.

Northrop Grumman’s upgraded, digital AN/ALQ-131 pod is designed to operate in support of A-10, C-130, F-15 and F-16 aircraft and aircrews.

The EAPUP solution will replace the service’s current EA pods. "

so this pods may be in service already for some time , sadly i cant find any pictures of them , if you find one please send it to me  

based on some pictures i found the AN/ALQ-131 block-1 was in service from 1983 , the Block-2 from 1989 and i assume the Block-3 (EAPUP) from 2020/2021 , i hope i´m right with my time frames 

visual differences on the pods / blocks are mainly the lower antenna housing

Block-1

Block-2

and the Block-3 (EAPUP) this one is not yet final 

the 3rd and latest update is a digital AN/ALQ-131 EAPUP  , the contract is from 2019 worth 44 million dollars and this pod will replace all existing AN/ALQ-131 pods  , no idea if there will be a shallow version  of it

52 minutes ago, MigBuster said:

Terminal Threat Deep Pod with Receiver Processor in USAF/EPAF F-16AB early 1980s and USAF CD early 80s manuals.

 

CD also lists Two Band Shallow. (535 lbs without receiver processor)

 

 

this is what i found to , and i found some notes that the other pods could have been put together by the Squadrons / Units it self as they needed it  , means they had the parts and could have add or remove some modules as the mission or expected threat  needed it

will search some more 

i need some help regarding the AN/ALQ-131 ecm pod versions , i found some manuals showing AN/ALQ-131 pods i have never ever seen and maybe somebody knows this versions and if they ever came in to service 

this are the  AN/ALQ-131 like it is used on many aircraft ( deep Version and shallow version ) with a lenght of 111,4 inch

and this are the AN/ALQ ecm pods that are in the manual but i never saw one of this pods on any aircraft

this pod has a length  of 86,5 inches and a weight of 390 LBS and this pod is a available as shallow or deep option as you can see on the picture below ( from an other manual )

and than is the  this pod with 133 inches , also available as shallow or deep option , length 133 inches weight 776 LBS

and for aircrafts who dont have enough power supply for this pods there is a RATG that can  be added to any of the available versions , i never have seen an AN/ALQ-131 with that RATG

by the way the pod in that picture below has a length of 157 inches no info about the weight  , this would be the largest AN/ALQ-131 even with out the RATG

if anybody could give me some info if this pods ever enter service and maybe some pictures of it would be really helpful and i would not waste time building ecm pods that where never used 

• wich pod was used in service 86,5 inches , 133 inches and or 157 inches ???
• also what year did they enter service  ??? 
• and what aircraft where carry them  ???

the F-4G Wild Weasel pack is almost done , something was still missing the AN/ALQ-131 , so i was working on it in the past days and here is the new 3d model  , adding more details to the pod , mapping and making the templates will be next

for the rear inner exhaust part i dont have good pictures so i do have to work around a bit there , the part is not yet finish and will look much better when it is done

the pods are using 30 inch suspension lugs for now in some cases the 14 inch lugs could be added

i know it is not perfect but i think it will be acceptable 

F-4G final version , arresting hook is now done and mapping and template is complete , next i have to bring all F-4E´s , F-4F´s and F-4G´s to the same standard and change all number 1 skins 

aircraft has now a lod size from 8,33 mb and the cockpit 7,70 mb , sofar i dont have any  major issues with the FPS slow down i´m on win7 , CPU i7-4790k , 32 Gb Ram and  a ASUS Strix Rog 1070 Ti with 8192 MB GDDR5 SDRAM so it is a old computer who still runs perfect

FPS based on a heavily modded GermanyCE  terrain from Rents are between 40 to 69 FPS 

testing the new lower tail section  for my new F-4E /F / G , new arresting hook and vents  movements  of all parts ( tail hook , cover plate and actuator ) are done  just by entry in the data.ini 

still have to add some more details to the model and the template

i think next will be a aircraft carrier landing to check if the data.ini entry work  ok  

Egyptian Air Force F-4E 

some F-4E´s and F-4G´s did get the single piece windscreen  , here are the F-4G´s from the Idaho ANG that did get it including a new cockpit for it

just notice by looking to the pictures that i have to work on some cockpit items a bit more  , nothing major

Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom about 1973 with a not yet final cockpit and ejection seat Martin Baker MKGH-7A 

i finaly found a picture of the " Smiths  Industries Combination  Counter-Sector Fuel Quantity Indicator " that shows at least some part of the display , it is on ebay.com and i contacted the guy who sells it there if it would be possible to get a picture with power on , unfortunately he can not do it because he does not have the electrical layout for the connection  , so i took the picture and made a negative of it and played a bit around with the setting and finally i got what i wanted a picture that shows the screen , it is not very detailed but good enough to make the indicator in 3ds max

my first model was a bit more colorful the second is back to green , but now i wonder in the cockpit pictures from the F-4F and F-4G the indicator has a dark blue glas so may be i´m wrong with the green , so here my question is still somebody around here that worked or flew the F-4F or F-4G and knows this particular indicator and can tell me what colors it actually shows ???

i have to add that the indicator has a liquid crystal display ( LCD-Display )

i have to add that i´m searching since years for pictures or a drawing or any other info and found nothing , if anybody has more and better info please contact me

any help is welcome 

this is how it looks in the cockpit with a dark blue glas

that is what i found on ebay.com including the negative i made from the original

that is what i have about the indicator in the F-4G flight manual

and that is what i could made in 3ds max

F-4G about 1989 with a new cockpit