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Posted: 4/13/2022 1:57:00 AM EDT
The Black Bunny F-4 has moved out of the Davis-Monthan Boneyard.
It went to the Pima Museum to be disassembled and trucked to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, Ca for display. BUNO 155539 is a McDonnell F-4J-33-MC "Phantom II". It went to the Boneyard in May of 1986 from VX-4. For those with Facebook accounts - https://www.facebook.com/castleairmuseum/posts/2049272201920887 
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Posted: 4/13/2022 1:58:45 AM EDT
[#1]
Cool! As is the paint job on that tug
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Posted: 4/13/2022 2:05:21 AM EDT
[#2]
Castle has some cool aircraft. My dad and I got to help them push the SR-71 and B 24 into place the day they got delivered.
 Look forward to seeing the addition. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 2:05:46 AM EDT
[#3]
Make the F4 great again.
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Posted: 4/13/2022 2:37:53 AM EDT
[#4]
My Grandpa helped put the B-36 back together when it arrived at Castle. I still have the ball cap from the project.
Used to love going there as a kid. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 2:54:22 AM EDT
[#5]
VX outfits have cool aircraft. I used to ride with the CO of this squadron (bikes, not jets).
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Posted: 4/13/2022 2:56:15 AM EDT
[#6]
What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black?
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Posted: 4/13/2022 3:05:04 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black? |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 4:09:47 AM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black? |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 5:02:59 AM EDT
[#9]
it has a bunny. the bunny.
do you even bunny? I need to find my photos of Pt Mugu from 2002. I saw a black bunny tomcat landing; was at the static missile displays IIRC. took pics with a Sony Mavica floppy disk camera. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 5:06:30 AM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black? |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 5:07:42 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: it has a bunny. the bunny. do you even bunny? I need to find my photos of Pt Mugu from 2002. I saw a black bunny tomcat landing; was at the static missile displays IIRC. took pics with a Sony Mavica floppy disk camera. ...and I know WTF you are on about - camera wise - due to that nice Techmoan bloke on YouTube! Did you save the F14 photos? |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 8:40:55 AM EDT
[#12]
The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom.
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Posted: 4/13/2022 8:44:24 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 8:50:14 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Castle has some cool aircraft. My dad and I got to help them push the SR-71 and B 24 into place the day they got delivered. https://photos.smugmug.com/Photography/Plains-Trains-and-Automobiles/Aircraft/i-6nrwWDw/3/de90bde4/M/IMG_2589_90_91_92_93_94_95-M.jpg Look forward to seeing the addition. I helped with restoration of several of the aircraft at the Castle Museum when I was stationed there in the mid ‘80’s. The Vulcan was amazingly pristine inside even after the Brits ‘borrowed’ some of the parts during the Falklands adventure. ETA watching the B-47 land after being put back together and flown up to Castle was pretty amazing. Too bad they dinged the engine cowling on landing. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 8:53:23 AM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black? dude............ 
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Posted: 4/13/2022 9:19:34 AM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black?  |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 9:38:29 AM EDT
[#17]
Quoted: The Black Bunny F-4 has moved out of the Davis-Monthan Boneyard. It went to the Pima Museum to be disassembled and trucked to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, Ca for display. BUNO 155539 is a McDonnell F-4J-33-MC "Phantom II". It went to the Boneyard in May of 1986 from VX-4. For those with Facebook accounts - https://www.facebook.com/castleairmuseum/posts/2049272201920887 https://www.vaq34.com/junk/bunny.jpg My dad's favorite is the F4, maybe its rime to start planning the trip again. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 9:45:33 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black? |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 9:58:57 AM EDT
[#19]
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:04:32 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I never heard of this either. Had to Google it; https://www.warriorflightcharity.org/fear-the-bunny Well that's pretty cool. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:23:31 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Castle has some cool aircraft. My dad and I got to help them push the SR-71 and B 24 into place the day they got delivered. https://photos.smugmug.com/Photography/Plains-Trains-and-Automobiles/Aircraft/i-6nrwWDw/3/de90bde4/M/IMG_2589_90_91_92_93_94_95-M.jpg Look forward to seeing the addition. Kind of sad that they leave a Blackbird outdoors to slowly succumb to the elements. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:24:10 AM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. Considerations, huh? That's surprising, I'd of figured they called knock-it-off after Tailhook. That was in 1991, back in the bad 'ole days when that kind of behavior was still almost expected of the military. Beat, a little more subtly, by Birddog. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:27:37 AM EDT
[#23]
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:34:03 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Considerations, huh? That's surprising, I'd of figured they called knock-it-off after Tailhook. That was in 1991, back in the bad 'ole days when that kind of behavior was still almost expected of the military. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. Considerations, huh? That's surprising, I'd of figured they called knock-it-off after Tailhook. That was in 1991, back in the bad 'ole days when that kind of behavior was still almost expected of the military. I cannot imagine how/why a group of fighting age Alpha-males would have such an InsensitiveTM symbol.  C A N N O T I M A G I N E. Gosh! Our moral superiors from the states with the high taxes and crime problems despite having no Republican influence on its governing for decades - tell us that you know what? This is JUST like Any Other WorkplaceTM. It's exactly like a corporate workplace where you can simply TrainTM people not to tell jokes that are funny now and won't be (to 4% of people) in 10 years. Tell those 20 year old men "hey guys! This more uptight than a CHURCH okay! People who don't give a fuck about you might be offended if they glance at the photos of your tail art on the internet! Knock it off!" Bonus: These are the same geniuses that old us you can simply tell people of the opposite sex, who are young and healthy, hormones flying, to simply NOT fuck eachother, and, they won't. It works sooooo well in office environments, you can just snap your fingers and human-pair bonding goes away. Sooo glad we brought that to military units.
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:37:13 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. Yeah, I figure it's going to trigger a bunch of retards. 
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:45:13 AM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. I wouldn't be surprised to see BLM and Black panther "raised fists" and other communist filth making appearances on our military vehicles and buildings before too much longer. Pandering to smooth brained people who get violently triggered over words and symbols is the new social reality, I guess. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:48:57 AM EDT
[#27]
According to Navy lore the first rabbit appeared on the black F-4 Phantom II in 1969 during night testing and was referred to either as “Black Bunny” or “Vandy One”.
Playboy so liked the logo they sent official stencils to make sure it was done right. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 10:54:07 AM EDT
[#28]
Oddly enough there's been more than one Navy squadron's whose mascots have caused problems.
 The World War II nose art would cause untold turmoil - hell it will get your account locked here. Anybody seen WWII nose art altered in a museum yet? |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:06:14 AM EDT
[#29]
2nd Marine Airwing caved into the fat stay at home dependas in the 90s and removed the Bunny, too.
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:13:41 AM EDT
[#30]
Even much of the nose art from WWII combat planes would cause head-explody among today's snowflakes who can't figure out gender or freedom.
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:20:06 AM EDT
[#31]
"We train young men to drop fire on people, but won't let them paint 'fuck' on their airplanes, because it's obscene..."
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:23:27 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's so special about this F4 other than it being painted black? If you have to ask...  |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:28:09 AM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. According to the people at the Castle Air Museum they are going to keep that paint scheme since it represents the aircraft as it was when it was operated. A lot of museums paint up display aircraft to look like Blue Angels or Thunderbirds when they didn't have shit to do with a team. They also paint up a lot of display aircraft it non-traditional colors or markings. Some planes are painted up as tribute aircraft, I am OK with that as long as they say that it is a tribute aircraft and they give you the information of the actual BUNO/Serial Number. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:30:29 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: According to Navy lore the first rabbit appeared on the black F-4 Phantom II in 1969 during night testing and was referred to either as “Black Bunny” or “Vandy One”. Playboy so liked the logo they sent official stencils to make sure it was done right. When the Talon IIs adopted Opus from Bloom County as their mascot (the noses were almost identical), Berkeley Breathed sent his lawyers, who threatened to sue the Air Force if all references weren't removed immediately. We were forced to paint over some really outstanding murals in the 15th AMU that one of the Airmen had spent weeks working on. I was there when it happened...our appeal got spit on. I love BC, but Breathed is a fucking asshole. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:37:47 AM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Let me guess, right about 1991? The Bunny has been known to make appearances on VX-9's F/A-18E aircraft.   |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:38:46 AM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: VX outfits have cool aircraft. I used to ride with the CO of this squadron (bikes, not jets). https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/166803/7E011984-C125-4655-933E-08A88CCF5F23-2347397.jpg Cool. VX-9 = VX4 + VX5. I was in VX-5 from '86-'90, but we just had an arrow through an X tail marking. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:39:10 AM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Well that's pretty cool. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: I never heard of this either. Had to Google it; https://www.warriorflightcharity.org/fear-the-bunny Well that's pretty cool. +1 very cool |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:43:41 AM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The bunny went away on the F-14 because of "considerations". I'll be pleasantly surprised if it remains on the Phantom. Same. The CO of VX-9 (at the time) tried to keep the bunny: it was popular with the troops. Please do NOT quote me on the next--I was in a sister squadron, not VX-9: The way I understood what happened, is that the CO and several of his pilots were invited to the Mansion and actually went. That caused a bit of a sensation (this would have been around 2000-2005) and some official discussion that ended up with VX-9 having to eliminate the bunny altogether. They were still flying it, though, even after the Tomcats went away. Not a lot of photos out there (no photography allowed where VX-9 works). The CO retired not too long after the "discussions". One of the things he did was lead the local Harley riders group afterwards--he was a good man.  ETA: Beat by KA3B with a much better photo! |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:45:30 AM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I cannot imagine how/why a group of fighting age Alpha-males would have such an InsensitiveTM symbol. I can tell you from personal experience that the Enlisted girls (women) of VX-4 loved the Bunny Aircraft (I didn't know any women officers from VX-4). It was an "esprit de corps" thing for them. I am facebook friends with a couple of them and they still love the Bunny birds. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:46:34 AM EDT
[#40]
Sweet. I'd much rather see that F-4 get displayed indoors, but, It is what it is.
Castle AFB was my first duty assignment back in 1984. Damn I feel old. 
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:51:32 AM EDT
[#41]
I live near Castle Air Museum, it never gets old seeing the SR-71 out in front almost every day.
 Air Force One & A Blackbird at CASTLE AIR MUSEUM If you ever visit California it's worth a visit. Another military museum worth visiting is at the National Guard military base in Paso Roubles where they have a lot of tanks on display, you can even climb inside them.  Camp Roberts Tank Exploring |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:56:28 AM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Castle has some cool aircraft. My dad and I got to help them push the SR-71 and B 24 into place the day they got delivered. https://photos.smugmug.com/Photography/Plains-Trains-and-Automobiles/Aircraft/i-6nrwWDw/3/de90bde4/M/IMG_2589_90_91_92_93_94_95-M.jpg Look forward to seeing the addition. I want to see an SR-71 in person. I guess Richmond VA is the closest one on display. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:57:10 AM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: ...and I know WTF you are on about - camera wise - due to that nice Techmoan bloke on YouTube! Did you save the F14 photos? Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: it has a bunny. the bunny. do you even bunny? I need to find my photos of Pt Mugu from 2002. I saw a black bunny tomcat landing; was at the static missile displays IIRC. took pics with a Sony Mavica floppy disk camera. ...and I know WTF you are on about - camera wise - due to that nice Techmoan bloke on YouTube! Did you save the F14 photos? Finally threw mine out last year. Useless as tits on a boar. Not even a collector item. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 11:58:28 AM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Make the F4 great again. The F-4 has never been anything less. 
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Posted: 4/13/2022 12:06:13 PM EDT
[#45]
since we're doing F-4's here's my dad and his engine nozzle test crew at Edwards AFB late 60's
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Posted: 4/13/2022 3:13:44 PM EDT
[#46]
Quoted: The Black Bunny F-4 has moved out of the Davis-Monthan Boneyard. It went to the Pima Museum to be disassembled and trucked to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, Ca for display. BUNO 155539 is a McDonnell F-4J-33-MC "Phantom II". It went to the Boneyard in May of 1986 from VX-4. For those with Facebook accounts - https://www.facebook.com/castleairmuseum/posts/2049272201920887 https://www.vaq34.com/junk/bunny.jpg 155539 is an F-4S not a J. She might have left St Louis as a J-33-MC, but there was a rebuild or two along the way. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 5:07:14 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I can tell you from personal experience that the Enlisted girls (women) of VX-4 loved the Bunny Aircraft (I didn't know any women officers from VX-4). It was an "esprit de corps" thing for them. I am facebook friends with a couple of them and they still love the Bunny birds. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: I cannot imagine how/why a group of fighting age Alpha-males would have such an InsensitiveTM symbol. I can tell you from personal experience that the Enlisted girls (women) of VX-4 loved the Bunny Aircraft (I didn't know any women officers from VX-4). It was an "esprit de corps" thing for them. I am facebook friends with a couple of them and they still love the Bunny birds. Jesus. So everyone in this whole thing who mattered was fine with it. Self important people who were not going to see these things in anything but photographs, decided it had to go?
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Posted: 4/13/2022 6:28:19 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 155539 is an F-4S not a J. She might have left St Louis as a J-33-MC, but there was a rebuild or two along the way. You're absolutely right. 265 Navy and Marine F-4J's were upgraded to F-4S standards. Major changes included airframe and undercarriage strengthening including landing gear and wing/fuselage structural improvements. The electrical system was completely rewired, and the hydraulic system was replumbed using stainless steel tubing. Two-position wing leading-edge maneuvering slats were fitted to the F-4S, which gave a 50 percent improvement in combat turning capability in comparison with an unslatted F-4J. The F-4S was fitted with the digital AWG-10B weapons control system with new AN/ARC-159 dual UHF radios and an ARN-118 TACAN. The F-4S was fitted with smokeless J79-GE-10B engines with low smoke combustors and low-energy ignition. Low-voltage formation lights were fitted to the sides of the nose, mid-fuselage, and tailfin, and staggered cooling ports were fitted near the nosewheel well. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 6:31:32 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Jesus. So everyone in this whole thing who mattered was fine with it. Self important people who were not going to see these things in anything but photographs, decided it had to go? If I only had pictures of the Pt. Mugu E Club when a couple of the VX-4 Enlisted females showed up in black playboy bunny outfits for Halloween 84. |
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Posted: 4/13/2022 6:43:04 PM EDT
[#50]
wHaT’s sO sPeCiaL aBoUt tHis f4 oThEr tHan iT beiNg paiNtEd blAcK?
 Typical GD edgelord clownshow. |
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