McDonnell Douglas F-4

In the sixties and seventies the McDonnell Douglas F-4 was the big boss of the air. The big navy carriers all had at least one, if not two squadrons on board. The F-4 was a mach 2 plus high altitude interceptor, but in Vietnam it was used as a bomber delivering close air support at speeds of 350 knots. Watching these planes light up afterburners while still on a deck catapult at night was a sight to behold. The catapult would fire, launching this large aircraft off the deck and I could see  the twin flames slowly climbing into the air. The afterburner was shut off when the pilot reached a comfortable altitude. These fighters would return and land (controlled crash) at 160 knots and as soon as the wheels hit the deck, that afterburner would again be pressed into service in case the pilot missed one of the 4 arresting wires and had to lift back off the flight deck. If he did catch a wire, with the afterburner screaming and shooting fire it looked to me like a dragon caught by the leg in a trap.

This exercise pictured here was common when approaching Japan. One day out of Japan the Russian bombers could easily reach out, photograph the ships and then return to their bases inside Russia. The carriers had 2 F-4s designated as ready combat air patrol with pilots in the cockpit and jet starters ready to fire them up. As soon as ship's radar picked up the Russian bombers, the ready plane or planes were started and launched to intercept them. The Russians would try to fly directly over the aircraft carrier and the F-4 jocks would try to herd them away. It was a possibly dangerous game, but one F-4 pilots seemed to relish.