The McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom was a supersonic twin-engine interceptor and fighter-bomber. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1961, the airplane saw a significant amount of service during the Vietnam War with the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The Phantom was capable of carrying 18,000lbs of weapons, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and an array of different bombs. In total 5,194 Phantoms were produced between 1958-1981. The airplane was officially retired by the United States in 1996, replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet. The Phantom continues to fly however with foreign countries around the world, including Iran, Turkey, Greece, and Japan.

 The Museum’s F-4 Phantom was built by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri and accepted on November 23, 1962. The aircraft served with the United States Marine Corps at Cherry Point, North Carolina as part of Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons (VMFA) 531 & 115 until February 1966 when the airplane was moved to Beaufort, South Carolina and joined VMFA-251, the “Thunderbolts.” Here it would stay until February 1971 when the Phantom was moved to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California where it stayed until mid-1971 when the airplane was moved again and served on the carrier USS Forrestal until January 1972. Thereafter, the Phantom was moved to North Island Naval Air Station, California where it was upgraded to a “N” model Phantom and was subsequently redeployed with the U.S. Navy aboard the carrier USS Midway as part of squadron VF-151. In October 1977, the Jet left the Midway and is recorded as having been active with Navy Reserve Squadron VFA-201 in Forth Worth, Texas in 1981. Thereafter, the aircraft was sent for storage in Tucson, Arizona where it stayed until June 13, 1990 where it was sent to AMCEP Metals in Tucson to be scrapped. Fortunately, the cockpit of the airplane was saved and sent to Aviation Warehouse in El Mirage, California. In October 2015 Doug Scroggins of Scroggins Aviation purchased the cockpit, where it was used in the 2016 blockbuster Hollywood film, “Sully.” The cockpit was brought to the Tillamook Air Museum in September 2020 where it is currently on loan from Doug Scroggins/Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects.