Midland Publishing

Smoke Trails The Last of the F-4 Phantoms

by  Jamie Hunter with Katsuhiko Tokunaga

Reviewed By  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $36.95 ISBN 10: 1-85780-262-4 ISBN 13: 978-1-85780-262-7 Softbound, 8-1/2 X 11, 160 pages, 300 color photos Review copy provided by Specialty Press (www.specialtypress.com) Everyone "knows" that the F-4 Phantom is gone. The "Thunder Rhino" has made its last break to final, and the last ones sit at Davis-Monthan awaiting the wrecker's tender caress. And like so many things everyone "knows", it just ain't so. While it's true the US Navy and Marine Phantoms have shuffled off to the bone yard, the USAF and several foreign users still maintain a few of these awesome beasts in their inventory. So in May of 2008, we can expect to see a special aircraft: "50 Years of Phabulous Phantoms". When I first heard of this book, I thought it might be a compendium from the F-4 Phantom Society's Phabulous publication "Smoke Trails", a quarterly magazine. Instead, this book is the photo story of the last survivors, before they finally do reach the end of their service and, like so many of us, go into retirement.

The story is told with photos, and these are excellent, professional quality, taken with a good eye for modeling detail and those markings and "one off" equipment which brighten the Phantom Phanatic's days. Note the extra 'hump" on the QF-4E. The chapters cover: Last USAF Phantoms - 82 ATRS ICE Men - F-4s of the Luftwaffe Greek Gods - Hellenic Phantoms Rising Sun Rhinos - JASDF Rare Rhinos - Egypt, Korea and Iran Turkish Stars There are a few pages of text in each chapter, but the real meat of the information is in the pictures and the captions.

The USAF, Japan, Luftwaffe, Greece and Turkey are well covered. I saw one of the USAF "Heritage" F-4s on final into Luke AFB last summer for the Luke air show. Gave me a warm feeling in my heart to see and hear a Rhino in the pattern. Egypt, Iran and Korea are less well covered, since Korea is still technically at war with North Korea, Iran isn't speaking to us, and Egypt still has several unfriendly neighbors too. As I said above, the captions contain nuggets of information which can really make your day. The Turk Hava Kuvvetleri continues pilot and WSO training, as they don't plan to retire their F-4s until some time around 2020. So additionally, we can expect to see "60 Years of Phabulous Phantoms". Oh yeah!! Warm thanks to Marie Norton of Specialty Press and IPMS/USA for the review copy and a trip down memory lane.

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