DC Designs is at it again, this time working on the venerable F-4 Phantom II! Personally, I feel a bit spoiled as this is my second favorite fighter-jet after the F-14 Tomcat, and thanks to DC Designs we will soon have both in FS2020! It’s currently slated for an April release.
Really happy to see there’s going to be a Blue Angels livery! The first time I saw the Blue Angels, way back in the early 1970s, they were flying the F-4. That was also the first time that I witnessed the F-4 in flight so, to me, they are permanently linked.
56 and 74Sqn ran the F-4 as interceptors for the RAF here in the UK during the Cold War based at RAF Wattisham in Suffolk. Mainly used for discouraging Russian aircraft (Bears mainly) from UK/NATO airspace. It replaced the British Electric Lightning, both equally noisy and thirsty
The armed aircraft was the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) aircraft that was on alert 24/7/365 and often airborne in around 2 minutes and sometimes in the air for hours on end, often backed by additional aircraft and tankers.
That role was shared with other squadrons around the UK using the Tornado F3 and nowadays, the Typhoon.
Because of the interceptor colour scheme, blue/grey, the RAF roundel is there on the engine intakes just above the leading edge of the wings, but it is subtle so easy to miss. Some of the paint jobs they did for air shows/anniversaries were just whack though, like totally bat-shizz crazy
As a meteorologist, I was downstairs from ATC and slightly closer to the runway, without the triple glazing. My ears are OK, thankfully. My room in the accommodation block I was in was about 400m from the threshold and I’d sleep through a QRA launch (laden full military power take-off) in the middle of the night (was a daily occurrence for a while). Being British, we could not accept American engines in our aircraft, some weird, probably colonial throwback, so they were fitted with more powerful (supposedly) Rolls-Royce Spey engines.
But if say a C-130 drifted in in the early hours (we got a lot of visiting aircraft) it would always wake me.
Still have very fond memories even if 35 years ago, especially the all night breakfasts if you were working shifts
The Phantom flew for multiple nations for decades across probably a dozen or more variants. Which one appears “quite off” to you and do you have reference photos to compare?
Of course, however the E and F variants nose cone seems to be a continuous angle which it isn’t in real life. I’m not going to post someone else’s picture as a reference however a quick Google around ending up on Facebook shows I’m not the only person to have brought this up and DC Designs did reply to the comment, it should be fixed before release however it’s a “low priority” fix.
To summarize, liveries are coming together. Work is focusing on the cockpit front and back. Autopilot will be very basic (I assume in keeping with the era). Sound package needs to be delivered - the Rolls Royce Spey engine was recorded just last week. No firm launch date yet - the Phantom will be ready when she’s ready (and who would dare tell her otherwise? ). To me, it’s looking like late May/early June (I am hoping in time for Memorial Day as that would be Phantastic! ).
Here’s a recording shot from last week plus more WIP. As always, a big thank you to Dean for sharing:
). To me, it’s looking like late May/early June (I am hoping in time for Memorial Day as that would be Phantastic! 
).
