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Phantom Record Breakers

The F-4 Phantom, which received the 1965 Glenn H. Curtiss Memorial Award as outstanding aircraft of the year, has been setting and holding records since its first flight 40 years ago.

In 1998, based upon its class and weight for medium-sized aircraft, it still holds:
bulletThe world mark for speed over a 15-25 km. course - 1,058.8 mphLow Altitude Speed Record

 

bullet3 U.S. records for speed over closed-circuit courses without payload (100, 500 and 1,000 km.) - avg. speed 730 mph; top speed 785.7 mph.
Time to Climb Record Speed Record

 

Over its lifetime, the F-4 Phantom:

bulletSet 15 world aviation records within its first 28 months, including altitude (98,50), 8 time-to-climb marks, and speed (Mach 2.59)
bullet5 speed records were held for 13 years until broken by the F-15 Eagle in 1975
bulletFirst aircraft to achieve a sustained altitude of 66,443.8 ft.
bulletFirst aircraft to fly from Los Angeles to New York in 2 hours and 49 minutes
bulletLargest production run of any supersonic fighter built in the United States (more than 5,000 aircraft in 20 model configurations, including nation-specific configurations)
bulletFirst production aircraft to make extensive use of titanium
bulletFirst fighter with pulse Doppler radar with look-down and shoot-down capability
bulletFirst fighter to concurrently serve multiple purposes for multiple military services (U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps; and 11 foreign military services)
bulletOnly fighter ever to fly concurrently with both U.S. aerobatics flight demonstration teams — the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds