| By: theschell Uploaded on: 8/28/2016
 2665 views
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	| Description/ Notes:
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	| "Breaking the Barrier" 
 The Sidewinder was prone to losing lock from simple effects like sun glare or ground heat radiation... and the early Sparrows weren`t much better. The F-4 was also prone to systems malfunctions, it`s radar and fire-control systems were twitchy to say the least... and without an on-board gun, the only choice was to use speed and power to try and dictate the terms of the engagement in a way that you could use the missiles to your advantage. About 1/2 the time either radio or fire-control was out on the F-4`s, but at least the pilots knew they could get out of dodge fast if they needed to...
 
 About the only advantage an F-4 had in Vietnam was power... In combat you could light the burners to use that power to escape any opponent more maneuverable than you were. In dog-fights against MiG-17`s this was about your best option... you could gain distance and try for a favorable shot... "Shoot and scoot" in layman`s terms. Pilots could use the raw power and speed of the F-4 to dictate the terms of an engagement and allow them to get missile shots from outside of an enemy fighters gun range...
 
 Here an F-4 punches through the sound barrier to break out of a MiG trap...
 
 F-4B Phantom, MiG-17 and special effects props by me.
 
 Rendered in DS 4.7
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| Product(s) Used in This Image
 
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|   F4B Phantom (for Poser)
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