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About the Author: Richard Keyt
Rick Keyt has practiced law in Arizona since 1980. He flew the F-4 Phantom for five years in the United States Air Force, including combat missions over South Vietnam, North Vietnam and Laos in 1972. For more about Rick's bio including his F-4 bio see his resume on his law website. Connect with Richard at 480-664-7478 or send him an email at [email protected].
I first would like to thank you for letting me be part of this community. I’ve been a huge fan of fighter pilots since my father introduced me to those great men when he was in the Air Force. You guys are giants in my eyes. What I am really interested in is cockpit recordings such as the one on this site with Roger Locher. I also listen endlessly to the recordings on Craig Baker’s F-105 site. If you could post or point me in the direction of other air combat cockpit audios, such as Dan Cherry’s Mig 21 kill, it would really make my day. Thanks again.
Your site is Shit Hot!!
Thanks. Sorry, but if I knew of other Vietnam air war audio tapes I would link to them. If you find any please let me know.
Dear sir, I am writing a screenplay, hopefully for a movie that will be produced in the near future. I served from 1986 to 1988 in the Army’s 32nd ADA, 151th battalion on Spagdahlem Air Force Base in Germany, which was home of the F4. I have always been fascinated with the F4 and I want to tell its story and the story of the courageous pilots that fly them in times of war and peace. I would like to hear your stories. My contact email is [email protected].
This is a wonderful website and thanks so much for sharing your personal stories. I have been trying to find a photo of an F-4 pilot wearing a squadron patch on his flight suit so I can use that as a reference for buying an authentic Vietnam war patch from the 480th or 555th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. The only photos I find where there are flight suits pictured are showing the Tactical Wing patch, but never the squadron patch. There is a photo of Colonel Robin Olds wearing a patch on his right shoulder that is only partially in view and I cannot make out what it is. The patch on the front of his flight suit is the Tactical Wing patch. Does anyone have a photo of one of a squadron patch for either the 480th or the 555th as they would have looked during the Vietnam conflict? Thanks for any help you can offer.
I don’t recall having a flight jacket when I was flying combat missions in the F-4 in Southeast Asia in 1972. It was too hot to wear a jacket. Many of us wore patches that connected to our flight suits by velcro because we didn’t want the enemy to know our unit if we were captured
In 1972 USAF F-4 drivers had flight suits and flight jackets that had the squadron patch (references are from the perspective of the wearer) on the left shoulder (35th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron), the wing patch on the right shoulder (35th Tactical Fighter Wing), the command patch on the right side of the upper chest (Tactical Air Command) and the wings and name patch on the left side of the upper chest. The wing patch may have been optional because I remember some guys who replaced it with a fighter weapons school patch, a 100 missions over North Vietnam patch or an F-4 patch.