The US Flying Beast with a Freaking Killing Technique
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Captain Steve Ritchie was on fire. He’d already taken out two MiGs in his latest Vietnam tour and was itching for more. On July 8, 1972, his chance came. An American warplane had taken a hit and was leaking fuel and hydraulic fluid like a stuck pig. The desperate pilot called for help on the emergency frequency.
Ritchie and his squadron of four F-4 Phantoms picked up the call. They knew the North Vietnamese loved to eavesdrop on emergency channels, sending MiGs to finish off damaged American jets. Without hesitation, Ritchie, with his Radar Intercept Officer Captain Charles DeBellevue, led the charge to the stricken fighter’s location.
As they neared, the radio crackled with an urgent alert from ship-based Radar control stations Red Crown and Disco: MiGs inbound. Adrenaline spiked as Ritchie spotted the enemy-a sleek MiG-21 at 10 o’clock.
With fuel tanks dumped and afterburners roaring, Ritchie and the MiG closed the gap, zooming past each other in a blistering blur. Ritchie held his fire, eyes scanning for the second MiG. When it appeared, he executed a perfect barrel roll, lining up for the shot. The enemy pilot didn’t stand a chance.
The MiG turned down into them-Ritchie squeezed the trigger. The missile hit home, detonating in a fiery explosion that lit up the sky and echoed for miles. Ritchie would later say it was: (QUOTE) “The most intense, the most exciting mission that I ever flew.”
But there was no time to celebrate. A MiG suddenly appeared right on top of him. It was a bad spot, but Ritchie was determined to keep his streak alive. He was ready to make it work.
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As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
I knew "General Ritchie" when assigned to "Nellis AFB". His son worked with us during the summer and the "General" would sometimes come by the shop. He was someone who was definitely humble, easy to talk with and had a dignified approach to each and every individual. His son reflected the very same qualities. He said one day during a conversation that it was important to understand with whom you work or interact because in doing so, yours plus the individual's needs, can be satisfied and work accordingly to meet mission. You need not push excessively or demean individuals to assert that you are in charge; they already know that they just need to know what we are expected to do as a collective. Mission first.
A wise approach in managing human resources. Thank you for sharing such a valued lesson.
The F4 is still a plane of beauty
I worked on F4s when I was in the service at George AFB in the 561st tactical fighter squadron. I loved that plane. I used to sit on the ramp at 4AM and just admire the silhouette of this glorious aircraft. Most of the time I was in the back cockpit working on electronics, but I loved the smell of the hydraulic fluid and jet fuel together. Reminds me of the leather oil smell in a air cooled Porsche 911
My father was CMSgt at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC and in charge of the 337th AMU. 99% of what they worked on was F4's in the earlyu 80's
I flew an F-4 in Ace Combat. Absolutely horrible. It's like driving a boat down times square with a super speed tank behind you and when you turn left, it's the slowest "left" of your life hearing that lock on and you actually get to count the seconds before the missile hits you, just because you couldn't make a hard left.
I'd rather fly an A-10
Recall reading about these being called “big rats…”
If you look at them from the side, the front of the F4 aircraft does look a little like the head of a rat.
Captain Ritchie, thank you for your service & sacrifice. From one USAF veteran to another, thanks bro.
And today look what the US has become. Drowning in 35 trillion in debt. Overrun by immigrants. Morally bankrupt. Turning boys into girls. Censoring speech. Persecuting anyone critical of the government. And arguing above electing a woman who is part of the problem vs a man who had nothing to do with it.
Amazing.
My grandfather was Lt. Col. Colacicco, Frank. He was a part of WW2 and faced Rommel. Dark Doc, please look him up. His command post was attacked and all hi men surrendHe was a leader on Normandy that led his men off the beach that was mined. Frank Colacicco had multiple silver stars and purple hearts. My father also was awarded multiple bronze stars in Vietnam with purple hearts. I love our Country and my family. I remember missing my father dearly when I was in 7th grade and he was stationed in Korea for 2 years.
I absolutely love the F-4, it's just so beautiful and beastly at the same time. It's the only jet I ever wanted to work on and the entire reason I enlisted...but the year I went into the Air Force was the year it was decommissioned. Broke my heart. After that, I just became a munitions tech but I always resented the fact that I couldn't work on the 'lead sled'. Like my Grandpa said, after the F-4 every other jet are just "fly by wire" planes and the F-4 was a "fly by the seat of your pants"
That is one of the most difficult airframes for maintenance. I worked the ECM systems on both E and G (Wild Weasel) version, not a lot of room to work in places and several of the access panels had double row hi-torque fasteners because of the stress at those points. You also had to be very careful where you put your foot or you'd put it through the honeycomb panels that were used to reduce weight.
@@bobmorgan1575 That sounds difficult, but you have my respect! It was my dream to work on them, and thank you for your service!
I know what you mean. I was a Kurnass structural maintainer, near the tail end of their service in theIAF. Some of our birds were Ex-USAF Vietnam jets. I always felt privilaged, and still do, to work on these magnificent machines.
The work was not easy, all hours of the day, to the highest standards. Our Kurnass were in peak condition with all the latest bells & whistles, on par with our F-15C/D. We kept our air crews safe and FOD free.
Long live Spook.
@@bobmorgan1575 Worked on E. The only honeycomb pannel I can recall is above the main landing gear. A metal-metal composite structure with stainless honeycomb center bonded to aluminium skins outer and inner. One of the early applications of such a structure.
Ours had a border, some squadrons painted that panel yellow.
Hey, If You Ain’t Ordnance You Ain’t Shit (IYAOYAS).
And if you ain’t got ordnance in your bird you’re just another unscheduled airline.
USMC Ordnance and motor T.
F4 1981-1983
F18 1994-1996 and 1998-1999
CH53 between F18 stints.
The Phantom was a real PITA at times but she was tough as hell. Flew under the aerodynamic theory that if you put a big enough motor on a rock it will fly. So they put two in the phantom.
Today I fly a Phantom 4 (DJI drone) and it’s wel named
Grew up a Marine. My pop did 28yrs and retired E=9. Was shot in the throat in Vietnam. I was 17, when he retired.
I grew up around all the planes, saw all the air shows (Marine and Airforce). Huey Cobra and the F4 were my favorite aircraft. My favorite aircrafts of all time is the P51, it’s so beautiful. I love the F4U for it sheer power and punch; it shot down a MiG15. Those 2 planes I would buy and fly if I could. The F4 phantom was the first fighter jet I ever saw in 1974/75 and the noise and speed made my tee tee tingle. Then at an air show in 1976/77 the F14 tomcat’s speed had me in awe. But, it never gave me the same feeling.
The first time I saw an F-14 was at Oceana Naval Air Station during an air show there. I was standing beside my best friend, we were both 15, just admiring all the aircraft on the flight line with the crowd. All of a sudden there was a loud roar directly overhead and we both looked up to see the F-14 standing on it's tail going vertical directly over us. There was a strong smell of kerosene from the jet engine and I could see the fins of the turbines inside the tail pipe glowing orange as they rotated inside. A sight I will never forget.
When we were stationed in Morocco my father took me out to Kenitra Air Base in Morocco and we went inside a hanger to see an F-4 sitting there. My father walked me up the ladder and into the rear seat position. I remember the ridges on the floor facing forward and as I sat inside I was terrified it would somehow start up and run off with me inside, it just seemed like such a scary, intimidating aircraft. Years later when we were at Sandbridge I would stand on the beach and waggle my arms as they came in on approach over the beach and they would waggle their wings back. Miss both those planes, such power and beauty, in spite of what some say about the F-4 being ugly. Not in my eyes. Not ever.
I had to pause it a second and appreciate that epic pilot mustache at 6:39
Robin Olds would have approved!
One of the things that I find extremely interesting about Ritchie's status as an ace is that all 5 of his kills were MiG-21s, AND they were all shot down by Ritchie using the much-maligned AIM-7 Sparrow missile. 😲
I had the pleasure of meeting Gen Ritchie, a fascinating man,soft spoken, and I sensed the man to be mission oriented achieving goals regardless of obstacles
I was an F-4 radar technician, Thailand 1975. Sparrow missiles, vacuum tubes....
It was a hot mess solution to a non existence air to air threat.
The lead sled!!😤😂😤
At that same time I was in Korat, trying to keep the F-111A avionics alive in the heat and humidity. No vacuum tubes with the 'Vark, individual transistors and all discrete components. Disk drives didn't even exist yet. The F-15A at my next assignment @ Holloman was a revelation.
AIM 9 is the Sidewinder. AIM 7 is the Sparrow. The Sidewinder is a heat seeker, and the Sparrow is semi-active radar guided.
I got to Vietnam 9 July 1972 on USS Floyd B. Parks DD-884?
Thank you for your service.
🫡
🫡 my pops was on a flamethrower tank 68’69’
Gotta tell ya it may have been hard work being raised by a Sargent but I sure learned right from wrong and being in my 50s , feels like he turned me into a hard working family loving honest fella.
Thanks Dad
Mr Walker Sir… 🫡
DD-886 us parked about 3 miles from me.
The F4, my FAVORITE BAD BOY, maybe I'm revealing my generation, but Boy, she was fast.
A clean RF-4 could ourpace an F-15 at high altitude.
Thank you for your service!
I was ground crew for Gen Ritchie for a few years when he was our pilot at the Collings Foundation. He always treated me great and understood the rarity of the aircraft we had and treated it well. My dad flew with him several times and with roughly 3,000 hrs Phantom time gave Ritchie the second highest compliment my dad would give "he was a good stick".
Would that be the Collins (Collings) Foundation in Houston TX ?
@@trespire yes that is correct
It’s amazing how many missiles miss their target, especially the early days of missile fighting in the F4. Firing 4 missiles and only having 1 hit is just crazy to think about today-
Lesson, always equip with a badass on board gun.
I was a GCA controller in the USMC, made hundreds of GCA approaches for USMC F4s. My favorite a/c during the Viet Nam war.
You should do Operation Tea Ball. It's what dramatically altered the kill ratio for the last 5 months of the Vietnam air war.. It was a command post that gathered information in real time from all surveillance and intelligence sources on the location of Migs. Starting in Aug 1972, USAF pilots got a briefing on UHF radioes before ingressing into North Vietnam on the location of all Migs. The US kill ratio for Migcap F-4s rose to 13-1!!! ... It wasn't the gun or improved dogfight training that increased the kill ratio, but rather a massive increase in Situational Awareness this operation afforded USAF pilots..
Had a working relationship with Gen Ritchie He was a wonderful man that you could talk to. He seemed to be just another guy But he earned your respect not because he was a General But because he was a human. Enjoyed working with him and for him,. I retired at Nellis in 1981. I do miss the good times that were had at Nellis, Red Flag was always a treat Pure organized madness.
I always thought that the Phantom was an awesome aircraft until I read repeated complaints of former pilots that it was crap aircraft.
Was that when the F4 was young or were they talking about it when the option was an F15?
Wow!
Saw the F4 for the first time when I was in basic at Fort Campbell in 1969. It was the fastest thing I ever saw. Don't remember seeing them in Vietnam.
I lived in Southern Illinois when McD was building the killer. 1 flew over at less than 1000', he pulled straight up & lit the afterburner breaking the sound barrier right over our house! Never forget the sound and the smoke trail he left..
I used to have a photo (lost where?) of a Phantom of the IDF hammer squadron that were tasked with the long range missions of attacking southern USSR airfield with nuclear weapons if they moved to support Syria in 1973, huge underwing fuel tanks, but no weapon fitted.
The F4 would still be a formidable fighter bomber.
Finaly someone familliar with what the 69th Hammers are all about. I was structural maintainer / mechanical fitter in B-Check, often called out to the 69th squadron and QRA HAS. I know those planes inside and out like the back of my hand. Our Maint. Squadron maintained them to very high standards, on par with our F-15s. In 1991 I saw some very Big Sticks mounted under the right wings of our Hammers, it would have been a very bad day for Bagdad.
Our Hammers had unmatched capabilities, even by the more modern platforms.
Still miss working on them.
The video uses the terms "radar intercept officer" and "weapons systems officer" interchangeably. In the days of the F-4, USAF GIBs (guys in back) were WSOs ("wizzos"); only Navy GIBs were RIOs. My section chief in the AF was an F-4 WSO; we worked primarily with the RF-4C recon platform. I think the Navy switched to calling their GIBs WSOs after the Tomcat era, but I'm not sure.
The RF is a special favorite. We had one in all gray, same shade of IAF high altitude blue-gray as our F-15.
The best looking jet I've ever seen.
Some in accuracies but a great presentation. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, CDR USN RET was the first ace in this conflict and is still alive as of this typing. Steve Ritchie, GEN USAF RET is still alive as well. Both men same age. Both men flew he F-4 variants of the USN and USAF. Both men had significant experience in the advanced weapons schools of each service.
It’s pretty cool knowing that he was stationed here innLas Vegas.
At 4:50 ish you say the pilot released the “radar controlled AIM 9s”. AIM 9s are heat seeking. The Sparrows AIM 7s are radar controlled. Again research
30+ years in the Air Force and I have never seen a non-tactical fighter group. Just saying.
Perhaps they were only playing Chess at the officers club ?
At the non-tactical level !
Last American Ace? What about Randle "duke" Cunningham?
329 Missions in his 2nd tour.....are you sure about that?
Colonel Robin Olds and Operation Bolo wiped out half of North Vietnam MIG-21s. I always thought Thuds were a sexy plane but F-4s were the best.
In skilled hands, and if well maintained, an utterly leathal platform.
Yes he made ace but was beaten to that honour by a US Navy fighter pilot, and for the life of me can’t remember his name. He was the first US airforce pilot to make ace.
Could it be Randall "Duke" Cunningham?
@@fredhercmaricaubang1883Sad about the mistakes he made financially as a congressman.
@@mrbaab5932 Proves he's only human, Dude!
Sparrow was the AIM-7*
Pigs don't leak fuel or hydraulic fluid.
Phantoms are always leaking something.
Fresh out of the US Air Force Academy, Ritchie would have only been a Second Lieutenant.
thank you
tha last American Ace is Mav!
Great F4D. My favorite fighter and it reminded me of "Mike Tyson" I was drated and awaiting a free Nam tour that summer, but after "Afees" they never called. Must of had enough smart asses in country already.
It's an F4 PHANTOM TWIN ENGINE MONSTER 👍
The REAL MAVERICK
WHERE IS HE NOW??
AIM-9 Sparrow, eh?
Col. Mitch Mitchell retired multiple Air Force combat medals, passed don’t hear much of the other side of F-4’s reconnaissance ?
Chunky, but beautiful
"Chunky" can carry 18,500 lbs of external ordinance, and fly at Mach-2.35.
Really cool how he talks about an American flyer yet showed a British version on several occasions. Various Marine and Navy versions as well.
The mispronunciations of WSO and FAC are amusing.
Why the hell would you “ripple fire” AIM 7’s (even if you could because you cant”. You can launch all four with 4 separate pulls if the gun/missile switch on the stick.
Ripple is a term used for rocket pods. Usually 19 rocket 2.75” pods but also possible in 5” Zuni pods.
I was an F4 Ordnanceman in the Corps so I know what I’m saying.
In ONE operation of about a week my crew made over 800 missile load/unload operations while escorting Soviet Bear aircraft through the DMZ.
BTW Small mistake in the video at around 5 minute mark. You named the radar missile used as an aim9. They are actually called aim 7's.
Did you really have to put a red circle around the only object that is in your thumbnail?
The narrator just starts talking mid sentence,,what happened to all the openings
❤😊❤😊
😊
...he always wanted to be a gangster? No ok
Got to go too 9 minutes, when the filler starts.
This video is about the Vietnam War, yet your thumbnail depicts a MiG-23 -- which was never deployed in Vietnam. Basic, elementary-level research is important...
These channels simply try to narrate a story found somewhere on the net, add video and pictures to help us dolts (me, not you) visualize the events. Considering that CZcams has cut payments to creators, they have to push as much content on as many different channels as possible. The AVERAGE payment per video to any channel is $4.69 last time I checked, and it keeps getting lower. As Dark Docs has over a million subs, I’m sure they make MUCH more than that.
Just how much video do you think there is?
I've been watching his vids for years and he always has at least one glaring error. I remember once when he said that WW2 ended in 1964 😆
Not anymore they must have fixed it.
Get over yourself man
What, he just got off on tax-payer funded violence, and wasn't motivated by moral philosophy and a love of freedom, and peace?
Takes all kinds! Let’s go Brandon 😂
If he was so good, how come the US lost the Vietnam War?
Politics. Semper-Fi, Mac;.
@@maureencora1-- and a local force that gave it everything.
Wars are not won or lost by just one man. But for Vietnam ... politics
Son, you have every right to question the outcome of an unpopular War, but do not Question the Integrity of those who fought it...
@@KrasherJack Here-Hear!!