Hard to fly and it was like sitting on a rocket.......but it was absolutely First Class Bad Ass.
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II first flew 60 years ago. It became the mainstay of the US Air Force and Navy, and was exported to countries all over the world. It's still in front-line service in Greece, Turkey, Iran, South Korea and Japan. However, the last-named country is about to phase it out at last, after 50 years of service. An F-4squadron will be converting to the F-35 later this year.
In preparation for the phase-out, aviation photographer Carl Wrightson and Rich Cooper, head of the Center of Aviation Photography, made a pilgrimage to Japan for a final photo shoot of the JASDF Phantoms. The Aviationist has a collection of some of their beautiful images.
Magazine link in the comments section, along with a great video.