Damn Puma, I too truly enjoy hearing about your history in the Air Force.
Ya gotta forgive me but I always end up with tech questions.
a: Did the Phantom fly reliably or was it common to leave snags in the Log for your crew Chief (like the DC9 was).
b: Clearly you needed ground air to start the engines. Can't imagine an APU in a military jet (weight). But could you crossbleed if necessary or maybe even bleed from another proximate jet?
Thanks. Sorry to bug.
You’re not bugging. As you know, the only stupid question is the one that isn’t asked. Bring em on!
A. If flown regularly, it was pretty reliable. If a Phantom sat around for any length of time, the gremlins started nesting and reproducing. Then, it would be challenging to get one airborne. We had one at Moody that had a brake failure. Over a month’s time, maintenance rebuilt the entire brake system on the affected side trying to track down the gremlins after several pilot post flight write ups and brake failures.
B. No crossbleed, except for a lever used by crew chiefs to switch ground air from one engine to the other. Airstarts were a matter of airspeed and altitude in a predetermined airstart envelope. The military had Dash 60 ground power units that were plentiful at any base for air and electric.
The newer F-Teen jets have APUs for self starting capability.