Phantom F-4J “Black Bunny” ZE352 jet intake interior face tags
McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom ZE352 aircraft skin tags. Limited edition run of just 50!
Airframe Timeline
- 1967: Airframe Construction Number 1759 completed to F-4J specification at the McDonnell Douglas factory in St. Louis, Missouri. First flight 18th March
- 1967: Assigned Bureau of Aeronautics no. 153783. Entered service with US Navy Squadron VF121 “The Pacemakers” as tail code NJ-51
- 1969: Transferred to US Navy Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-4 “The Evaluators” as tail code XF-9 “Vandy 9”. Painted in all-over black colour scheme for air visibility trials whilst engaged in weapons, tactics and performance testing
- 1971: Reassigned as XF-1 “Vandy 1”. Playboy Bunny head added to tailfin as a nod to Hugh Hefner’s all-black private jet, gaining 3783 the nickname “The Black Bunny”. Aircraft used as the star performance of Point Mugu airshow routines, including firing live rockets into the nearby bay
- 1982: Retired to “The Boneyard” storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
- 1983: Recommissioned by Naval Aircraft Rework Facility, San Diego, as one of 15 F-4J(UK) aircraft purchased by the RAF to backfill UK Air Defence Phantoms being rotated through the Falklands Air Defence role post-conflict. Assigned NARF conversion number F902
- 1984: Entered into RAF service with 74 “Tiger” Squadron as tail code ZE352 “G”
- 1991: Retired from service, used as airfield decoy at RAF Laarbruch, Germany. Bare fuselage subsequently repatriated by road to form a fixed target at Foulness ranges, Essex. Here it incurred heavy damage from an explosive ordnance strike to the RH intake
- 2001: Airframe scrapped from Foulness to Hanningfield Metals, Essex. Cockpit section saved during this process by prolific aircraft preservationist Mike Davey, and put in storage in Lancashire for future restoration
These tags are from a section removed from the photo in this listing where the above explosive ordnance strike in Foulness caused damage to the RH intak
