McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG1, Cockpit Section

One of the most successful and widely-used warplanes of all time, originally designed to meet a US Navy requirement for a supersonic two-seat carrier-borne air defence fighter, the Phantom first flew in May 1958 and entered US Navy service in July 1961. This Cockpit section is from Phantom FG1 XV591 – one of 48 production Phantom FG1 aircraft initially purchased for British service, 20 for the RAF and the remainder, including XV591, for the Royal Navy.

The Phantom formed a major part of the Royal Air Force’s combat aircraft strength for over twenty years and provided the Service with one of the world’s most capable strike fighters. Two versions of the Rolls Royce Spey-powered Phantom entered service with the Royal Air Force. The FG1 (the version also used by the Royal Navy) in the interceptor role and the FGR2 in the ground attack and tactical reconnaissance role in Germany. From 1977, all the Royal Air Force Phantoms were used exclusively as interceptor fighters over United Kingdom air-space. Great Britain bought fifty two Phantom FG1s and 118 Phantom FGR2s. With the deployment of Phantoms to the South Atlantic in 1982 an additional order for 15 Phantoms was placed. These were second hand United States Navy F-4Js fitted with General Electric F-79 engines. After an extensive refurbishment and the fitting of some British equipment they were designated F-4J(UK). The collapse of the threat from the Eastern Europe led to an accelerated run down of the Phantom fleet and the last unit disbanded at the end of September 1992.