Flying the F-4 Phantom, Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham and Willie Driscoll shot down their first North Vietnamese MiG on January 19, 1972. They scored their second MiG kill on May 08, 1972. On May 10, 1972, they became the first American fliers to qualify as Aces in the Vietnam War when they shot down three MiGs in a single action. In addition to becoming the first Vietnam Aces, the two became the first Team of Aces, the first to score a triple kill over Vietnam, and the first U.S. all-missile Aces.

Cunningham joined the United States Navy in 1967. During his service, Cunningham and his Navigator/Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) "Irish" Driscoll became the only Navy aces in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom II from aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64). He and Driscoll recorded five aerial victories against North Vietnamese MiG-21 and MiG-17 aircraft between January and May 1972, including three kills in one flight (earning them the Navy Cross).

In the final engagement, Cunningham downed a MiG-17, supposedly piloted by "Colonel Toon", a mythical North Vietnam Air Force fighter ace loosely based on a North Vietnamese pilot from the 921st Fighter Regiment named Nguyen Van Coc.
Van Coc retired from the Vietnamese People’s Air Force in 2002.

While returning to the carrier after the final shoot-down, Cunningham and Driscoll were forced to eject from their F-4 over water near Nam Dinh, but they were rescued by Navy helicopter.

Here is a bit of the story...As they approached the coast at 10,000 feet, Cunningham spotted another MiG-17 heading straight for them. He told Driscoll to watch how close they could pass the MiG's nose so he could not double back as quickly to their six o’clock. While this tactic worked against A-4s in training at Miramar, it was a near-fatal mistake. ... A-4s didn’t have guns in the nose.

F-4 General characteristics

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 5 in (11.7 m)
Width: 27 ft 7 in (8.4 m) wing folded
Height: 16 ft 5 in (5 m)
Wing area: 530 sq ft (49.2 m2)
Aspect ratio: 2.77
Airfoil: NACA 0006.4–64 root, NACA 0003-64 tip
Empty weight: 30,328 lb (13,757 kg)
Gross weight: 41,500 lb (18,824 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 61,795 lb (28,030 kg)
Maximum landing weight: 36,831 lb (16,706 kg)
Fuel capacity: 1,994 US gal (1,660 imp gal; 7,550 L) internal, 3,335 US gal (2,777 imp gal; 12,620 L) with 2x 370 US gal (310 imp gal; 1,400 L) external tanks on the outer wing hardpoints and either a 600 or 610 US gal (500 or 510 imp gal; 2,300 or 2,300 L) tank for the center-line station.
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric J79-GE-17A after-burning turbojet engines, 11,905 lbf (52.96 kN) thrust each dry, 17,845 lbf (79.38 kN) with afterburner
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,280 kn (1,470 mph, 2,370 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 2.23
Cruise speed: 510 kn (580 mph, 940 km/h)
Combat range: 370 nmi (420 mi, 680 km)
Ferry range: 1,457 nmi (1,677 mi, 2,699 km)
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)
Rate of climb: 41,300 ft/min (210 m/s)
Lift-to-drag: 8.58
Wing loading: 78 lb/sq ft (380 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.86 at loaded weight, 0.58 at MTOW
Takeoff roll: 4,490 ft (1,370 m) at 53,814 lb (24,410 kg)
Landing roll: 3,680 ft (1,120 m) at 36,831 lb (16,706 kg)
Armament
E-model has a 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan cannon mounted internally under the nose, 640 rounds
Up to 18,650 lb (8,480 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs, TV- and laser-guided bombs, rocket pods, air-to-ground missiles, anti-ship missiles, gun pods, and nuclear weapons. Reconnaissance, targeting, electronic countermeasures and baggage pods, and external fuel tanks may also be carried.
4× AIM-9 Sidewinders on wing pylons, Israeli F-4 Kurnass 2000 carried Python-3, Japanese F-4EJ Kai carry AAM-3.
4× AIM-7 Sparrow in fuselage recesses, upgraded Hellenic F-4E and German F-4F ICE carry AIM-120 AMRAAM, UK Phantoms carried Skyflash missiles
6× AGM-65 Maverick
4× AGM-62 Walleye
4× AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-78 Standard ARM
4× GBU-15
18× Mk.82, GBU-12
5× Mk.84, GBU-10, GBU-14
18× CBU-87, CBU-89, CBU-58
Nuclear weapons, including the B28EX, B61, B43 and B57


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