Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA19044
McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II No. 2 airplane, US Blue Angels, 1969
 
General Background
The 501st TRS was the JASDF’s only Recon Squadron. It was formed in December 1961 and uses the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker as it emblem. In 1972 the JASDF decided to replace their RF86F with 14 RF-4Es and formed a detachment at Hyakuri AB to handle the new aircraft. The first F-4Es were numbered 6901- 6914 and began arriving throughout 1974 and 1975. For operation over the water 6901, 6905 and 6913 were given a special Ocean Blue scheme while converted F-4EJ and F-4EL Kai were painted in green/gray Forest scheme.
 
The Aircraft 
In 1969 the Blue Angels re-equipped with the McDonnell Douglas two-seat F-4J Phantom II. The first F-4Js for the Blue Angels arrived on December 23, 1968. This was the first time they had used a two-seater and the first time both the Blue Angels and the USAF Thunderbirds flew the same equipment. The F-4 allowed the team to add more maneuvers to their routine increasing it to 22 minutes. The aircraft had lead ballast in the nose to compensate for the lack of the AWG-10 radar. The team operated their F-4Js until 1974.