@ Madrid, Spain
May 2014
Taken during my first trip to Spain and visit to the excellent Museo del Aire. This facility has six exhibition galleries and over 150 aircraft on display. Here is a reconnaissance version of the fabled Phantom II ( designated CR.12 in the Spanish Air Force). Between October 1971 and September 1972, Spain’s Ejercito del Aire (EdA) acquired ex-USAF F-4C Phantoms through the Mutual Defense Aid Program as replacements for the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter and the North American F-86F Sabre in front-line air defense fighter units. The F-4Cs were designated C.12 in EdA service, the C standing for fighter (Caza) and the 12 indicating that the Phantom was the 12th fighter type to enter service since the Civil War. In October 1978, the EdA acquired four ex-USAF RF-4Cs unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. The last RF-4C was retired from the EdA on October 18, 2002, replaced by the EF-18 Hornet.
