Greece: Legendary F4 Phantom retired from Airforce

The Greek Airforce's F-4 Phantom fighter planes were retired from active service on Friday, after a last flight by the aircraft with National Defence Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos as co-pilot.

The minister was at the head of a formation of four aircraft that flew over Thessaly and then landed at the military airport, where a ceremony for the retirement of the 337th squadron of the 110th battle wing was underway.

The minister had arrived at the airforce base in Larissa early on Friday morning in a C-130 military transport plane, accompanied by MP for Larissa Christos Zois and Greek Airforce chief Lt. Gen. George Avlonitis.

After the farewell flight, Spiliotopoulos said he was very moved and later announced that the squadron will be reformed in 2006 with 20 F-16 fighter aircraft, which are top of the range in the Greek Airforce.

During the ceremony, Spiliotopoulos was presented with an aircraft cockpit and the men in the squadron gave him a model of an F-4 Phantom with the serial number 500 and the markings of the first Phantom plane that came to Greece with Spilios Spiliotopoulos as its pilot, which also flew during the conflict on Cyprus on July 14, 1974.

The F-4 Phantom was legendary for its versatility and effectiveness, which earned it the nickname "Phabulous Phantom". It has gone down in history as one of the most successful supersonic jet fighters, capable of flying almost any kind of mission, as well as the most long-lasting. The first Phantoms went into the air in 1958 and the production line ended in 1978, making it one of the longest in the world.

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