On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 05:08:08 GMT, Buzzer wrote:

On 19 Sep 2003 10:29:42 -0700, (Walt BJ) wrote:

The F4 wingtips cracked from vibration, not G. However, G set up the
vibration. Flying close when when lead was doing acro one could see
the wing tip vibrating as the tip vortices did their 'Karmann trail"
thing.
Walt BJ

Thanks Walt for explaining that. I knew they were cracked, but not the
exact why. I never got over seeing those massive plates on the outer
wing panels. Just seemed like more madness of the Vietnam war...


The corrective reinforcing plates, while a bit ugly weren't all that
massive--probably about 4x8 inches and maybe 1/4 inch thick. The went
in place abutting the hinges at the wing fold on both sides; main wing
and tip section. The real "ugliness" was that the paint had to be
scrapped away from the hinge and reinforcement to allow visual
inspection for cracks during preflight.

Not at all related to the "madness"--simply a fact of life that metal
can only be flexed so many times before it fatigues. We had the
reinforced wings at Torrejon while I was flogging F-4Cs from '73 to
'77. Hardly noticed them after a while.