The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

BUILD MANUAL Green Air Designs are pleased to offer you a superb model of. The F-4 Phantom was designed as a fleet defence fighter for the U.S Navy, and first entered service in 1960. By 1963, it had been adopted by the U.S Airforce for the fighter-bomber role. When production ended in 1981, 5,195 Phantom IIs had been built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft. Until the advent of the F-15 Eagle. The F-4 also held a record for the longest continuous production with a run of 24 years.

So in offering this model we have a lot to live up to, but as the above shows, we are starting with a timeless design that has been proven. We are confident that you will not be disappointed, your model can be hand launched, no need for a bungee, is very stable in flight, the stall is a non-event and landings are totally without drama. We love it and we are sure you will too! PARTS NEEDED TO COMPLETE 1 x ‘GAD 21’ brushless motor (3000kv), or similar and prop adaptor.(Pusher) 1 x 18A Brushless Esc.(Pusher) 2 x GAD/VIPER-TECH 44mm EDF Units (EDF) 2 x 18A brushless speed controllers (ESCs).(Twin EDF) 2 x 5gm, micro servos (Ailerons) 1 x 9gm Servo (elevator) Small 4 channel RX Extension cables or cables to solder extend the existing ones. 3S1P 1300 – 1700 mAh Li-Po batteries. 1 x 5x3 APC Type prop and prop adaptor. All the above are available from Green Air Design ex–stock, and at competitive prices. You will also need lightweight filler, PVA glue and acrylic paint. Most of your gluing will be done using a Hot glue gun. So if you don’t have one, buy one, along with some spare glue sticks. The guns are not expensive and the Bostick one is as good as any. If you are not familiar with glue guns, practice on some scrap before rushing into the model. 5 minute Epoxy may also come in handy. Let’ clear the bench………

LOWER WING SHEET The 3mm lower wing sheet comprises of two parts, which you need to glue together. The order in which you do this is as follows: On what will be the inner surface of the lower skin, you will see etched marks denoting where you are to put the, wing ribs and spars. However, prior to fitting the above, we have to glue the wing together, as mentioned earlier. Turn the two wing pieces over, etchings downwards, then making sure that the tips are perfectly aligned, run some low tack Sellotape along the joint. Turn the wing over, etchings upper most, and let the tips sag on the Sellotape, run some hot glue along the joint and place the wing/tip flat on the bench until it is set. You can place a weight over the joint if you wish—just make sure it doesn’t stick to the hardening glue! We now have two wing halves glued. You will have to move the glue gun quickly to be sure that you reach the far end before the beginning has set. Make sure you have a new glue stick in your gun and the gun is nice and hot, then you should O.K. So, tape the two wing halves, open the joint, squirt in some hot glue and lay it down somewhere flat to harden off. Well done! You’ve made a significant start.

. WING RIBS Remove and de nib Wing ribs R1-R6. Dry fit the spar and ribs, once happy glue down the spar, making sure that nothing has moved! The front of the ribs should be aligned with the front edge of the wing but with 5mm clearance (Allowing the skins to glued later) The etched spar positions on the ribs matched up with the ribs and glued. NOTE: Make sure you have a 2mm gap between ribs R4 & R5 to allow for the tips to be cranked up later. FITTING THE SERVOS

The two wing servos are fitted just clear of wing ribs R1. You will now have to use either an Extension lead / Y Lead or extend your leads by soldering in extensions, to reach the RX at the front of the fuselage. To locally strengthen the area around the servo you can, if you wish, glue a very thin piece of Plasti-card, veneer or ply to the lower skin. Whatever you do, the servo, when glued to the above, must not stand proud of the wing rib. Before gluing the servos in place, connect them to a RX and battery and zero them with your TX. The servo arms should point straight up. When satisfied, glue the servos in place with your hot glue gun.

WING CRANKS We made a simple jig using scrap depron, but for simplicity, simply, GENTLY bend up the bottom skins at the crank etch mark. The real concern is that the tips at sqr once glued so no warping occurs. For the sake of 5 mins with some scrap depron ,you can make a simple jig fixing the crank height to 30mm. From scrap depron/balsa make up a couple of Aileron hinging braces at the rear of ribs. These are very important later when you want to hinge the ailerons. Once you are happy that the skins are even, starting at the trailing edge, glue the top skins on TE to LE. MAKE SURE THAT THE JIG DEOS NOT MOVE or the wing will warp! Repeat for both wings. NOTE: The top skin only goes from R1 to R6, leaving the centre clear. This will become apparent when the fans at being fitted.

FUSELAGE Start with the bottom section, glue along the joint to complete the base. Gently form the fuse sides to conform to the curvature of the base. Glue into place.

Next glue in the wing, this just builds in stability for fitting the formers.

Laminate the EDF entry former and glue into place.

Next Laminate FB2 onto the base, gently form and glue on the nose sides. Finaly add the cockpit rear former.

Next Laminate up the cockpit top ready for fitting.

Glue into place.

Laminate outlet former and glue into place.

Identify and glue on the rear support.

Build up and glue the remainder of the tail support.

Trial fit the carbon tube through the side supports, make sure that the tube turns freely, glue on the control horn, refit and glue on the side supports. Check & Double check that the tube can move freely. Connect up & Centralise the servo, glue into place, See Views

Now everything gets a little more complicated. The fan carriers are 2 identical formers supported at each end by a small piece of depron, glue into place. Glue in the fans, only 4 spots of hot glue is normaly enough to stop the fans from moving in their mounts. Using the 2mm depron supplied, make a wrap to go around the fans and inside the entry former. This smoothes the flow of air into the fans. Make up the card exit ducts and carfully slide into place, insuring a good fit, remember to slit the top to allow the cables to exit the EDF units. Using high tac tape. Seal up the wire exits and secure the exit ducts into place

Connect up the 2 Esc`s and check for rotation, see view below for completed assembly. Feed the wires through the hole in the former.

The two ESC`s are placed rearward of the inlet former. Next we have to extend and join, the power input leads. (Positive to positive/ negative to negative) leaving you with single positive and negative leads to connect to your li-po. The control leads from the two ESCs to the RX can be joined together either by purchasing a ‘Y lead’, or if you are competent with a soldering iron, making your own. The resulting single control lead plugs into the throttle channel of your RX. In either case, you must isolate the positive wire in one lead, before it meets with the ‘Y’, leaving negative & signal to be connected. The reason for doing this is to ensure that there is no confusion in the BEC cut off level from two controllers. I promise you, that you will still retain full throttle control over your motors. Notice the secondary entry former. Glue it in and sand it to shape. Tape up the entry so that its as smooth as possible. Glue in the cockpit rear air spliters. Smooth off the inlet to the entry former, keep the air nice and smooth coming in, this also stops inlet turbulence for the EDF units. Connect up everything so far and run the fans up, give yourself a feel of how those units perform.

FUSE COVERING Before covering the ducts, slit the wing on the inside of the duct and tape down so that Start with the duct sides. These are numbered & arrowed so that the fronts are identifiable. Each layer is sanded at the front edge so that the next layer takes the shape of the F-4.

Next Job is to lay up the sides, these are produced in two parts, glue them together. Due to the complex shape of the F-4 you will have to work the side panels into place, glue as you go.

Repeat this for both sides of the main fuse.

Glue together, FT2 & FT3 that make up the spine, top layer is obvious as its has the slot for the fin.

SANDING SOME OF YOUR HANDIWORK ETC. You can now start to sand the airframe to a rounded shape to blend in the spine into the ducts/rear exhausts. Sans the fin before fitment, don’t forget to taper the fin back to 3mm at the trailing edge. Cockpit Cover & Glass Trial fit the cockpit bottom, from scrap depron make up a front catch, rear can be small magnets or simply tape. Sand the bottom into the rest of the front end and blend. Once happy, glue on the glazing.

NOSE BLOCK The nose block is a simple procedure of laminating outwards, these are marked with letters starting at `A`. Once built glue on and sand in. Lastly in this section glue on the inlet covers.

ELEVATORS Identify the 2 ply elevator braces. These fit into the carbon tube, as these are cut from the ply square, gently sand the edges of the horizontal part so that they slide into the tube (interference fit). With the elevator servo centralised, epoxy in the two elevator supports. Sand the elevators leaving 3mm at the trailing edge. DO NOT GET ANY GLUE ON THE BEARING!!! Or the elevator will bind.

ENGINE UNDERSIDE NACELLES Glue on the underside nacelle cover and sand to a flowing shape, blend into the underside.

Glue two of the aileron parts together, one on top of the other; repeat for the other side. When dry, sand to a wedge shape, from 12mm leading edge, down to 3mm at the trailing edge. Chamfer the leading edge back at 45 degrees so that you can top hinge it . From scrap depron make up, what looks like outlet ducts, and from paper make up the flairs that fit under the rear section. Sand the whole model with fine sand paper before mixing up a pot of water diluted fine filler, and coating the whole model. Make good any imperfections. Let it dry. Now sand it once more to achieve a smooth surface, which you can now seal with a watery PVA. After the first coat de-nib and coat again giving a nice smooth coat for the paint.

FINISHING Now is the time to fit the aileron/elevons to the wing using Diamond tape or 3m Elapor tape, or mylar hinge material. Make up the wire links, test fit before fitting the horns, once happy, centralise then glue in the horns. Connect up the servo to the aileron with the parts supplied in the box. Test the system with your TX

While the glue is drying, make up your battery securing method in the hatch. Velcro, Velcro and tape, or foam wedges, keep it light. There is plenty of information out there on the F-4 Phantom II, so please study it and come up with a credible colour scheme. Right! That’s decided. Now’s the time to paint your pride and joy using acrylic paints. GAD cannot accept any responsibility for damage caused by the use of inappropriate paints. The ailerons should have a 10mm throw in each direction. Set your rates at 60 per cent. Elevators set at 12mm each way. C`o`G 140mm from leading edge @ Root Thank you for purchasing the GAD F-4 Phantom II, we hope you enjoyed building it as much as we did, and that flying it will provide you with as much fun as ours does us.

Mike Black M.D Green Air Design Holdings