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Back in the 70's, I was stationed at Cape Lisburne, Alaska (look it up on a map). Every couple of weeks, Russian Migs would come across the straight and buzz our site. We figured they were seeing how long it took the F-4s to scramble out of Galena and get up to us. Of course, the Migs would be long gone by the time the F-4s arrived.

An F-4 burned so much fuel that by the time they got to us, running on full afterburner, the pilot had to make a choice:

1. Engage the enemy in aerial combat.

2. Shut off the afterburner and cruise back to Galena.

They didn't have enough fuel left to do both.

The F-4 was America's proof to the world that even a brick will fly if you put big enough engines on it.