gareth Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 Hi, I am trying to work out what colour the main wheel hubs should be on FAA Phantoms. From some of the period photos the hubs looks a dark colour (possibly metallic ?), but the restored Phantom in the Ulster museum has white painted hubs. I can also vaguely remember a comment on one of the posts on the forum that white hubs are not correct for FG.1's. Is anyone able to shed any light onto what colour the main wheel hubs should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 All the pics I’ve seen the main wheels are certainly not white, they seem a dark metallic. Most pics are in shadow so it’s hard to tell. There are some of the one at Yeovilton tho http://plane-crazy.k-hosting.co.uk/Aircraft/Jets/Phantom/pages/mcdonnell_phantom.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagRigger Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 Hmmm https://www.airhistory.net/photo/446698/XV568 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted July 3, 2023 Author Share Posted July 3, 2023 15 hours ago, JagRigger said: Hmmm https://www.airhistory.net/photo/446698/XV568 That's the first one I've seen where the wheels are clearly white, but it's odd how the photos of the Yeovilton Phanton that @Julien posted and some of the period photos that I've seen suggest a dark metal. I had wondered whether it was brake dust that made some hubs look dark, but If the hubs on the Yeovilton one are that dark metallic colour then it cant be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagRigger Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 It looks to me in a lot of the pictures as if there is some kind of cooling fan fitted to the hub, which is a dark colour, and absent in the link to the photo I posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnbowman Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 (edited) Aren't the insides facing in brakes and the outsides facing out white rims? Brake side--- Edited July 3, 2023 by Winnbowman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony.t Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 (edited) On 7/3/2023 at 10:42 PM, Winnbowman said: Aren't the insides facing in brakes and the outsides facing out white rims? Brake side--- That's a US Air Force wheel with anti-skid. The FG.1/F-4K & FGR.2/F-4M used very different F-4J-type US Navy wheels which had white hubs (albeit they got grubby) as seen in Jagrigger's link. Tony Edited July 19, 2023 by tony.t clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 8 hours ago, Winnbowman said: Aren't the insides facing in brakes and the outsides facing out white rims? Brake side--- The Brakes on the Phantom are on the indise of the wheel hub, facing the U/C door. So what is in this photo is not the brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 XV568 must have been rather at the end of her FAA career; is it possible that the hubs were painted after a certain point in the Phantom's career? The F-15 also started out with dark metallic hubs, which appear to have turned white at some point in time, and ultimately replaced with the invariably-white "8-slot" wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 On 03/07/2023 at 06:47, JagRigger said: Hmmm https://www.airhistory.net/photo/446698/XV568 Are they white though or silver? the front is White but the rears look more silver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 The wheel rims on RN and RAF phantoms were painted white. They got dirty quickly withy brake dust and grease etc in service and handling etc would alter their finish a bit, spare wheels being hastily fitted from stores may have had a different finish. Below is a preserved aircraft just to illustrate the point. McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 XV582 by James Thomas, on Flickr 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 I spent the first 3 months after finishing my Apprenticeship in the tyre bay at Leuchars (talk about being disappointed lol) so I can confirm that the main wheels could be white, black or on the odd occasion a magnesium colour. Nose wheels were almost always white. There is a photo of Black Mike (while still flying) wearing one black and one white main wheel somewhere in my info folder. Duncan B 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagRigger Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 45 minutes ago, Duncan B said: I spent the first 3 months after finishing my Apprenticeship in the tyre bay at Leuchars (talk about being disappointed lol) so I can confirm that the main wheels could be white, black or on the odd occasion a magnesium colour. Nose wheels were almost always white. There is a photo of Black Mike (while still flying) wearing one black and one white main wheel somewhere in my info folder. Duncan B Only 3 months in a tyre bay 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 5 hours ago, Duncan B said: There is a photo of Black Mike (while still flying) wearing one black and one white main wheel somewhere in my info folder. Duncan B It certainly did, Phantom FG.1 XV582 Aug 90 by James Thomas, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 On 7/11/2023 at 9:01 AM, JagRigger said: Only 3 months in a tyre bay 😉 It got worse, I then got moved from the tyre bay, which at least had a door so I could slip out to watch the planes, to the hydraulics bay that had no windows or external doors at all. The RAF was trying very hard to dampen my enthusiasm at that point lol. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagRigger Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 23 minutes ago, Duncan B said: It got worse, I then got moved from the tyre bay, which at least had a door so I could slip out to watch the planes, to the hydraulics bay that had no windows or external doors at all. The RAF was trying very hard to dampen my enthusiasm at that point lol. Duncan B Tyre bay, hyd bay, tank bay - first tour 85-88 Colt............ but at least then we got to go on dets with the Sqns ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/13/2023 at 8:40 AM, JagRigger said: Tyre bay, hyd bay, tank bay - first tour 85-88 Colt............ but at least then we got to go on dets with the Sqns ! I missed the tank bay, being a split brain they sent me down to the engine bays after I'd had the grand tour of the airframe bays. That turned out to be a hoot, on the test bed at the time they were trying to bring in the first computers to process the test results, epic fail! Duncan B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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