Richthofen's Phinest

摘要

Jagdgeschwader 71 (JG 71 - Fighter Wing 71) Richthofen is stationed at Wittmund AB in northern Germany and is the last German fighter unit flying the F-4F Phantom. JG 71 is named after the World War One fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the 'Red Baron', who flew a red Fokker DR1. The unit undertakes the role of air defence and also provided in-house training for the new pilots. Since 2009 JG 71 'R' has been led by Oberst (Colonel) Gerhard Roubal, who is a very experienced weapon system operator (WSO) with more than 2,460 flying hours in total, including nearly 2,300 hours on the Phantom. The F-4 training role was previously performed by the US Air Force at Holloman AFB, and later by the Fluglehrzentrum F-4F (Flying Training Centre F-4) at Hopsten AB in Germany, but that unit was disbanded at the end 2005 as the Phantom was reaching the twilight of its career in German Air Force (GAF) service.