About This Aircraft
This exhibit is the cockpit and nose section of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2, serial XT903. The Phantom was a legendary American two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet fighter and fighter-bomber. The FGR.2 (Fighter/Ground-Attack/Reconnaissance, Mk.2) was the designation for the Phantoms procured for the Royal Air Force. While based on the US Navy's F-4K, the British versions were significantly re-engineered and fitted with more powerful, afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines. This gave them superior performance, particularly at low altitudes. The Phantom was the RAF's primary air defence and ground attack aircraft for many years, serving from the late 1960s until the early 1990s.