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In flight simulator X-Plane 8.15, the F-4 Phantom 2 can fold the tip of its wings (well, variable sweep). Is that useful? Why would a pilot fold the wing? To reduce lift for short landing?

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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Delta Oscar Uniform
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    The wing folding is only meant to save space on a carrier during storage, it is not for in-flight use. Are you asking about sweeping or folding? – Ron Beyer Dec 06 '17 at 15:35
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    Seems to be dedicated to parking on aircraft carriers similarly to aircraft operated on carrier operations. There seems to be one occurrence of a flight with wings folded according to this article, but it likely was just an error of operation. Some people might know more about it. – Pierre Chevallier Dec 06 '17 at 15:36
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    @RonBeyer , In XP 8.15, There is an switch that when pulled all the way down, it makes tip of the wings flat, and Wingtips gets more and more "upright" as you pull it to the top – Delta Oscar Uniform Dec 06 '17 at 15:44
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    That is folding wings, it is only meant for carrier storage operations, it has no use in flight, and it is not for in-flight use. – Ron Beyer Dec 06 '17 at 15:45
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    Who says that the F-4 could not fold its wings in flight? – Peter Kämpf Dec 06 '17 at 16:15
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    Well, only by mistake or failure, which is not the intent of the question. – Penguin Dec 07 '17 at 09:41
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    Woah, X-Plane 8.15!? 11.20 was just released! – SnakeDoc Dec 18 '17 at 17:01
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    @SnakeDoc And worst of all, Its the demo version... well, open this link and go to the bottom then click the For X-Plane installations prior to version 8, go here. this link has X Plane V1 etc – Delta Oscar Uniform Dec 19 '17 at 04:15
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    @JonathanIrons You can fly the demo version of 11.20 for free you know ;P It just limits you to a few aircraft and an area... but if it's demo version vs. demo version, I'd go for the latest one unless your system has some trouble running it :) http://www.x-plane.com/desktop/try-it/ – SnakeDoc Dec 19 '17 at 16:10
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    @SnakeDoc poornes is my biggest enemy (Fucked up computer systems straight outta CODBO(MOHAA,COD1/4 Forever/BF V and 2 forever), and stolen WIFI) – Delta Oscar Uniform Dec 20 '17 at 03:34
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    @JonathanIrons It is indeed brutal on most computer systems, mine barely runs it smoothly. Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it, x-plane and aviation in general is quite fun. – SnakeDoc Dec 20 '17 at 16:12
  • I'm surprised that no answer has mentioned this famous incident of a F-8 Crusader accidentally flying with wing folded -- https://www.flightjournal.com/f8-wings-folded/ , https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/f00un4/an_f8_crusader_flying_with_its_wings_folded_1960/ – quiet flyer Jan 01 '22 at 14:13

3 Answers3

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As several of the comments have mentioned, the F-4 have the option of folding the outermost section of their wings, as shown in the picture below. F-4 Phantoms parked on deck

The main purpose of this was simply to save precious space on aircraft carriers, it had no use when flying. There have been some incidents where wings have either started to fold during flight or where the pilot forgot to unfold before takeoff, but it was not designed for this. Many other naval aircraft have the option of folding their wings in a similar manner, such as the F/A-18.

The F-14 Tomcat uses a completely different mechanism to adjust the wing sweep while flying, and although it had a special "parking setting" for the sweep, it was used to adjust the wing sweep according to the speed of the aircraft.

The A-7 Corsair II and the F-8 Crusader also had wing folding, but in addition they could also adjust the attitude of the wing while flying, primarily to improve visibility for the pilot when landing as seen below.

F-8 post-landing

bjelleklang
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In U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F-4 Phantoms, the wing fold mechanism was controlled and powered by hydraulics, since the pilot had to fold the wings after landing for taxiing around on the deck. The USAF versions of the Phantom, on the other hand, had this hydraulic capability removed, and there was a pin in the top of the wing, (if I recall), just inboard of the wing fold, which, if it was protruding, indicated that the wing fold was unlocked. It was, obviously, a critical pre-flight step to check that this pin was flush, not protruding.

There was at least one incident where the aircrew failed to notice that the pin was protruding, and took off anyway. Needless to say, the wing folded shortly after rotation and liftoff, with catastrophic results.

kevin
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Charles Bretana
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On our RF-4C's the pilot could not fold the wings the crew chief had to do it. It was part of the 25 hour check to fold them and inspect and lube them.

baney
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