The first flight .....

of a legend .....

Yes, a legend ..... but as ugly as sin .....

and "Flight International" confirmed .....

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958%20-%200743.html?search=F4H-1

And the great Bill Gunston, former Technical Editor of "Flight International", introducing his book "F-4 Phantom" (Modern Combat Aircraft 1 - Ian Allan Ltd - 1977), wrote :

"Yet I can remember the day in May 1958 when I first clapped eyes on that rather grotesque shape.  My colleagues and I on Flight International gathered round the fuzzy radioed news photo and started a highly critical running commentary: 'Look at the size of the thing ... they must have got everything terribly wrong, and then tried to put it right; look at the way the outer wings are cocked up and the tailplanes cocked down, I've never seen anything like it ... sheer brute force and ignorance, they'll do a four-engined fighter next ...' and so on."

But he continues :

"Though we had long since come to expect bold design from the St Louis company, this one really did seem to be a brutish monster.  But some time later, after the Phantom had collected a shoal of remarkable world records, the Editor of the journal dictated a leader devoted to the Phantom.  In its previous 50 years the journal had never before published a leader about one type of aircraft.  This one bore the title 'McDonnell's Mostest'."

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%201783.html?search=Phantom+II

Records :

http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/aircraft.asp?id=2754