At Vintage Aviation News, we have been covering the efforts of the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California, in acquiring and restoring McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom II Bureau Number 155539, which became famous in the 1980s for its time as the “Black Bunny” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four (VX-4), better known as “The Evaluators.” After gaining notoriety among aviation photographers and model builders while it was used to evaluate new hardware for the US Navy while wearing its distinctive all-black livery and white Playboy Bunny under the codename Vandy 1, F-4S Phantom II 155539 spent more than 30 years in the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tuscon, Arizona, from 1986 to 2022, it was transferred to the storage area of the nearby Pima Air and Space Museum until it was transported by truck from Tucson to Atwater in the summer of 2023, where it has been under restoration at Castle ever since.
Now, as the museum prepares for its Spring Open Cockpit Day on May 24, allowing visitors access to the cockpits of several iconic aircraft, it will also use this day to officially unveil the Black Bunny, with its restored all-black paint scheme. The museum’s restoration volunteers have stripped the old paint and replaced missing parts, such as its afterburner nozzle covers (nicknamed “turkey feathers” by Phantom pilots and ground crews).
Here’s an interesting walkaround video featuring Joe Pruzzo, Executive Director of the Castle Air Museum, as he shares a closer look at the legendary VX-4 “Black Bunny” F-4 Phantom II. With its striking matte black paint and iconic Playboy Bunny emblem, this Phantom is a true standout. Joe dives into the aircraft’s unique history, its role in advanced weapons testing with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four at Point Mugu, and how it became one of the most recognizable Navy jets of its era.
For this event, the museum will open at 9:00 am, and besides the Black Bunny and the open cockpits, guests will have the opportunity to meet veteran pilots and maintainers, food vendors, military demonstrations, police, fire, and EMS demonstrations, and helicopter rides (in addition to the $25 admission for general audiences). It will be quite a fitting ceremony to cap off the completion of a restoration that will see the Black Bunny Phantom be placed on permanent display at the Castle Air Museum, starting May 24. For more information, visit the Castle Air Museum’s website HERE.
