The first batch of Demons had the infamous J40 engine... the little engine that couldn't. The later versions had the J71, which wasn't that much better... but much better than the J40. The pilots were directed to avoid "visible moisture" in flight, due to flameout problems.
A great number of the first Demons were towed through the streets of St. Louis and onto barges on the Mississippi River and were offloaded at Memphis and sent to Millington to use as ground trainers for the A-School lads there.
When the F-4 came along (known in the pre 1962 days as the F4H), the standing joke around the factory in St. Louis was that the outer wingtips were canted upward on the Phantom so as to clear the fire plugs on the St. Louis street corners when they were towed down to the barges.
Clicky
