F-4J Phantoms from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-4, “The Evaluators”, out of NAS Point Mugu and Naval Missile Center (NMC) China Lake, California 1975. They disestablished in 1994 and were blended with VX-5 out of NAS China Lake to become VX-9.
As they flew through the Vandenburg Test Center, their call sign was “Vandy” and the squadron leader flew Vandy 1, which in this photo is the Black Bunny sporting the playboy emblem on the vertical stabilizer. The black scheme was actually a test to see how visible it would be at night.
Mr. Hefner, always a supporter of the sexier things in life, had no objections to the use of the Bunny as an insignia, and when the Phantom was retired to the boneyard…
The squadron promptly gave the scheme to an F-14
