Aviation is full of visuals and sometimes an image grabs your imagination. This is one such image. Looking at this photograph of a decommissioned Turkish Air Force F-4 Phantom makes you wonder about all the missions the aircraft may have flown. Who were the pilots that drove the Phantom and what experiences did they encountered in the airplane?

Senior Airman Chadon Bowman and Staff Sgt. Corey Nickles, both 39th Maintenance Squadron transient alert, Crash Damaged Disabled Aircraft Recovery (CDDAR) team members attach a decommissioned Turkish air force F-4 Phantom to a crane as part of a training exercise March 30, 2017, at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

The primary objective of the CDDAR mission is to quickly and safely remove immobile aircraft and return the runway to operational status. – US Air Force

So what do you think about when you see a retired military aircraft? Do you just see an old airplane or do you image much more?

Featured image by of Turkish F-4 by Airman 1st Class Devin M. Rumbaugh, US Air Force

Incirlik Airmen test aircraft recovery capabilities