Rather than retreat, Herman Barkey and his team canvassed every Navy pilot and maintainer they could find, asking what the next carrier aircraft should do. The answer was: everything. On July 23, 1954, the Navy recommended procurement of two McDonnell prototypes. The design evolved from a single-seat cannon-armed fighter to a two-seat, all-weather interceptor armed with radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles and no guns at all. The aircraft, designated F4H-1, flew for the first time on May 27, 1958. It broke fifteen aviation world records, including an altitude record of 98,556 feet on December 6, 1959. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara forced the reluctant Air Force to adopt it in 1962, redesignated F-4C. In Vietnam, the Phantom proved that "no guns" was a mistake—early missiles failed in close combat, and SUU-16 gun pods were a poor fix. The F-4E answered with an internal M61 Vulcan cannon. But the Phantom's real legacy was versatility: interceptor, bomber, reconnaissance platform, Wild Weasel, and eventually the mount of both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. Over 5,195 were built, making it the most numerous Western supersonic fighter ever produced. The Air Force, Navy, and Marines all flew it. Twelve allied nations flew it. And no one ever called it pretty.