As Seen on KSDK - Show Me St. Louis

Featured in the Flight City Exhibit - Missouri History Museum

Little Pilots is a mobile F-4 Phantom Cockpit Photo booth. We travel on location to you for birthday parties, corporate events, fundraisers, school activities and parades. You'll also see us in airshows around the U.S. Sit in the cockpit of this authentic F-4 Phantom fighter jet and see what it's like to be the pilot!

Little Pilots was honored to be selected and featured by KSDK Show Me St. Louis and the Missouri History Museum Flight City Exhibit. Our F-4 Phantom has been part of the Flight City Exhibit at the Missouri History Museum since June 2007. Our plane was viewed by thousands of aviation enthusiasts from St. Louis and all over the world! What an opportunity this was for us to shake hands with Mr. Sandy McDonnell and invite him to sit in the seat of our plane. Mr. McDonnell is the former chairman & CEO of McDonnell Douglas and was involved in the development of the F4 fighter jet. Select our schedule page for additional information.

Little Pilots History

The project began as a dream for owner Joe Steimann, a passionate F-4 Phantom fan and aviation artifact collector. In 1991, this aircraft suffered an engine fire and was deemed non repairable as a German F-4F. The German Air Force decided to use the cockpit section as a trainer at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico where the German F-4 pilots trained. After sitting dormant for many years, they decided to scrap the cockpit. The bird sat at Alamogordo scrap yard for a few years before it was purchased. In August of 2003, Little Pilots purchased and retrieved the cockpit. The restoration process began that same month and took 10 months of Joes hard work and dedication to complete. Little Pilots is now a dream come true for Joe and a source of fun for kids young and old.