Don McIntyre wrote:

Recently while reading an article on the F-4J it got me to thinking.
(Scary, I know).

Some of the F-4Js had white radomes and some had black. Any particlar
rhyme or reason as to why, or was it merely for cosmetic purposes? When
I was on active duty I saw F-4s all the time and the thought never
occurred to me, now 30 years later it does!?!?!?

This same topic showed up a while ago (in 2003). Search
rec.aviation.military.naval for radome colors and you'll find it.
The outer coating was only available in a few colours. Some where
delivered fresh from the factory with white radomes, others with black
radomes, probably depending on the production batch. AFAIK, when the
aircraft were repainted at a later date, the colour they received
depended on squadron practice. For instance, VF-31 almost always had
black radomes and even continued this when they started operating
Tomcats, as did VF-41 (until the introduction of TPS).

Cheers,
Ralph