The F-105 Thunderchief, the airplane

The F-105 Thud, a legend flown by legends
file:///Users/edmarek/Documents/Talking%20Proud/HistoryTh...
The F-105 Thud, a legend flown by
legends
August 30, 2005
Go!
The F-105 Thunderchief, the airplane
Captain Leetun was assigned
to the 13th TFS, known as the
“Panther Pack.” It deployed
to Korat RTAFB in May 1966
using pilots mainly from the
44th TFS, Kadena Air Base
(AB), Okinawa, Japan. we'll
talk more about this
"deployment" business in a
moment.
We count ten F-105 fighter
squadrons assigned permanently to the Vietnam War, mainly
at two bases in Thailand, Korat RTAFB and Takhli RTAFB.
We count another 10 squadrons that went in and out
temporarily. You can get a good summary of these squadrons
at Thud Ridge Web.
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Let's take a look at this airplane, the F-105D "Thunderchief,"
more famously, and appropriately, the "Thud."
Table of Contents
Introduction
F-105 Thunderchief, the
airplane
The F-105's targets,
Rolling Thunder in
northeastern North
Vietnam
Some of the pilots who
flew the Thud
Concluding comments
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This is an F-105B on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Research Center in
1959. She's really a beauty to look at. Photo presented by NASA
The F-105 Thunderchief was the first supersonic fighterbomber developed from scratch. It was a private venture for
Republic Aviation. The wing was highly swept and
incorporated low-speed ailerons and high-speed spoilers for
lateral control, and a droop-snoot leading edge. It was the
largest single-seat, single engine combat aircraft in history.
This is a photo of the large bomb bay with a very large belly fuel tank
beneath it. We'll talk about the fuel tank later. Right now, we simply want
you to note the enormous size of the bomb bay. From F-105 Close-up
presented by Frank Mitchell and Mark Young
The aircraft was built around a large internal bomb bay that
could carry what was in those days a large nuclear bomb. The
B28IN nuclear bomb shown at the forefront of this next photo
was the principal nuclear bomb to be carried by the F-105.
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B28IN nuclear bomb carried by the F-105 "Thud." This was a bomb built for
high altitude freefall or retarded (parachute), airburst or contact, and low
altitude laydown. It is our understanding that, for most targets, the Thud
intended to come in low and as fast as it could go (Mach 1-2, depending on
altitude and load). This bomb had a small diameter (22 in.), light weight
(1,700 - 2,320) thermonuclear warhead inside and became the most versatile
and widely used design ever adopted by the United States. From The
Thunderchief's Nuclear Punch.
The “B” model was the first production model, but was not a
good aircraft and was withdrawn from operational use almost
as fast as it entered.
This is a photo of a 9th TFS F-105D out of Spangdahlem, West Germany in
the early 1960s, before most Thuds stationed in Europe for the nuclear job
were transferred to Southeast Asia (SEA) for the tactical and conventional
job. While we do not know what, if any load this aircraft was carrying, as
you proceed on in this report you will see that the nuclear bomb was carried
in the bomb bay, so the aircraft looks "slick." In its SEA role, a gas tank was
put in the belly and all weapons were hung off the wings. From the Cold War
Thuds, designed and prepared by Dave Gurtner.
The F-105D was the all-weather nuclear strike-fighter version.
There was no “C” model, so the F-105D emerged as the
workhorse of the fleet.
The F-105 was deployed to Europe and Japan and tasked to
conduct nuclear attacks against the Soviet Union, its allies,
and if necessary, China. The 36th Tactical Fighter Wing
(TFW) and 49th TFW had this job in Europe, the former at
Bitburg AB, West Germany, the latter Spangdahlem AB, West
Germany. The 8th TFW and 18th TFW had it in Japan, the
former at Yokota AB, Japan, the latter at Kadena AB,
Okinawa, Japan. Deployments were made to Osan AB,
Republic of Korea, for F-105s to sit nuclear alert there as well.
The triad of B-52 long-range strategic bombers,
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM), and Submarine
Launched Nuclear Missiles (SLBM) formed the heart of the
American nuclear combat capability. The idea of using the
F-105 for this job soon lost favor. As things turned out, she
was needed for the tactical job in Vietnam, a job, frankly, for
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which the USAF was ill-prepared. At the war's beginning, the
US had very few fighter aircraft from which to choose, and
found itself having to get whatever was in the inventory over
there. In terms of jet fighters, the F-100 Super Sabre was the
first, getting to the theater in the early 1960s. The F-105 was
then chosen, arriving in 1965. As you will see, the F-105
carried the heavy load of USAF fighter operations in this war.
Before we track the 105 into
Vietnam, a conventional war, we
found a most useful description
by Ed Rasimus, a former F-105
pilot, of what it was like to train
for the nuclear mission in
Europe. He contrasts this with
what the aircraft was expected to
do to perform in Vietnam, and as
you proceed through this report,
you will be able to envision those
contrasts yourself. Rasimus
describes training for nuclear war
with the 105 this way:
"In training we flew a nuclear profile mission that
used all the systems. We would take off and level out
at 1000 feet AGL (above ground level) on the altimeter
and go 'under the hood' (The pilot can see the dashboard
instruments through but cannot see outside as that view
is blacked out). Engage autopilot and set Doppler
nav(igation) coordinates to a known point to calibrate
the terrain clearance radar for 1000 feet AGL flight.
Then fly a 500-mile round-robin mission under the hood
at low level through the Nevada mountains on autopilot
using terrain-avoidance radar, altitude hold for the level
areas, and Mach hold to climb/descend to keep the radar
centerline clear of obstacles. Nav was linked from
Doppler waypoints to the autopilot and could be
updated either by visual or radar.
"At the target, we could deliver a blind offset nuc(lear)
shape (that's a radar delivery on a non-returning target
up to 10,000 feet offset from a nearby radar image) and
the autopilot would do an automatic wings level 4-g
(four times normal gravitational stress) pull up to
auto-toss the bomb either forward in RLADD (radar
low-angle drogue deliver) mode or 'over-the-shoulder' in
high toss. The delivery was with an autopilot pull up to
weapon release in a 'solution anticipation' mode (the
airplane was almost at release parameters when at
optimum release angle). The autopilot would then fly
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the complete Immelman and roll out in altitude hold on
a preset heading away from the burst.
(Editor's note: Rasimus in a different discussion
elaborates a bit on the technique: "Start four-g pull up
straight ahead for about six or seven seconds. Bomb
releases in climb at about 30-45 degrees of pitch and
flies forward to the target in a ballistic arc. A 'drogue'
chute deploys based on a bomb timer to stabilize the
bomb and slow descent until a radar ranging mechanism
detonates the bomb at a preset height above the ground
(air burst rather than the ground
burst of the laydown delivery). The delivery aircraft
completes a wing-over and escapes about 90-135
degrees off the original run-in course.")
This is a photo of a F-105D in flight carrying a full bomb load in a
conventional combat configuration employed in the Vietnam War. You can
see how its appearance differs from the one flown in Europe for the nuclear
mission shown earlier. Photo from the USAF Archive, presented by the
WPAFB Air Force Museum.
"Thunderchief tactics were different for delivering
conventional ordnance. Remembering that the 105 was
not a dedicated interceptor and that the air-intercept
function was probably used more for tanker rendezvous
or force join-up, the sequence in SEA (Southeast Asia)
Route Pack combat ops (operations) would most likely
be:
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"Set switches for weapons delivery -- that's nine total
positioning moves -- two radar switches, two sight
controls, and five distinct weapons station, delivery,
sequence and quantity switches, plus a manual
depressed reticle setting on the gunsight
"Get jumped by (enemy) MiGs
"Reverse hard to negate initial attack, select AB
(afterburner), pickle off (drop) all ordinance, blow
external tanks, call for help on radio -- not necessarily in
that order.
"Get really lucky and have a MiG in front of you
"Say 'aww shit' as you realize you're trying to shoot
without guns selected.
"Select guns and say 'aww shit' again as you realize
you're trying to track the MiG with a fixed gunsight
reticle that's manually depressed 106 mils.
"Find the radar control and switch to 'guns air.'
"Realize you can't turn with the MiG and if you keep
messing around you're going to be eating pumpkin soup
(in a North Vietnamese prison) for the next five years.
"Unload, head for the deck, keep AB engaged and get
the hell out of Dodge.
"Use the A/A (air-to-air) radar to find other members of
your flight who are ahead of you and well above, since
you are now in the weeds at Mach 1 (speed of sound)."
You get the idea. Training pilots for the nuclear job was far
different than training them for the Vietnam War. Indeed, for
the Thud pilots who were among the first to arrive in the
theater of war, their tactical training was on-the-job training.
Furthermore, many changes had to be made to the F-105D to
employ it in the Vietnam War.
Additional fuel storage was put into the large bomb bay.
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Thud with Centerline Pylon Removed, Bomb Bay Opened & Bay Fuel Tank
Lowered For Service. Photo credit: Michael Benolkin Photo, presented by
cybermodeler.com
A six-barrel Vulcan 20 mm rotary cannon was installed.
Gun bay. Photo credit: Terry Summer. Presented by Aircraft resource
Center.
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M61 Vulcan Cannon Port on F-105D. Photo credit: Michael Benolkin
Photo, presented by cybermodeler.com
The aircraft was configured to carry 12,000 lbs of external
armaments on ejector racks hung from the wings. For a
short-range mission, she could carry sixteen 750-lb bombs.
Alternatively, she would carry two 3,000 lb bombs or three
drop tanks. Typically, over North Vietnam, she would be
outfitted with six 750-lb bombs or five 1,000 pounders, along
with two 450 gallon drop tanks. She could also carry a
Bullpop air-to-surface missile.
Fully loaded F-105D on its way to send love and kisses to the North
Vietnamese. Presented by the USAF Photo Museum Archives.
We mentioned earlier that the F-105B had to be replaced
before it got much operational flying time, and there was no
"C" model. So the F-105D ended up carrying most of the load
early on. It experienced a very difficult growth period. It had
early engine problems. Between 1961 and 1967, the F-105D
was grounded a number of times, after experiencing various
operational problems, including the failure of the fuselage
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frame, chafing and flight control deficiencies, engine failures,
fuel leaks, and malfunctions of the fuel venting systems. The
aircraft went through continuous modification as a result of
rapidly changing Southeast Asia combat requirements. These
included equipping them with armor plates, backup flight
control systems, X band beacons, new radar altimeters and
gun bombsights. Their conventional bombing capability was
increased. The pilot ejection seat was improved as were the
refueling probes of the early F-105Ds.
While all this was true, the F-105 could take a beating. We
believe that we read one source that indicated three of them
were struck by surface-to-air missiles and the pilots managed
to limp them to safe landings. If she had a drawback, it was
with her control hydraulics, easy to damage leaving the
aircraft without control. This seems to be confirmed in reading
pilots' accounts of taking hits; they frequently found it very
hard or impossible to control their damaged aircraft.
Damage done by a AAA shell. This is where the thing came out, after
entering from the other side! He brought 'er home. Presented by Thud Ridge
Web Photo Album.
We ran across a web site focused on Takhli RTAFB that
featured some experiences of SSgt Ervin Davis, who was
assigned to a commando unit at Udorn RTAFB farther to the
north, across the Mekong River from Vientiane, Laos. Davis
was part of several groups called "Emergency Recovery
Teams," trained to dearm and download battle damaged
aircraft. Udorn was a frequent recovery base for battle
damaged F-105s that could not make it back to home base, so
Davis was busy. He talks about the resiliency of the F-105 in
very descriptive, "GI speak" terms that only GIs know. Here is
an excerpt:
"I was not at Takhli but I served your birds at Udorn.
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"We frequently chased smoke bellowing F-105s down
the runway or parelled them on the flightline to get them
when they stopped or even still on a rool, so we could
down load anyway possable anything that goes
'BOOM'.
"F-105s came back so blown to Hell that more costly
F-4's even a 10th as damaged would NEVER make it
home ! If a bird was on fire, my crew had 'our own
rules' that I influenced into creation, as frankly the
importance was removing explosives NOT following
Air Force regulations, so 'no sweat' we'd chase the bird
(USAF, Army, Marine, Navy) then jerk stuff (bombs,
missiles, rockets etc) free, hussel-hussel-hussel to lay it
in the grass beside the runway, or rool it or skoot it
there, then run back to get more, so the Fire Department
could finish up and the crane pick up the damaged bird
to haul it away so the runway was free for the next bird
to land. We use to get evil looks from the Chief of
Maintenance, Wing and Base Commanders, and
shocked looks from pilots seeing us lay or skoot bombs
etc into the grass like speed deamons,.... but our crew
was the FASTEST and BESTEST and everyone was
always amazed and always had compliments about our
unbelieveable speed, and complaints about our
ILLEGAL munitions handling procedures .....but
mostly, after most folks saw us in action a few times, no
one said much and when they did we knew they HAD
TO to cover themselves and didn't really mean it ...........
and if that wasn't enough to get us catching Hell all the
time, there we were freaking out the Control Tower
Jocks as we dodged landing aircraft for the next couple
hours after the birds were removed, as we'd still be
hanging around with an MJ-1 and chains hauling bombs
and missiles from the grassy sides of the runway,
de-fuzing, etc etc etc
"I've seen many of those battle damaged bird sights,
.....and it seemed most FREQUENT that an F-105
would land blowing a tire eating half the metal wheel
away while skooting blowing sparks down the runway,
or sliding into the grass at 100 MPH or so ....... I'll never
forget that one even landed BLIND with oil covering its
windshield after being shot in the front section and
taking a direct hit in the front canopy glass.......but one
of the strangest memories was when an F-105 landed
with a missile stuck into its tail!!! YES, you read
correctly, this F-105 came in boiling black smoke, the
rear side of the engine area with flames and so hot
several FEET were eaten away by fire................. and
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that damned missile WEDGED in between the engine
afterburner and the skin of the bird..... normally maybe a
three inch gap now swelled around seven inches in
diameter."
You've met the airplane, now meet a few of its major targets in
North Vietnam, Route Package 6, Hanoi-Kep.
The F-105s targets, Rolling Thunder in northeastern North Vietnam
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