The F-105 Thud, a legend flown by

Transcription

1 The F-105 Thud, a legend flown by legends Go! August 30, 2005 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. We honor service and sacrifice. Please click the "Donate" button and contribute $20 or more to help keep this station alive. Thanks. 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 1 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

2 This is an F-105B on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Research Center in 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 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

3 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 3 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

4 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 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 4 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

5 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 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 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: 5 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

6 "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. 6 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

7 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. 7 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

8 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 8 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

9 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. 9 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

10 "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 10 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM

11 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 11 of 11 7/27/10 4:32 PM