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Posted: 10/19/2004 1:56:35 PM EDT
F-105 Thunderchief:
 Interestingly, I have always thought highly of the 105, but it was more for aesthetic reasons. How did it fare "back in the day?" Was it a superior jet? Average? |
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:00:33 PM EDT
[#1]
It probably would have been okay if they hadn't made a bomb truck out of it. It reminds me of using a Mini to haul lumber.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:04:25 PM EDT
[#2]
It was designed as a bomb truck. Did pretty good for its era. It was soon outclassed when the A-6 and F-111 became operational. Until then it was the go-to fighter-bomber. |
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:05:42 PM EDT
[#3]
Tough as hell. Good for bombing the crap out of stuff.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:08:28 PM EDT
[#4]
It's the dreaded "Red X" fighter !!!!
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:14:04 PM EDT
[#5]
Worked on a lot of them back in the day. Pilots loved them as they were pretty good at taking punishment and bringing them home. The early Wild Weasels were all Thuds. I worked on the 17th WWS birds. They were pretty impressive for their time. "Thud Ridge" is a good read about their role in the RVN.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:15:53 PM EDT
[#6]
Its a bomber. It could hold its own if need be, but it was NOT a fighter. Bomb truck, etc. Its basically an Air Force A-6 intruder that can defend itself. Its ONE engine was the fail of the design. A single round would kill this fighter/bomber. It was the MOST shot down aircraft in Vietnam. The early wild weasels were eaten alive. This was not an airframe I would have chosen.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:16:15 PM EDT
[#7]
The pic worked the first time I viewed the thread. Arfkom overloads another server..... |
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Posted: 10/19/2004 2:18:09 PM EDT
[#8]
Is that one of those new fangled X-Wing' fighters from Star Wars??
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Posted: 10/19/2004 3:27:56 PM EDT
[#9]
Good aircraft originally designed to be a "tactical" nuclear bomber that went VERY fast low level. It actually has a bomb bay in the fuselage. When it was used in Vietnam, they put a fuel tank in the belly and loaded it down with bombs. With it's little wings it wasn't much of a dog fighter but it wasn't designed to be either. When they started flying Thuds with F-4s as escorts, the F-4s could hardly keep up with the Thud after it dropped its bombs and started the egress out of the target area. If I remember correctly, the F-105 on a stick at the USAF Academy was built from parts from 10 different aircraft and is in rememberance of all the Academy graduates who died flying them in Vietnam. I think that by the end of the war they had lost so many that they were basically given to the National Guards around the US.
Spooky |
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Posted: 10/19/2004 4:40:07 PM EDT
[#10]
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Posted: 10/19/2004 5:09:50 PM EDT
[#11]
It's the Russian "Red-X Wing" This fighter has superior air to air fighting capabilities!
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Posted: 10/19/2004 5:54:25 PM EDT
[#12]
They didn't call them Thuds for nothing.
They were designed carry a nuclear weapon. They were not intended for low level wild weasel missions. |
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Posted: 10/19/2004 6:35:34 PM EDT
[#13]
Hauled ass down low but couldn't turn with a damn. Basically a good strike aircraft but I wouldn't call it a good fighter even back in those days. Still a cool jet though. I don't know that being single engine was necessarily a negative. F16's do just fine with only one. I think a lot of them were shot down due to their mission and where they flew.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 6:38:50 PM EDT
[#14]
It would have been an absolutely TERRIBLE as a fighter/interceptor Too heavy, minimal manueverability However, it did make a decent tactical bomber... Remember, the Air Force of that day was ruled by SAC (nuke & bomber boys), and the 'brass' thought that fighters were obselete - if it didn't truck nuclear weapons it was considered a 'waste'... That's why the Air Force found themselves flying a NAVY fighter (F-4 Phantom) in Vietnam... |
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Posted: 10/19/2004 7:28:27 PM EDT
[#15]
While fiction check out Tom Wilson's Termite Hill/Lucky's Bridge/Tango Uniform. A good series on how the 105 was used and it's role in the war.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 7:30:23 PM EDT
[#16]
Had really high loss rate IIRC. Was quickly replaced by other planes. Especially the F4 in the wild weasel role.
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Posted: 10/19/2004 7:30:55 PM EDT
[#17]
+1 |
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