The Republic F105 Thunderchief story (Part 1) and a raw interview to an American hero that was shot down in Vietnam: Wayne Waddell. He was also detained in the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' prison. The F105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighterbomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it was the only American aircraft to have been removed from combat due to high loss rates. It was originally designed as a singleseat, nuclearattack aircraft; a twoseat Wild Weasel version was later developed for the specialized Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role against surfacetoair missile sites. The F105 was commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews.

As a followon to the Mach 1 capable North American F100 Super Sabre, the F105 was also armed with missiles and a rotary cannon; however, its design was tailored to highspeed lowaltitude penetration carrying a single nuclear weapon internally. First flown in 1955, the Thunderchief entered service in 1958. The singleengine F105 could deliver a bomb load greater than some American heavy bombers of World War II such as the Boeing B17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B24 Liberator. The F105 was one of the primary attack aircraft of the Vietnam War; over 20,000 Thunderchief sorties were flown, with 382 aircraft lost including 62 operational (noncombat) losses (out of the 833 produced). Although less agile than smaller MiG fighters, USAF F105s were credited with 27.5 kills.

During the war, the singleseat F105D was the primary aircraft delivering heavy bomb loads against the various military targets. Meanwhile, the twoseat F105F and F105G Wild Weasel variants became the first dedicated SEAD platforms, fighting against the Sovietbuilt S75 Dvina (NATO reporting name: SA2 Guideline) surfacetoair missiles. Two Wild Weasel pilots were awarded the Medal of Honor for attacking North Vietnamese surfacetoair missile sites, with one shooting down two MiG17s the same day. The dangerous missions often required them to be the "first in, last out", suppressing enemy air defenses while strike aircraft accomplished their missions and then left the area.

When the Thunderchief entered service it was the largest singleseat, singleengine combat aircraft in history, weighing approximately 50,000 pounds (23,000 kg). It could exceed the speed of sound at sea level and reach Mach 2 at high altitude. The F105 could carry up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of bombs and missiles. The Thunderchief was later replaced as a strike aircraft over North Vietnam by both the McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom II and the swingwing General Dynamics F111 Aardvark.
General characteristics

Crew: 1 (F105F: 2)
Length: 64 ft 4+3⁄4 in (19.628 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 11+1⁄4 in (10.649 m)
Height: 19 ft 8 in (5.99 m)
Wing area: 385 sq ft (35.8 m2)
Aspect ratio: 3.18
Airfoil: root: NACA 65A005.5; tip: NACA 65A003.7
Empty weight: 26,855 lb (12,181 kg)
Gross weight: 35,637 lb (16,165 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 52,838 lb (23,967 kg)
Fuel capacity: 770 US gal (640 imp gal; 2,900 l) in three flexible fuselage tanks + 390 US gal (320 imp gal; 1,500 l) weaponbay tank, with provision for 1x 650 US gal (540 imp gal; 2,500 l) or 750 US gal (620 imp gal; 2,800 l) centerline drop tank and 2x 450 US gal (370 imp gal; 1,700 l) underwing drop tanks; Total maximum fuel 2,810 US gal (2,340 imp gal; 10,600 l)
Zerolift drag coefficient: CD 0.0173
Drag area: 6.65 sq ft (0.6 m2)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney J75P19W afterburning turbojet engine, 14,300 lbf (64 kN) thrust 26,500 lbf (117.88 kN) with afterburning and water injection
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,210 kn (1,390 mph, 2,240 km/h) / Mach 2.1 at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)
Combat range: 676 nmi (778 mi, 1,252 km)
Ferry range: 1,917 nmi (2,206 mi, 3,550 km)
Service ceiling: 48,500 ft (14,800 m)
Rate of climb: 38,500 ft/min (196 m/s)
Time to altitude: 35,000 ft (10,668 m) in 1 minute 42 seconds
Lifttodrag: 10.4
Wing loading: 93 lb/sq ft (450 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.74
Armament
Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6barreled Gatling cannon, 1,028 rounds
Hardpoints: 5 total: 4 × underwing, 1 × centerline pylon stations plus an internal bomb bay with a capacity of up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of ordnance, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
LAU32/LAU59 rocket pods with 7 x FFARs each
Missiles:
AIM9 Sidewinder airtoair missiles
AGM12 Bullpup airtosurface missiles
AGM45 Shrike antiradiation missiles
Bombs:
M117 and Mark 80 series of generalpurpose bombs
M118 demolition bombs
Nuclear weapons B28, B43 stored internally and B57, B61
Cluster munitions of various types, including CBU24
Avionics
NASARR R14A radar
AN/ASG19 Thunderstick fire control system
AN/ARN85 LORAN (AN/ARN92 in Thunderstick IImodified aircraft)

#fighteraircraft #vietnamwar #f105