Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Yep, by 'the law' it isn't (depending on what MAJCOM you are in). Some Commanders, under some circumstances, will turn a blind eye, though.
F-105 and 'Nam
- Thread starter MikeD
- Start date
Yep, by 'the law' it isn't (depending on what MAJCOM you are in). Some Commanders, under some circumstances, will turn a blind eye, though.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
Was nose art ever big on the tankers to begin with?
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
During Desert Storm there were several with it. Not sure about Vietnam and before....
Rumor is that Dale Snodgrass (guy that flies F-86s and P-51s on the airshow circuit) is going to or already has bought one to keep it airworthy and fly it at airshows. Hopefully there's some truth to it but it seems a little far fetched.
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
I too hope you are right, that would be awesome. However, I know when the Collins foundation bought the F-4 Phantom they had to jump through a billion hoops and almost didn't get it.
I can imagine spare parts for the F-14 are even going to be harder to find than the F-4 since they don't want parts ending up in IRAN who has several A models. This was the reason the majority of Airframes were cut up.
Isn't the automated wing sweep control still classified on the F-14?
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Orange Anchor
New Member
No nose art on the tankers. I think some of the BUFFs got some when they went north but not before.
The BUFFs were always a target of derision until they went north. A DFC or an Air Medal in every flt lunch. And the dreaded and challenging engine out (& still running) emergency landing. And then the BUFFs went north. They drove in at a hard altitude, the same ingress, the same egress with MiGs sitting off the wing out of range giving altitude, airspeed and heading. It was like going downtown Berlin in a B-17 but a lot tougher. The crews began to let the powers-that-be know that kind of crap was NOT going to work. In fact, a number of crews held unofficial briefings after the official briefing about what they were REALLY going to do when the crap hit the fan.
I won't vouch for the authenticity of this page but when the BUFFs did go north a number of them did get tagged.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_losses_of_the_Vietnam_War
This page discusses the BUFFs and their role (yes, I know this is a Thud thread but a few points.. ALL played a part from the O-1, the C-7 up through and including the Thud. But reportedly it really woke the NVA up when the BUFFs went north. Unfortunately, it was later 'peace with honor' which, as many if not most agree, was neither. )
http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avb52_2.html
Minuteman
Shipoaster
Well since you brought it up...
I saw a documentary about Linebacker II the other day, and they said one of the changes the crews wanted (and got) was a shallower turn after releasing bombs because, the documentary said, the steep turn reduced the effectiveness of their ECM. Is that just a weird way of saying a banked B-52 is a bigger radar reflector, or is there some characteristic of the ECM that changes with a turn?
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
He was trying to do that, but he was denied.
There are no more F-14s left at AMARG that aren't specifically dedicated to museums.
So, you won't see Snort with a F-14 demo, nor anyone else for that matter.
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Think more in terms of the locations and orientations of antennas.
Orange Anchor
New Member
I think the ECM worked best in level flight which is what the routine BUFF mission was.. deliver the nuke and get out of there. Now they were dodging SAMs and dealing with very concentrated ground fire. Plus as earlier noted and even the Thuds were forced to do this.. same ingress and same egress from the target. Same stuff.. different day.
I may have told this.. when I was going on R&R I spent some time at Cam Ranh Bay with a classmate who was flying F-4s. We got hammered at his squadron hootch and the next day, trying to find some sobriety I stumbled down to the community showers. There on the wall next to the showers was the daily frag. Previous days were there also and as I flipped through those pages, same flt, same takeoff time, same TOT for flights headed up to Tchepone on the Trail. The frag was there for anyone to read including the hootch maids. I was astonished but my classmate said it was no big deal. "They know we are coming. We know they are down there."
Not a good way to wage a campaign.
So my dream of riding a Kawasaki next to a runway and pumping my fist at a passing Tomcat are shot down in flames.
Orange Anchor
New Member
Remember only a few years ago the Navy and DOD went after the program JAG and Hollywood which had some F-14 shells.. basically gutted airplanes. 3 were also impounded at Chino. The airframes were reportedly removed to the boneyard and stripped again.
I think we should've sold the retired F-14s to Iran if they wanted them. They'd get an outdated airframe, and we'd know exactly what they're operating in that respect.
Stupidest knee-jerk decision to destroy all the airframes at the back-forty of the boneyard. They all used to sit right there for all to see next to Kolb Road.
Orange Anchor
New Member
Back in the 80s I went to the boneyard. Lots of Crusaders, lots of -105s cut up.. the YC-14 and YC-15 were there and we come around the corner and there are two F-14s, tan camo and sporting roundels. I asked my guide what was the story. He said, "About what?"
"Those two F-14s in desert camo."
"I don't see anything", he says.
Following his lead I said "Well I guess you can't take pictures of things you can't see." He replies, "Definitely you can't take pictures of things you can't see." he explains they were 2 F-14s that were in the states when the revolution took place and they were never delivered. They didn't meet US Navy specs so were not sold/repurchased for the Navy.
We drove off and along the fence were these little black drones on dollys. I started to say something and he smiled, "No we can't see those either." Lockheed D-21s which were later moved.
from probably av week later
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
bummed out now...
ETAV8R
Well-Known Member
No kidding. I'm glad to be old enough to have seen a few demo flights. They were loud as hell. Took my daughter to El Toro when she was maybe 1 or 2 and an F-14 did a fly by and scared the crap out of her. I'll never forget that.
bunk22
Well-Known Member
I always felt I was born about 20-30 years too late. Of course I'm biased and thus the F-8 Crusader is my favorite jet of all time but a close second is the F-105 Thunderchief. Both are single pilot (minus the Wild Weasel 105 and even that is cool), single engine, clean, fast and sexy. I got to see an F-105 at either March or Norton AFB when I grew up in California. I remember it had a Mig kill red star and a naked girl squating on the front of the aircraft. I was able to stand up inside the bomb bay. Just an awesome plane. I've probably read more F-105 memoirs than any other type of jet. Good post.
I feel the same way, which got me thinking.
20-30 years from now, pilots will be saying "Man, I was born 30 years too late. Remember the F-22, now that was old skool. It actually had a man inside of it. Now that was flying."
And then they'll leave the house, drive to their remote operator job and go to war in 12-hour shifts.