Thud Pilots

For those not in the know, it was nicknamed the Thud because thats the noise it made when impacting the ground. It wasn’t a nickname given out of love but because so many were getting shot down
 
As an Air Force ATC’er we worked Thuds every day, I loved them. Even then it was a throwback to early Vietnam. Unlike modern fighters they couldn’t slow down on final. Working one on PAR final was very quick.

I did have one Thud pilot punch out when I was working approach. He declared and flew about 35 miles with me all the time knowing he was loosing altitude too quickly to make the base. The pilot survived without a scratch.
 
The Thunderchief is the only cold-war era airplane I ever looked at as a kid and went, "wait...is that thing Russian?"

One of the ugliest damned airplanes ever made, in my opinion. Big, heavy, loud. A muscle car of an airplane.
 
RDoug said:
The F-105 Thunderchief: just one of many examples that earned Republic the reputation that no matter how long a runway you made, Republic would in turn make an aircraft that would use every damned inch of it.
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Very true!
 
killbilly said:
"wait...is that thing Russian?"
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Ackchyually....
The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company, the company was responsible for the design and production of many important military aircraft, including its most famous products: World War II's P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, the F-84 Thunderjet and F-105 Thunderchief jet fighters, as well as the A-10 Thunderbolt IIclose-support aircraft.
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Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky was, in fact, Russian WWI pilot that immigrated to the US after the Revolution.
So, in a way, you were right.
 
ArcherII said:
It might have been a dud in Vietnam, but man that name rocks
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The jet wasn't a dud. It was just the main attack jet we had at the time, being sent against targets located in a rapidly-expanding IADS environment that our ROE didn't allow us to mitigate in an early and firm manner.

In essence, the jet and it's crews were not given all the tools for success that they could have and should have been given. Else things would've been done in North Vietnam in late 1965.
 
The first time I saw a 105 in person I was struck by how huge the thing was. It was sitting behind some hangars up at Stead during the races and people had set up their lawn chairs in the shade it provided. It's a big airplane.
 
knot4u said:
The first time I saw a 105 in person I was struck by how huge the thing was. It was sitting behind some hangars up at Stead during the races and people had set up their lawn chairs in the shade it provided. It's a big airplane.
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Roughly the same weight as a B-17. Carries twice the bomb load.



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knot4u said:
The first time I saw a 105 in person I was struck by how huge the thing was. It was sitting behind some hangars up at Stead during the races and people had set up their lawn chairs in the shade it provided. It's a big airplane.
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But the vertical stab looks really small for such a large aircraft.

F-105-NMUSAF-1024x690-678x381.jpg


How many here have a Thud on their airport? Here at Chino we have two!
 
There used to be 10 ex-Hill AFB USAFR Thuds located at Lackland AFB at the Security Police training area on a fake flightline. They showed up there as the last flight of F-105s following the retirement flyby of al the AFRES Thuds of the 419th Fighter Wing in 1984. These ten proceeded to Kelly AFB instead of landing at Hill, and were retired there to be used at the training center. Kept in nearly immaculate condition.

About 6 years ago, they were pulled from duty, as the fake flightline was no longer needed, and all 10 immaculate Thuds were destined for museums. They were towed back to Kelly from Lackland (the two bases ajoin one another), and first had their afterburner petals sawed off, their J75 engines pulled and spikes driven through their hot sections, and their main wing spars cut. All by decree of the USAF museum.
 
trafficinsight said:
Roughly the same weight as a B-17. Carries twice the bomb load.



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Separated by only 20 years of technology.

Their were guys working as senior people in Republic critiquing the design of this aircraft who had been in their place making designs for the P-51.... crazy huh.


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MikeD said:
There used to be 10 ex-Hill AFB USAFR Thuds located at Lackland AFB at the Security Police training area on a fake flightline. They showed up there as the last flight of F-105s following the retirement flyby of al the AFRES Thuds of the 419th Fighter Wing in 1984. These ten proceeded to Kelly AFB instead of landing at Hill, and were retired there to be used at the training center. Kept in nearly immaculate condition.

About 6 years ago, they were pulled from duty, as the fake flightline was no longer needed, and all 10 immaculate Thuds were destined for museums. They were towed back to Kelly from Lackland (the two bases ajoin one another), and first had their afterburner petals sawed off, their J75 engines pulled and spikes driven through their hot sections, and their main wing spars cut. All by decree of the USAF museum.
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It's one of my favorite museums but... They pull some really nasty moves. Like how they got Memphis Belle's panel back...

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