The Enormous Fighter that Broke the Dragon's Jaw
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2023
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In the tumultuous era of the 1960s, seasoned pilots, even those fresh from commanding the nimble F-86 Sabre, found themselves awestruck by the imposing presence of the Air Force’s latest aerial marvel: the F-105 Thunderchief.
This iron beast boasted an external payload capacity that defied even the wildest expectations, with a steel compartment capable of storing up to sixteen 750-pound bombs on shorter missions. And no matter how high the pilots leaped or how far they stretched, they couldn't reach the edge of the air intake.
The enormous aircraft was destined to make a difference in the Vietnam War, but eventually struggled with design and engine problems that resulted in a higher rate of loss than usual. Even so, their powerful thrust enabled supersonic capabilities, allowing them to often leave enemies behind.
It wasn't until later in the decade that the Wild Weasel program put the Thunderchiefs in the spotlight, outfitting them with advanced electronic equipment and anti-radiation missiles. Now, the largest single-engine combat aircraft in Vietnam had to prove its worth by protecting American forces and always being the first to enter and the last to exit, even in the most treacherous circumstances…
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I grew up in Farmingdale, NY in the 50’s and 60’s. The F-105 was built at Republic Aircraft,about a mile from my home. Thunderchief was the appropriate name for this beast, it literally shook the ground on takeoff. It was awesome riding my bike down to the perimeter fence and watching them takeoff. It started a lifelong love affair with aviation for this kid. Thanks for the look back.
The USAF lost 334 Thunderchiefs during the Vietnam war due to criminally insane decisions by Washington to hit the same targets,fly the same routes to these targets and prohibit them from attacking SAMs being unloaded in Haiphong Harbour.Had the commanders on the ground been able to select the targets,the dragon's jaw wouldn't have been broken so much as vaporised,along with all other threats.
Flight of the Intruder
People completely lose sight of just why the US had to fight with seemingly crazy restrictions. An effort was made to avoid nuclear war with China and Russia. We may have broken the dragon’s jaw sooner if you were in charge, but may have lost NYC and LA in the bargain.
@rdleahey I realise that the administration were trying to avoid direct conf.ict with the USSR and China,but I doubt that hitting the freighters carrying munitions and equipment to arm the NVA would have led to all out war,the US were in a stronger position than either the USSR and China at the time with regard to their means of nuclear weapons delivery systems.
@@rdleaheyI could live with those two cities being wiped from the map.
@@MandalorV7 along with their governors
" A triple threat.....could bomb you, strafe you, or fall on you"
With a distinctive "thud" from what I have heard from those who were there.
@@guyconnell2250
It's a myth that it got the nickname Thud from the crews saying it made that sound when they hit the ground, it got it's nickname from crews in Europe before any were even in Vietnam, it came from a Howdy Doody character named Chief Thunderthud.
The National Guard still flew these from George AFB when I was a kid like 10 or 11 in Barstow, CA. What I remember was how LOUD they were. It just shook the ground in the early 70's. The F-4's too, But the Thuds were even louder than those...The neighbor hood would have broken windows periodically from sonic booms, which my mom hated, LOL...
Nice. I was born at George AFB in 1986. Dad was a Phantom backseater
My Grandparents lived in Hesperia, and I got to see my first F-105 flying out of George while driving to the Mountains, some time in the late 70's/Early 80's.
Word during Vietnam (showing my age here) was Chief ThunderThud was a triple threat. It could bomb you. It could strafe you. It could fall on you. But the F-105D has found a lot of love on WarThunder as an attack airframe, and the kids seem to love flying in low and (relatively)
slow to drop a fork-ton of napalm on tanks.
I'm too young to onow about Vietnam beyond what I saw on TV as a kid during the 80s & 90s, but I am an old gamer. I like doing high speed, on the deck bombing runs in the Thud. But I like flying bomb trucks.
Flew the Thud on a combat tour in SEA in 68 and 69. Flew night strike, day strike and Wild Weasel. Loved the aircraft, tremendous confidence in its ability to get you home.
It had the worst record of getting pilots home of any aircraft in US history, I think.
You had to be there to appreciate the aircraft and its abilities.@@lqr824
How it performed against North Vietnamese aircraft?
@@lqr824 That wasn't the Thuds fault. That's entirely down to bad tactical planning. And added to that they were routinely flying the most dangerous missions.
@@normanberg9940 sounds plausible!
Had the privilege of seeing several Thud’s at Luke AFB one summer long ago playing with the F104 F4 C&D and the new F15 squadrons the Thud was fondly called the “Lead Sled “ because of the enormous weight of the aircraft we nearly lost an experienced pilot during touch and go exercises. Plane’s are required to practice as though they are landing on an aircraft carrier using the nearly 7000 foot runway on base one day a pilot in a Thud got in the jet wash of another plane and lost power while airborne 15 feet above the runway he touched down at the middle but with little space left and good speed he tried to air start the jet engine, I and everyone else saw the large orange and black fireball rising from the end of the runway. The engine was restarted and the tail hook caught the thick steel cables at the last minute tearing the engine out of the fuselage and the pilot was in the cockpit with the front and wings hurtling forward plowing inexorably in the direction of someone on a tractor the two didn’t meet thankfully and the pilot escaped with a broken ankle and a harrowing story to tell.
Little correction on what happened: Typical hot day at Luke, 105 Pilot retracted gear while barely airborne and the aircraft settled back on the runway, couldn't get airborne dragging the external tanks on the concrete, finished up off the end of the runway.
Rumored that no one routinely operated out of any runway
This is the most seizure inducing paragraph I’ve ever read.
The most criminally underrated plane ever made.
I agree. As an example, the F-8 is called "the last gunfighter", but the F-8 only had 2 gun kills during Vietnam while the F-105 had 25 gun kills during Vietnam. In fact, the F-105 had more gun kills than the entire number of F-8 kills, of which all but two were done with the Sidewinder. Commentators will say that the F-8 was designed to use the 20mm canon as its primary weapon, but that is patently false. The F-8 was designed from the beginning as missile fighter and in reality, almost all its kills were with Sidewinders. With the F-105, only one or two kills were with missiles and the F-105 was designed even before the Sidewinder was in service. The F-105 really should get more recognition as the last gunfighter. It actually used its guns to fight, while the Crusader mostly used missiles.
@@shenmisheshou7002 from 139 Crusader I/ F 8 used in Vietnam only 4 was lost in combat the rest was lost in accidents landing on carriers and other causes. Crusaders was a flawed design not so notorious as F 104 but still.
@@shenmisheshou7002 whats the point? if all your airplanes were so great, how do you loose all your wars like in afghanistan. I think you should stay home and concentrate on changing your leader's diaper!
F-105 is huge but it still excels in dogfighting scenarios with 27 gun kills in Vietnam(1 of them is combine missile and gun kill).
Out of 20,000 missions? That means one kill per 1000 missions. I think "excel" means something different to you than to me.
In my humble opinion the F-105 was one of the most beautiful jet fighters ever built.
40 percent loss rate in the Viet conflict was due to bad tactical decisions to fly identical flight paths, altitudes at the same times on every mission. This allowed the VC to place missiles and anti aircraft guns strategically to take advantage of the stupidity.
Never set a pattern.
You'd have thought lessons would have been learned from WW1.
@@TheBigDaveB1 this is what happens when politicians think they are capable of running a way they started
Any idea why that decision was made and by who?
@@craigfreeman9280 After 30 years of service to my country, I do not disagree.
I remember seeing the F-105's fly fairly low over my neighborhood preparing to land at Eglin AFB in the mid to late 1960's. My dad was finishing his USAF career and about to retire, we lived in Niceville, FL. The Thuds really stood out from the hundreds of F-4 Phantoms (and many other USAF aircraft) that flew over us daily. The sound of the engine was different. In seeing them at Open House, I was surprised how big they were.
The F-105 had a 20mm cannon during a time when the only other US aircraft that did were the F-100 and the Navy's F-8 Crusader. It took the F-4 a couple of years before they had a gun.
you are mistaken. Google it. PDSA
In fact, the F-8 only had two kills using its guns and the other 16 or so were all missile kills. On the other hand, the F-105 had 25 gun kills and only one or two missile kills. The F-105 was not designed to carry the Sidewinder, but it was equipped with a Vulcan 20mm. While commentors say the primary weapon of the F-8 was the cannons, that is incorrect. The F-8 was designed as a missile fighter, and that is exactly what it did during the war. The F-105 was not designed as a missile fighter and yet is easily outdid the F-8 in the number of gun kills but it never receives the credit it deserves for being able to use its gun to down enemy aircraft. The F-105 is in my opinion, the real "Last Gunfighter" because it did use its gun in almost all of its enemy kills.
A navy F8 pilot had Mig-17 pilot eject when the F8 slid in behind him and started line the Mig-17 up for a kill shoot. The F8 pilot didn't get credit for the kill, because the Mig-17 pilot punched out without a shot being fired. This F8 was with VMF-211, and the pilot already had 3ea Mig-17 and one Mig-21 kills.
Amazing aircraft and one of my favorites! The Thud did not bring down the Dragon's Jaw Bridge! After many repeat airstrikes they managed few direct hits and brought down a span. It wasn't until the F-111 came on the scene, later in the war, as single ship mission, finally brought down the whole bridge!
No doubt because the Aardvark had the advantage of laser-guided smart bombs.
Wild Weasels were station at the base I was sent to. We learned their nick names, “Thunder Thud” and “Lead Sled”, called so because, if the engine lost power, it had the gliding capability of a sled made of led. I worked on Super Constellation recon planes.
Every jet in the world has been nicknamed Lead Sled at one point or the other because all of them glide like an anvil if their engine's go out, that's the nature of jets.
Always liked the Thud despite whatever flaws it may have had, Makes me feel dated watching planes that were a mainstay in my childhood
Indeed. I always loved the Thud - basically its the aircraft equivalent of a Hot Rod. Only its got a Allison J35 not a small block. All straightline bomb hauling power but fecking dirt in the corners. What's not to love?
@@Boric78
It's Pratt&Whitney J75 engine was more along the lines of a big block.
Exactly,that’s how I felt watching this and other previous reels about the aircraft of the Vietnam War.
It wasn’t a bad aircraft apart from maintenance issues as every mature weapon system experiences
Planning and tactics were rigid,politically led by the Joint Chiefs and above
I recently went to the Air & Space museum only to see a wind tunnel model from a project I worked up on display. ....my work, literally a museum-piece.... Man, that made me feel old.
The last decent commander I had in service was a former Thud driver, he flew over 90 missions. Retired at 30 years, I remember his retirement ceremony being held at the Alamo. Really nice guy, very laid back for a Colonel.
Saw one years ago at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison TX. For a single-engine "fighter", it's a MONSTER. Really big aeroplane....
I miss hearing the SONIC BOOMS back in the late 60s early 70s..💥😎
Out near Edwards AFB they are routine.
I lived right up from the Chesapeake on the Rappahannock River in the late 80's until 1991 and we would hear distant sonic booms there.
Floridian here, I live close to an Air Base and we hear them all the time.
I guess it depends on location.
“… the Cold War was hot in the minds of the jet-jockeys, and ‘burner’ was just a reach away…”
Dad a fighter pilot, heard ‘em growing up in central and south Texas - was routine. China-cabinet dishes always shook a little😂.
The F-35 has the same air intakes, this was always a design discussion that never ended but seems to work as many designers claimed it would...
It's interesting you mention this, the F-105 got a radarreflector on its nosegear because it was too hard to spot on radar.
I've rarely heard a Vietnam-era pilot say a single kind word about the F105, but I suspect a huge part of its failures can be attributed to ridiculous political interference in mission scope, planning, target, etc. etc.
In many ways, the Johnson admin was its own worst enemy when it came to effectively fighting the Vietnam War.
> ridiculous political interference in mission scope, planning, target
That's very strong criticism. Why not be more specific as to who decided what and what other options were available given the constraints.
@@lqr824because it’s a CZcams comment and not a novel. McNamara and Johnson forced the pilots to go to war with both hands tied behind their back.
That should spur you along to do some of your own reading.
10:33 these are not a AGM45 missiles pictured. These are AIM 9B.. air-to-air.
For all those posting they flew the 104 or were there at the time - thank you for your service!
I've read "Thank you for your service" gets annoying when people don't know what it is they're thankful for. American ground troops liberated my parents in 1945, I am very thankful.
Yeah man, the Starfighter was a special plane.
@@rickrudd You got that right! I still stare at pics of it wondering how those tiny wings even kept it in the air. I had to look this up obviously, in 1959 an F-104C set a world altitude record of 103,395 feet and was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb. Way cool
I read about that! That was amazing!!
What video did you watch? This one was about F-105s.
The F-105 was perhaps the most awesome of the Century series, though I will allow that the F-106 was better looking. The F-105 looked like a ‘jet fighter’, though the decision to put the Thunderbird’s in F-105Bs was a puzzle, a brutally powerful plane, but not the most manoeuvrable. I remember a photo of a fully loaded F-105 with 18 x 750 with the caption saying the ceiling with that load was ‘lower than Pikes Peak’. The internal bomb bay was mostly used for an additional fuel tank. As far as I can remember the Dragon’s Jaw bridge was taken down by one of the first combat use of a laser guided bomb dropped from an F-4. But, really, it was a strike aircraft with self-defence capability rather than a fighter.
Thanks. Heard about "Thuds" and Wild Weasles; but never knew particulars. As always.....well done!
My father was an f4 wild weasel pilot. Hes got some crazy hairy stories man..
One of my favorite Vietnam War's aircraft. I have two of these beasts in 1/72 scale on my shelf.
11:49 “Not to worry, we’re still flying half a plane.”
i was stationed at George Airforce Base when the last F105 stationed there left for the boneyard.
It along with an F4 escort made one last pass down the tarmac at high speed then went straight up out of sight.
Some say that F105 is still up there.
Maybe I some other country. But I don't think they are still in use here.
@@MrMinuteman69 👀
> It along with an F4 escort made one last pass down the tarmac at high speed
As a taxpayer I'd like to court martial any govt employee wasting resources like that. It's people like that that keep us from having nice things.
I was there at the same time they retired the F-105 at George AFB
Thanks for this excellent story of the F-105. For an excellent book on the Wild Weasels over N Vietnam I highly recommend "Termite Hill", written by Tom Wilson, an Air Force officer who was there.
Thanks for showcasing my favorite aircraft of that era. Gotta luv the Thud!!!
My first choice of styling, out of the 'Century' series jet's --- (F-100--- F-106). Always really liked this jet, design😉. Along with the F-104!!!
Even after dropping all external loads, it was a hopeless dog fighter that had to be escorted all the time by F4s. 12 F-105 were downed in a single day by Migs. But it was an extremely useful bomber, which why it continued to be used despite the many losses
A good pilot could tangle with migs in a thud. Thorsness gunned down a couple in the thud.
Wasn’t designed to be a dogfighter, it’s a low level bomber. Makes sense that it’d struggle.
Wow. Never heard of the thunder chief before. After year studying wars and aircrafts. It's good to know something new about a military aircraft that's new to me, that's seen action and in a famous war. . 👍👾
The tail fin never looked big enough.
And the bump near the base seems odd to me.
There's always been something magnetic with this plane - for a while I thought the F-4 was the rockstar (and the Navy paint scheme reminded me of the Vipers from OG Galactica)...
But my mind was changed by an old show called Great Planes - I think the Thud and the pilots who came to love them, are always worthy of any spotlight 👍
Dark, you're really helping to keep the Sunday night terrors at bay - priceless 👍 😎
bomber that looked like fighter
Fighter that got used as a bomber.
I crewed one at Korat, 1966 . Awesome bird.
The gulf of Tonkin incident that initiated the Vietnam war never actually happened.
They needed some excuse. "Well he hit me first mom". If both had been sent to their rooms without dinner a lot of pain could have been avoided. What a waste.
Completely irrelevant . Communists are scum and need to be stopped .
@@dicksonfranssen The world's largest Communist party at that point was in Indonesia. Malaysia and Singapore were expected to go Communist. The US could have let that happen, but SE Asia is probably glad it didn't. It's not clear the Cold War would have ended when it did had half (or all) of SE Asia been allowed to go Communist without a peep.
@@lqr824 Sounds like you have the same long memory as I do. I had to endure 5 minutes of gushing over Jane Fonda on TMZ last night, my wife is smart but doesn't remember. Forgive and forget my ass. Sorry for snooping, your son and cat are both adorable. We just lost our 2 oldest cats but still have my dead brother in law's very old dog. Taking care of that dog was his final and only wish, it's easy for us. Have a good weekend.
@@dicksonfranssen Sorry to hear of so many losses. The doggie is so lucky to have you guys. You'll know when the time is right for another cat.
The Vietnam war was a horror for the locals with 3.8M dead, the vast majority of whom would have died without the US involvement. The real crime is the kleptocratic and corrupt southern govt, and those who promoted Communism as an answer to the north. The north played a role but to some extent were less culpable as the international communists lied to them, and the southern govt really was just horrible to the extent you understand why people would war against it. As for the US involvement, of course the US killed many Vietnamese, but probably contributed to more war dead simply by lengthening the civil war by supporting the weaker side. If you look at the lot in life of those under Communism in China or Vietnam vs. those who aren't, in say Taiwan or South Korea, I'd say that trying to keep a nation from going Communist is to try to do them a big favor. But sometimes the big favor really backfires. It's astonishing and gladdening, though, that Vietnam has been having joint military exercises with the US since like the mid-90s and today is one of the strangest almost-allies we have.
Such a Unique Aircraft....
They are massive
F-105 Thunderchief Had a 20mm Gating Gun Cannon. A C*M*H USAF Pilot Shot Two Mig-17s on a Mission I Saw on a Episode of History Channel Series "Dogfights" May He R.I.P. Heaven is for Heroes
The Thud had a truly impressive payload. It just couldn't put all that on-target.
There was still a few of these around when I was in the Air Force, I knew their history, so I enjoyed watching them. Loud af too.
In my opinion, the traitorous acts of the LBJ administration, that gave to North Viet Nam the planed routes for the next days missions through the Swiss Embassy caused the loss of many of our aircraft and crews. My best man, Burt Campbell, was shot down on July 1, 1966 in a F105 and spent many torturous years as a POW until he was released on February 12, 1973. When he was released, he looked like a walking skeleton.
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. LBJ had some kind of ego problem that even as a 12 year old was obvious to me. Even a child playing cowboys and Indians would think "No, they'll be expecting that. Don't be an idiot".
i worked with an LT that was released then. he still looked like Death, and was frighteningly silent. screwed him up bad.
Rotten bastards ,wtf were ww even doin there lbj ? Wife have any business In terests?
It was documented and reported. I'm sorry you are not informed. Sometimes the truth hurts.@@ivortheenginedriver4264
The Truth:
It’s true that retired General John “Pete” Piotrowski relayed this accusation in his book, “Basic Airman to General: The Secret War & Other Conflicts: Lessons in Life and Leadership.”
The claim that the U.S. notified the North Vietnamese government of airstrikes ahead of time went viral in early 2015 when an excerpt from General Piotrowski’s book appeared in chain emails:
“Nearly twenty years later, I saw former Secretary of State Dean Rusk being interviewed by Peter Arnett on a CBS documentary called ‘The Ten Thousand Day War.’ Mr Arnett asked, ‘It has been rumored that the United States provided the North Vietnamese government the names of the targets that would be bombed the following day. Is there any truth to that allegation?’
“To my astonishment and absolute disgust, the former Secretary responded, ‘Yes. We didn’t want to harm the North Vietnamese people, so we passed the targets to the Swiss embassy in Washington with instructions to pass them to the NVN government through their embassy in Hanoi.” @@ivortheenginedriver4264
My dad worked on a terrain avoidance system for the Wild Weasel program in the 1970's. Look up T-Stick II.
I found it in less than 30 seconds on Wikipedia. Your dad did good work.
I am not sure, but when they show the HARM missiles, it seems like they are actually showing the air to air AIM-9 missile.
I was stationed at McConnell AFB in Kansas in 1980 (USAF E3) and the Air National Guard flew out of this base. They flew F-4 Phantoms and theseF-105's too. One day I was walking to the chow hall and a formation of five F-105's just instantly appeared, coming towards me not higher than 300 feet off the ground. I hadn't heard a sound either, they just appeared. A moment later they were gone as fast as they appeared and the jet roar followed behind a second or two later. A memorable sight.
Beautiful aircraft😮 truly a marvelous airplane
I wonder how that airframe would fare with modern engine technology and avionics.
Two seat F105f's were converted to Wild Weasels and designated F105g. D models were never used for that purpose.
the thud is my fav vietnam war fixed wing aircraft it just looks so cool from the top down aswell as the speed in low level flying was impressive kinda wish newer planes like the f35 had that ability its nice to know you can get the hell out of somewhere when you need to as alot of pilots have said that exact same thing
> kinda wish newer planes like the f35 had that ability
Studies of Vietnam showed only a couple percent of missions ever involved even a minute of supersonic flight. There's not a single F-35 pilot on the planet who even wants to fly an F-14, F-15, F-16, or F-18, planes far faster than the F-105.
@@lqr824its the ability to punch it witch was used many times when out numbered and was not worth engagements it wasnt used on dropping bomb missions but you wanker maybe read the study that was released in 92 of all air to air encounters over Vietnam from the start to a certain date in 67 i read all 300 and something encounters for fun and in many of the sections for remarks for pilots many pilots explained how when in disadvantageous positions apon encountering a mig it was extremely usefully to just full throttle the fk out of there as fast as they could to safe skies so before talking nonsense do some research read first hand accounts of actual pilot encounters the data all there and then come talk to me you lack of understanding the situation is showing
@@lqr824 also you dont even know how to google clearly the f16 and f18 dont go 2.1 mach like the f105 dose and the f105 was very fast in lower level flight where most planes go upto altitude to fly as fast it was a low level bomber obviously someone flying the f35 dose not have the mission sets of a f105 they wouldnt want to fly a f105 its also very outdated electronicky but saying a f35 wouldnt want the ability to escape a area fast is just ignorance because ive heard f35 pilots on podcasts say they wish it had more speed so instead of talking for pilots just shut up and do more research your clueless
@@lqr824you may be the most contrarian commenter in history. You’re also wrong 90% of the time, it’s comical.
Such a beautiful plane. It just looks aggressive as hell.
The F-105 is one of my all time favorite aircraft. So much to lov3 about this plan3.
You can't rely on loss rates to assess an aircraft; sometimes, a plane is so capable and the pilots have so much faith in it, that it leads to it being chosen time and again for the most dangerous and daring missions and the pilots being willing to undertake them, with the result that losses happen.
THAT HAS TO BE THE BEST ONE YALL HAVE COME UP WITH YET
I friggin LOVE this channel!
Continue your great informative work
7:13 Niceeeeeeeeeeeeee, F-105 Shreeding a P-80 Shooting Star
One awesome machine.
16x750lbs bombs were carried for promotion reasons. In an operational mission the target should have been a dozen miles ahead of the runway...
12:11 the black and white photo guy is the father of a big youtube guy, I think he's called Justin and his channel is Science Someday or something. I'm too old to remember stuff like that now, don't get to 94 without some scars.
The F105 thunderchiefs design was ahead of its time- specifically the air intake inlets were like those on stealth aircraft designed decades later.
Thanks for this 👍✈️
From what little I know about aerodynamics, the most obvious and visible design flaw is the lack of a clear boundary layer separation between the engines and the fuselage. The plate I can see in most photographs almost looks like an afterthought. Some of the oldest jet designs suffered from this flaw (Vampire, P80, P59) and maybe even the Harriers(?).
Beautiful Beast!!
The 388th fighter wing is from Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
I screamed at 1am when I saw a video on the thud
What about the Thud's short tenure with the USAF Thunderbirds???
Wild Weasels are fantastic 👍 ;-)
The F-105 should get the honor of being "the last Gunfighter". The F105 had 25 gun kills in Vietnam vs the 2 gun kills for the F-8, which everyone erroneously calls the last gunfighter. Commentators say that the 20mm was the primary weapon for the F-8, but in reality the F-8 was intended as a missile fighter, and all but two of its kills were with Sidewinders. The F-105 was not designed for the sidewinder and only later was sidewinder armament made possible at the wing pylons. I wish the F-105 got at least some credit as being a dogfighter as the vast majority of the F105 kills in Vietnam were gun kills.
COULDNT REACH THE AIR INTAKE BRO IM DEEEEAD 🤣🤣🤣💀
Please tell me y'all have a patreon or something. I have found so much entertainment and uses in watching all the dark videos
"its impressive internal bomb bay" next sentence "all ordnance carried externally" lol.
I always think the F-35 was built to restore confidence in the same type of mission that the F-105 used to fly simply because of the intakes.
The design mission of the F-105 was nuclear strike. The Ferris (forward swept) intakes were optimised for pressure recovery at supersonic speeds, also seen on the Republic XF-103 interceptor, the Regulus II cruise missile. It had a variable throat but the ramp designs turned out to be easier to work with. The F-35 intakes are driven more by low-observability demands rather than any mission specific requirements. Personally, I think the F-35 VTOL version is unnecessarily complex, all those moving pieces, I wonder about its damage tolerance, i.e. if you’re relying on a vertical recovery (very short field) and either the nozzle swivel or front lift fan gets damaged, what are your options? Ejection? F-35 is a bit expensive to be an expendable weapon.
@@proteusnz99 I think the whole concept of wild weasel is incorporated into the F-35. Aside from the wings and empennage, the similarities of platform are unmistakeable.
Wild Weasel/defence suppression is role, independent of platform. The EA-6B, F-16C with AGM-88 HARM, the Tornado with ALARM could all perform such a mission (hard kill, soft kill is simply jamming). What is needed is the appropriate sensors which can locate the fire control radars for the defensive guns/SAMs, and some means of destroying/degrading those emitters, whether guns/bombs/anti-radiation missiles. The F-35 is sold as a multi-mission platform, it can probably be fitted for such missions, but the overall design is biased towards low-observability/stealth, to evade rather than suppress defences. Inlet design for the F-35 has to enable the engine to operate efficiently from 0 (VTOL) to supersonic speed, while trying to minimise radar returns from the front fan of the engine, that it has forward sweep is coincidental.
Heard a Thud being ground tested after an engine swap at McGuire AFB (now JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst). It was over a mile away across the field but sounded like it was just up the street. Loudest airplane I’ve ever heard.
Skunkworks did tremeddous work to improve this airplane to make it cheap enough for the US allies and keep it in the skies to this day.
She did sterling service 👍
Mmm dat J-75 afterburning turbofan doe😊
Excellent!
While talking about the Thud, we see video of the following mixed in:
F4, F100, F80 and that was only thru 7 minutes when I clicked away from it.
If you want folks to know things, how about paying attention to details.
Agreed, this is a horribly-produced channel.
Some of those Thuds look just like Starfighters.
That was a fine music video.
12 tons external sounds like a hydrogen bomb except for the drag.
Nothing could keep up with the Thunderchief on the deck.
Looks like a cousin of the Mirage F-1 made famous by the Iraqi Air Forces during the Iran-Iraq War in the 80s.
Amazing. The single engined single seated fighter bomber the F105 had to be replaced by two twin engined aircraft, one with variable geometry capable wings. Imagine gaving one plane that can bring so much fire from the sky and in order to actually replace its capabilities in such a way that your overall impact on the enemy isnt degraded or poorly affected, you need two very expensive very poweful aircraft to fill the void
I worked on the 105 during Viet Nam, and I remember the engine being a J 79, much more thrust than a J75
The thud never had the J-79.
Just got the engine numbers reversed I bet. Max J79 thrust was 17,800lbs in F-4. J75 was rated at 26,500 in F-105. The version of J75 for the Super Crusader had it been built was 29,500. MUCH more powerfull than the J79
The THUD!
Southeast Asian based F-105s had a higher readiness level than the overall USAF as a whole. Thje problems with the plane were ironed out before deployment to Asia. I would be curious to know were you obtained that information.
He read it on the Internet.....
Relatively high loss rate due to poor strategy had seal its fate. Poor aircraft.
This bird was badass for it's day. When it opened up they couldn.t touch it
Someone's lying to you. It wasn't that fast. Only about speed of sound at ground level, twice that at 35,000 feet. In that era many planes were that fast. But less than 1% of missions in Vietnam ever went above Mach 1 even for a minute. It was stupid and wasteful to concentrate so much on a speed capability than the planes NEVER actually used or needed.
I believe F 105 B see little involvement in Vietnam as the flyaway cost was 5.6 million $/ plane in 1965 $ value making it very expensive. Mostly D variants which was around 2.3 million/ plane saw combat. I think the loss ratio was more like 50 % or more as only around 640 F 105 out of 833 built saw combat in Vietnam and 395 losses.
I think Skyraider, designed in 1945, was the most cost effective plane in Vietnam with 256 losses from which 150 in combat.
The F-105D is to this day the largest and heaviest single engine, single seat combat aircraft ever fielded operationally.
No, it was not “all weather” except for one application.
It was the first fighter aircraft equipped with a multi mode, multi function radar with both air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities. However, by today’s standards the resolution of the radar image was very poor and could not be used to deliver conventional weapons. Its only real “all-weather” mission capability was nuclear strike. It did have a blind let down delivery system for a free fall nuclear bomb that could get the weapon within 1km of the target. For an area target such as an industrial complex, a rail yard, or a marshaling area, combined with the power of a nuclear bomb, this level of accuracy was adequate as long as one wasn’t concerned about collateral damage. But for attacking point targets with conventional weapons - or for a hypothetical air-to-air scenario - it was strictly a daylight only platform, preferably in good weather. Conventional weapons delivery was purely visual with a mechanically adjusted bombsight little more sophisticated than what was available to WW2 fighter bomber pilots, but actually more difficult to achieve accuracy with due to the higher speeds involved. Though the radar had an air-to-air search capability, the F-105D carried no BVR missiles, being limited only to rear aspect short range heat seeking missiles and the internal gun; the radar played no role in helping the pilot to aim either of these systems.
The F-105D carried no internal countermeasures of any type; no jammers, no flares, no chaff. Its only countermeasures equipment was an externally carried jamming pod on one of the outboard underwing pylons, and these were not always used. The video depicts dual outboard underwing mounts for Sidewinder heat seeking air-to-air missiles; in practice this was not done as it was found that this arrangement caused too much drag. The typical defensive armament, besides the internal gun, was one Sidewinder on a single rail on an outboard underwing station, and a jamming pod on the opposite outboard underwing station; that’s it. In any event, the F-105 was primarily a “gunfighter”, virtually all air-to-air kills were made with the gun, with maybe one or two exceptions.
Another interesting feature of the F-105 was that despite its large overall size, it had a very small frontal radar cross section, which gave it a kind of early quasi “stealth” capability. A special radar reflecting device was added to the nose landing gear strut so that air traffic controllers could see it better when on final approach.
Though it was superseded by the F-4 and F-111, even after the Vietnam War, it remained a perfectly viable weapon in its originally intended role of tactical nuclear strike, particularly in the context of a NATO vs Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe. Its range, low level high speed performance, and adequate all weather accuracy with a nuclear weapon would have been difficult to stop by the Soviet air defense technologies of the 70s and even into the 80s.
Overall the F-105 was a very important warplane in the evolution of modern air power. The guys who flew them into the teeth of North Vietnam’s air defenses were among the bravest and most professional warriors this country ever produced.
For those comments about same route to target, cruise missiles still do it. Saddam figured out the routes, set up the ack ack and shot em down. Like they downloaded a map from AAA.
The day it made it's last flight was the day I was born.
Republics Answer that Checked A Lot of Boxes of the Day ! Nick Named by Ground Crew for the Thud it Made When Pan Caking into the Ground Had Some Teething Problems But Brought the Thunder and Fire Power 20k Missions 68% Participation Bombing Runs Viet-Nam Heavy Hitter !
It's been said that during the last F-105 flight it got up to full burner and two F-15s that were escorting it had a hard time keeping up.
Whoever said it was lying.
@@lqr824depends on the altitude. Low level 105 was extremely fast.
The F-105 was built for one mission - one way tactical toss-bombing nukes. It was used in a mission it was completely unsuited for. You will still find bits of Thud all over the Vietnamese karst.
Me gustan mucho tus trabajos, pero si los narraras un poco más lento, para mí sería perfecto, Gracias.