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My uncle flew F-105's during the Vietnam War, he was shot down during a mission but thankfully he was rescued by a Jolly Green rescue helo. When the Wings channel was still on I would watch it all the time and when they did the episode on Combat Rescue Helicopters of the Vietnam War, my uncle was featured in the last 10 or 15 minutes which showed how difficult his rescue was due to him suffering a serious back injury. The PJ had to go down into the jungle to help him due to his injuries with the Viet Cong closing in on them.
Impressive story, and I'm glad he made it. I was navy, so you'll have to allow me a bit of ignorance here, but my great uncle also flew in 'Nam. He began in WWII flying a B-17, the "Axis Ass Ache" with the 9th out of Tunisia. Flew in Korea, though I don't know what (we weren't real close -- he was always deployed). Close support with TAC, I do know that. Flew F-89s in the later '50s, then deployed to 'Nam initially in F-105s. My grandma, his sister, said she could hear the relief in his voice when his unit transitioned to F-4s. He was a colonel at the time and commanded a squadron or a wing -- my navy ignorance showing -- and retired in 74 or 75 as a major general. As far as I know, he was never shot down, though his B-17 did make a hard landing after being shot up on a mission, and never flew again. Amazing career, spanning the eras from piston-engine bombers to high performance jets with some early computerization. Tech moves so fast anymore that its an exceptional flier who can keep up.
One day on our way back to the Tonkin Gulf after a worthless temporary expedition to North Korean coastal waters following the USS Pueblo hijack, we towed a floating target for a flight of USAF Thuds with gattling gun pods strapped on the centerline weapons pylon. Took time off from our aircraft maintenance work on the flight deck to watch these beautifully mean-looking machines dive and strafe. It was a treat remembered over the past 53 years! USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14).
My Dad was a Air Craft Fabricator in the 60's for Fairchild Hiller in Farmingdale building the F 105S. I remember waiting in the parking lot at 12:00 in the morning with my Mom to pick up my Dad after work. Great times I will always remember.
Another GREAT video. Only 20 years between P47 and F105 and it retired in 1983. Amazing company. Delta Darts, Phantoms and Thunderchiefs are the best looking fighters from the fifties IMO. Thank you for your time and dedication!
Much nostalgia! I was 18 days old when FH-099 made its first flight.😊 So, of course, the F-105 was very familiar to me through my childhood and teen years.
The pylons were built at a small firm in west l.a. my friends father Irv worked there. I visited the factory in the early 60s and was amazed at the size of them for a child and that they went on a airplane.
Thanks for this great video Mike. It was my privilege to work on the F-105B, D and F models for ten years in the USAF and ANG. It was easy to maintain and a big impressive bird.
Appreciate your well chosen high quality photos with rich comments to match, which bring back exquisite memories from your Wings & Airpower magazine days caping off with a silent background. Can't ask for more!
Really enjoy your videos Mike and always loved the look of the 105. As a kid I'd see it on static display and doing a flying routine at the Pease AFB open house circa early 70s.
I always loved the F-105, so much that I bought when I was young the lovely Monogram two seater scale 1/48!! I never saw this airplane but I was impressed how big it was just comparing this model to my other models including the P-47 that was dwarfed, almost like compared it with the old Fiat 500 and the Cadillac Eldorado! Very interesting video with really nice selection photos 👍👍! Looking forward to your new videos....
FH-107 has survived and is on display at the Hickory Aviation Museum, Hickory N.C. Also, if you look at the picture on the museum website, the red trim was added for a cold weather test program carried out in Alaska.
Early aviation had some really beautiful designs. Thanks for bringing this video to you tube. I really appreciate, and enjoyed it. It's a nice salute to our history in aviation.
My only association with F-105s is from my time at Korat AFB, Thailand with the Wild Weasels. That plane had the most awesome afterburner light off. They'd run up to power and hit AB, and there'd be a half second of silence and then BOOM!
Appreciate the comment, thanks. After a lifetime of collecting archival photos, it's a priviledge sharing them now with all my wonderful RU-vid viewers!
Another awesome presentation, love your choice of subject matter- I’m pretty familiar with F-105 but a lot of this early production story was new to me and very interesting!! Very well illustrated, too, which is no surprise-
Thanks for making great videos. F-105 one of my all time faves(I have about 50 “faves” in every imaginable category you can think of) Yeah , I love military aviation.
Used to watch these take off and land from the fence line runway end of McGuire AFB in mid 60s. NOISY ! All were camo painted ! Mostly F105s and C141s.
Thanks, and great to have you aboard! 'Started the channel May 1, 2020 after being laid-off a Museum Curatorship job due to COVID. Had no idea it would be this much fun!
The last JF-105 with its Reconnaissance package is at Lackland AFB's Airmans Heritage Museum, just past the MOB Barracks. It is painted in its Razzle Dazzle paint scheme. If you ever want to see it in person contact the Airmans Heritage Museum's Curator Mr. Fernando Cortez after the lockdown, the museum has also an F-105D which is displayed at the base Parade Grounds behind the base headquarters building in the Southeast Asia Airpark (parked next to the B-52D).
At the bar I was stationed at Germany. Hahn AB, GE there was a F-105 there was used for the ABDR guys to practice on. Shoot it up and then patch it up.
Interesting sidenote - the Thud was a top contender for Canada's NATO nuclear strike role in Europe. Deemed too expensive, the RCAF elected to go with Canadian-built CF-104 Starfighters instead. Great presentation on a remarkable airplane - thanks Mike.
Hi Mike. The box art work at 5:15 looks fantastic. The yellows of the sun/sky by the nose of the 105 transition to orange and at the tail of the aircraft, then the same yellow of the sun comes back in the flame of the jet exhaust. looks great. I'm slowly catching up on you past work. "OH" by the way, out of all my old aviation books I have one with your name on it. The book is on Pan Am and it's aircraft. I enjoy your narration, full in information without making the viewer feel uninformed. Just bought a 1955 Revell type "S" oil tanker kit, it looks like new in the pic's. Thanks.....
I climbed all over and under a Thud nestled among some trees and an F-4 near the runway at Wright-Patt in 1987. She had some SAM shrapnel damage to her tail. Pretty sure she eventually made it to the museum after some repair.
Agreed Martin, thanks, and for the best operational history of the F-105 ever written, check out this book by the great Dennis R. Jenkins: www.amazon.com/Thunderchief-Complete-History-Republic-F-105/dp/1580072593/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=thunderchief+dennis+jenkins&qid=1607250380&s=books&sr=1-2
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 I have the Jenkins book you mention. It is a really deep dive into the -105, a very enjoyable read and a bulletproof reference. Every -105 afficianado must have this book.
Amazing story with incredible photos and you saved the best for almost last--@13:20! Looking forward to your sequel, Republic F-105 THUNDERCHIEF-The Later Years. BTW... what the heck happened to the F-103? Was there even a prototype, and if so, who developed it?
Thanks Mark, and the Mach-3 all-titanium XF-103 Thunder Warrior made it to mock-up stage at Farmingdale, but it was too far ahead of its time in 1953. Technical challenges plus the initial development of the F-105 led to cancellation of the '103 Program in 1955 and the mock-up was scrapped. In 1964, the YF-12 interceptor version of the Lockheed Blackbird was flying, and advanced 1960s technology (plus Kelly Johnson's brilliant team) made it happen.
Amazingly informative and interesting. Is it true that when refueling, the tanker and the 105 had to go into a shallow dive to keep the airspeed if for the 105?
Great Presentation! I just finished an old 1/48 scale Revell kit I found on Ebay. Can anyone tell me what the yellow border around the canopy glass was ?
Wait wait wait, Kartvelli? What about Seversky? He was the principle genius that founded the company and was the main revenue maker, But I don't see anything about him, it is pretty much all Kartvelli in post. Seversky even made the book appealing for air power...hmm I wonder....
Good question Chris, and yes Alexander de Seversky was indeed the driving force behind the original company that bore his name and he is the one who hired his Chief Designer, Alexander Kartvelli. However, facing many operational and financial problems, Seversky was ousted by his Board of Directors in 1939, and the company was renamed Republic. By the time of the F-105 in the early 1950s, Seversky was no longer involved. Thanks for watching!
Well done thx i enjoyed your Video , have around 200 books about airplanes WW2 to late 1960s, 2 of them about the Type F-105 (Warbird Tech and a small one from squadron)plus some Books with a chapter for the operational history SEA/RSVN of the F-105 like "......AND KILL MIGS" ect.. Cant wait for your Part 2 F-105 video , i hope we can see some nose art on F-105 too like Capt. Vic Vizcarra`s famous "pussy galore II"
Why could they build cutting edge fighter planes like that but cars in the background that GM, Ford and Chrysler made in those days were not much more advanced than Model T’s
Should have been an outstanding plane , alas fell well short shame , don’t know why they were even used in Nam I not gonna say no more , and I love republics aircraft
The F-105 was indeed an outstanding airplane serving in a role it was never designed for - carrying a heavy external payload with Mach-2 dash speed capability on the return-to-base. Thanks for watching!
