![]() But the Thunderchief was conceived from the outset with one purpose: to be a supersonic, low-altitude penetrator capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to a target deep within the Soviet Union.ĭesigned with a 45-degree swept wing that deliberately cut corners on maneuverability, the 50,000-pound Thunderchief-the largest single-seat, single-engine combat aircraft ever fielded when it entered service in 1958-relied on speed for survival and an internal bomb bay to hold a nuke. The F-105 was intended to be a replacement for the F-84F and owed some of its design elements to its predecessor. The F-105 Thunderchief was designed by a team led by a Georgian emigre named Alexander Kartveli, who had previously designed Republic’s legendary P-47 Thunderbolt, F-84 Thunderjet, and F-84F Thunderstreak. ![]() Robin Olds, who was lining up the same MiG with a Sidewinder when Waldrop blew through his shot, chasing the 17. That kill had additional confirmation from famed F-4 pilot, Col. The 388th Fighter Wing at Korat Royal Thai Air Base in Thailand, from which Waldrop flew, gave him credit for two kills, but the Air Force later confirmed only the second. Can the M1 Abrams Tank Still Outgun Russia’s Best?.How HIMARS Helped Ukraine ‘Get Back in the Fight’.For that, we can thank those who designed and adapted it, and those who flew and fought in it. Despite its depressing 40 percent attrition rate, the F-105 was a qualified success and would become an icon. ![]() Of the 833 F-105s produced, 334 were lost in combat along with over 150 aircrew. But it admirably took on one of the toughest air combat assignments in history-bombing targets and suppressing surface-to-air missiles in Vietnam. A lack of reliability and in-flight systems failures plagued its early career. The Republic F-105 Thunderchief had a hard life. He continued rolling right on in and blew up when he hit the ground.” What’s In a Name Shortly afterwards, some fire shot out from his wingtips and about midway across the wing and he started a slow roll over to the right. Waldrop throttled back, rolling upright in the dive, and again filled his sights with the MiG. As he dropped the fighter’s nose back out of the clouds, still inverted, he saw another MiG-17 passing below, its afterburner glowing. Getty Imagesįaced with shattering MiG pieces, Waldrop pulled up hard to avoid them, flying into the overcast sky and rolling inverted. Louis, Missouri, shooting down a MIG-17 on Jover North Vietnam with 20-millimeter shells from his U.S. This sequence from gun camera footage shows Maj. “I shot by them so fast it’d make your head spin,” Waldrop said. Firing at close range, he saw debris fly off the MiG as he overtook it, going supersonic. ![]() Ignoring his marginally useful bombing gunsight, Waldrop simply filled Crossbow 3’s windscreen with the MiG-17. With his throttle full-forward, Waldrop’s massive, powerful F-105 closed in on the smaller MiG at Mach 1.2 (913 mph). “I plugged in my afterburner, picked up a little airspeed, and closed in.” He yelled for the 105 to “break right!” as he dove toward the MiG. One was on the tail of an F-105 at the time,” Waldrop recalled. “As I rolled to the right, I looked down and saw two MIG-17s. As Waldrop’s flight of four 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron F-105s came off the target after dropping 750-pound M117 bombs on Yen Vien, the young lieutenant and his flight leader saw three North Vietnamese MiG-17s diving on another flight of Thunderchiefs. It was Waldrop’s 53rd combat mission in the Thunderchief, a nuclear strike aircraft unsuited for dogfighting. David Waldrop was in the cockpit of an F-105D-call sign “Crossbow 3”-as part of a mixed force of 36 F-105s and F-4 Phantoms aiming to strike Yen Vien, the largest rail yard in North Vietnam. On an overcast afternoon in 1967, 1st Lt.
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