Republic F-105 Thunderchief 2

[xxchinookxx]

Vietnam?..I wasn't there, but still care!...No offense to GOD, but Vietnam era Air Force,Marine,Navy,Army are like gods to me.......I was never a pilot BUT! I was a Flight Engineer on CH-47 Chinook helicopters during the 1980s...

[MistrX44444]

These are the planes George Bush flew.

So tell me again how stupid he was.

[afterburner2012]

my grandfather worked on this exact plane

[ja4life2011]

I am a Thud pilot, I love my plane.

It is my body, I am its brain.

It's packed with transistors, black boxes, diodes.

But please stay alert, 'cause you may get hurt

when she explodes!

[Bokicazver]

Did anybody have, or know anything about song dedicated to F-105 ?I heard this long, long time ago , and I would like to have it ...

Thank you !

[ryanspeed]

Five F-4 Phantom drivers dislike this! Shame on you all...and piss on the F-4!!!

[dawnofwar92]

Day after 25 hour day???

[usafvet100]

Republic liked to build them big, starting with the P-47. When I built 1/48 scale models of the Thud and the B-17, I was amazed to see that the fuselage length was about the same. The 105 was fast, but not very manuverable.My hat's off to the Thud drivers- we lost a lot of them over Vietnam.

[eedoon]

@usafvet100

B-17G

# Length: 74 ft 4 in (22.66 m)

# Wingspan: 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m)

P-47D

# Length: 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)

# Wingspan: 40 ft 9 in (12.42 m)

[usafvet100]

@eedoon Thanks for the great info! You're absolutely right in the fact that while the P-47 was a big fighter for its day, it was much smaller than the B-17.(A little less than half the fuselage length) By comparison, the fuselage length on the F-105 was 64 ft 5 inches, which does make it roughly comparable with that of the Flying Fortress.That still blows me away in light of the fact that the B-17 carried a crew of 10, while the Thud was a single-seater.

[everythingman987]

i hate thud haters

[ti994apc]

The F-105 is one of if not the worst aircraft ever built. The US has a long bad history of picking the wrong airplane (based on politics, rather than figures) and this was a prime example. Its competition the North American F-107 was one of the best aircraft ever built even by todays standards. It was superior not only to the F-105 (which is not saying much) but superior to the later F-4 Phantom. Basically, it would have been like having F-16's back in the day. 

[namsivad]

I'm reading an autobiography by a retired F-105 pilot, it's called "THUD RIDGE", by Colonel Jack Broughton. He describes to you about a full expieriance of what it was like to go into combat with these workhorses.

[DamoSuzuki100]

@namsivad

You should also read "When Thunder Rolled" by Ed Rasimus. He did a tour in Rolling THunder, than came back a few years later for another tour in F4s, which he writes about in "Palace Cobra". Well written, intelligent books..

[Parubhi]

@DamoSuzuki100

I have read "When Thunder Roller" and I couldn't put it down once i started. Very well written and gives a good insight of what it was really like at the individual pilot level. Nothing like single engine, single seat!

[canals22]

@Parubhi I'll buy it.. thanks !

[gnarkillkicksass]

@Parubhi Fantastic book! He also wrote a sequel about his time on F-4s afterwards, Palace Cobra which is also very good.

[PocusUK]

fly this sometimes in the game Wings Over Vietnam, very pretty bird

[jaw1024]

Thunderchief, i like

[squadman33]

Great clip. Great looking bird...Sleek and fast.

[dixievfd55]

The way air wars are fought today, we learned in blood there.

[6digit]

thunderchief is still active or not already?

[PrinzEugn]

@6digit Not.

[VelvetViolator]

Beautiful aircraft!

But had no chance against MIG-19..

[ryanspeed]

The F-105 was one awesome sexy looking beast!!

[xUSSRx]

Oh! It is good russian plane!!!

[morbidfrost]

Those tankers are still fyling. buy the damn kc767

[JacobWeinberg]

Is this from "Vietnam - The Ten Thousand Day War" ???

[ryanspeed]

@JacobWeinberg

This was a film called "The 25 Hour Day". It was sort of a F-105 documentary/promo film by Fairchild Republic done in 1966.

I want to say this was filmed at Tahkli AFB, I'm not sure. It could have been filmed at Korat.

[dcoverda21]

Vietnam. LOL what the hell is the Ten Thousand Day War???No disrespect lol.

[JacobWeinberg]

I was a documentary that came out in 1980.

[dcoverda21]

sorry b4 i was born. worth watchin?

[JacobWeinberg]

meh, its ok

[trechantrau]

more f105 dow in viet nam

[1maubat]

un vero cavallo di razza il thud grazie per questo video

[swordfreak3]

if u people did not know, this aircraft can also hold a nuke.

[ryanspeed]

The Thud was a beautiful beast!! I'd give almost anything to see one of these old girls fly again!!

[giooorgi]

f 105 was designed by georgian engineer alexander kartveli

[Andybucker]

Vai me... seriously?

[jerrymail]

My Vietnam War''s favorite airplane with the Skyraider and the Skyhawk !

[dcoverda21]

nice little propaganda mess. sike na the 105 thud was ths shit big up to everyone in Vietnam land or ground

[MrUprightcitizen100]

"ths shit big up to everyone in Vietnam"? What does that mean?

[dcoverda21]

Or you can just google props. Same thing. Great Respect

Rangers Lead the way

[simmons4621]

BIG ASS aircraft...excellent aircraft...pretty damn tough aircraft!!

[xosrov2]

thanks for keeping memory of the legend F 105 and other 60s alive.

[660magnum]

Hollywood needs to make a film about F105s 100 mission tour.

[Hvnscent]

We could have won the war with these things if they'd have let 'em bomb actual targets.

[Taimak77]

Who is the Narrator in this film? Not the pilot responding.

[AdrianNtart]

0.54......isnt that the sound only F104's make?

[GreenGabber1]

Thud

[steindaddie]

We'll see who is an F-105 buff when they complete the following:

What's the sound a 105 makes when it hits the ground?

[THUD086]

On landing, the first sound is made by the tires when they screech.

In an uncontrolled landing, all planes virtually make the same sound.

[Racer1505]

THUD!!!! also the sound they make when they hit the jungle floor

[bygonejohn]

Thud

[1z1q]

listening to CHM Award winner Leo Thornsen (i think was his name) talk about downing a MIG 17 with his F-105 to save a SANDIE(A1) on a S.A.R. Mission will make you swell up with pride as an American.. Then to hear him tell about traveling @ almost 800MPH at less than 100 feet to avoid being downed himself will fill you with Respect for these men

[Klatuu1]

Thorsness.

Leo K Thorseness.

[1z1q]

THANKS Klatuu1.. Yeah it turns out that Leo Thornsness and his back seater were shotdown shortly after helping that Skyraider and ended up spendingh several years as a "peoples guest"

[monte6714]

Flew this jet in NAM..in 1967.

[THUD086]

monte6714, your bio shows you at 51 years old. That means you were born in 1957, so how could you have been flying anything in Vietnam in 1967 when you would be only ten years old?

[AdrianNtart]

Its called bullshitting...

[THUD086]

I don't understand your comment, AdrianNtart.

[AdrianNtart]

Cos somone told you ''Flew this jet in NAM..in 1967''.....whic is a lie.... he was bulling....

[THUD086]

Okay, I got you now Adrian. I forgot about that. Thanks.

[Notoriousjp]

When I was at Hill AFB in the 1980s, the Guard or reserve wing there(I forget which one they were) was still flying them. They took off slow and were damn loud jets. My favorite 100 series jet!

[Parubhi]

Awesome jet, some damn dangerous flying and most important of all, the brave pilots who faced danger at tree top level with a shit load of smack on the jet! Respect.

[malvinassoninglesas]

me hace recordar cuando a los argentiindios le sacaron las malvinas we muy buen video

[lucianmop]

sorete!! malvinas argentinas

[1z1q]

much love and respect for the THUD and her brave crews both air and ground.. from houston texas baby.. the last stronghold in america for conservatives and god fearing americans.. we're used to being surrounded down here ..man this is where the ALAMO is baby!!!

[kingsman565]

I take it your a Michael Moore fan then.

[1z1q]

HAhahahahaha!!!! yeah brother... I am a huge fan of cutting his toungue out and stapling to his fat face...

[kingsman565]

LOL

[Nergoil]

The Thud squadrons in Vietnam had airplanes made of aluminum, bombs made of iron, and pilots made of steel.

[1z1q]

that comment struck me... as bad ass, intelligent ,and true Nergoil

[Warthogfan]

@Nergoil Well their balls were steel anyway. Here's to 'em.

[canals22]

@Nergoil Well... I love the 105, and the Wild Weasel missions, but, if you do enough reading, you'll find some pilots failed to push with the bombing plan, some dropped and lighted at the first sign of trouble.

Having say that , I agree the Thuds did a lot of dirty work, and the account of the weasel pilots doodging SAMS are hairising...

[Jesteria78]

@Nergoil and yet they lost

[ahz123]

@Nergoil I think there's some brass involved too.

[ionutcelgroaznic]

@Nergoil And brains made of rubber

[jrkepler]

@Nergoil no just flesh and bone.

[ironroad18]

F-105 pilots also had to learn a lot of their bombing skills and tactics "on the job." The USAF made no provisions for training tactical bomber pilots, dog fighters, close air-support, and wild-weasel crews. In Vietnam, a lot of air crews had to learn as they went along

[THUD086]

The reason for their high loss rate is simply because they did more. 75% of all Air Force bombs dropped over No. Vietnam were put there by the F105. And they still managed to shoot down 27 Mig's, 25 with the Vulcan 20mm cannon. The last aerial victory for the Thud occured in December of 67. The Air Force set a policy against the Thud drivers not to engage MiG's in combat after Dec. 67. That job would then be granted to the F-4's. Otherwise, the MiG count would've been higher.

[Scooterjohnn]

They took a lot of losses as they flew so far north into some of the most heavily defended areas. Once they dropped their loads, they could really get out of dodge fast. Down low, the fastest plane for a lot of years.

[Belenor]

Beautiful plane

[cornskid]

We used to see them near Austin Tx I think they came from Bergstrom AFB

[1z1q]

sorry cornskid i accidentally gave you a thumbsdown... you're probably right about the 105's coming out of bergstrom AFB.. My mom told me about when she was growing up near san antonio tx about the acres of fully fueled and armed B-52'S sitting out there on tarmac

[cornskid]

F105 is allways short on fuel. Flies right on the edge. Very heavy, very powerful, very fast, very difficult to master. One of the very coolest planes ever built

[cornskid]

Could walk away from F-15 for few minutes only. Full afterburner will empty tanks very quickly. Dragster is good analogy

[frostedpurple]

Without the F-4 Phantom, the US air war during the Vietnam war will be a total failure if they relied only to the Thuds

[Basilisk1]

The F-105 was used as a tactical bomber (not a fighter), and could cary more ordnance than a WWII B-17. The F-4, with no gun, and in Air Force use, with crappy heat-seekers, was no great shakes at first either. The F-8 Crusader was a much better dogfighter than the Phantom.

[schukisfast]

about half of the thuds produced were lost in combat over southeast asia.

[Basilisk1]

The Thunderchief also had extremely low trans-sonic drag characteristics, and an extremely high thrust-to-weight ratio. It could literally walk away from next generation fighters like the F-15 at lower altitudes. A real top fuel dragster.

[cas242]

Thunder chief has a 0.74 thrust to weight ratio. The F-15C has 1.12. You give the thud too much credit.

[Basilisk1]

Yes, the F-15 can out accelerate and out climb the F-105 in almost every area, accept when transitioning from subsonic to supersonic at LOW altitude. At that point the F-15's transonic drag outweighs the thrust-to-weight ratio. Anywhere else there is no contest.

[slickwing]

There's more physics involved than thrust : weight.

[cas242]

TWR is just for acceleration fair enough. But the F-15C doesn't generally fly low, its made for medium-high altitude.

[CBass1307]

Nicknamed the "Thud" for the sound it made hwen it exploded. Not an uncommon thing for an aircraft that flys into some of the most heavily defended airspace on earth.

[brtshstel]

"Thud" was its nickname because they thought it would crash into the ground because of mechanical failure, playing the sound it would make when crashing.

[pfiffer2974]

a fast plane but not a good dogfighter.

[CountArtha]

It wasn't built for dogfighting. It was a ground-attack plane, filling the same role as the F-16 and A-10 do today. It also sustained the higest losses of any U.S. aircraft in the war, with more than half of all Thunderchiefs built being destroyed over Vietnam. The narrator wasn't kidding about how brave those pilots were.

[ironroad18]

The 105 was built specifically to carry tactical nuclear weapons at a very high speed and low atl (Much like the A-5, later RA-5). Both planes were designed to be fast and "clean" (as a tac bomber could be)so they could come in low and fast, sling their nukes in or near the target area, and have the speed and fuel to at least get out of the blast radius.

[ironroad18]

The cannon and aim-9s that could be carried on the F-105 were a secondary feature. Think of them being used more for self-defense than actual attack. (much like the a/a weapons carried by the A-7 or A-10). During the late 5o's- mid 60's 105 pilots were trained to on how to do basic flight, how to approach a target from low alt, and how to drop nukes. They were not trained to do tactical bombing, close air support, strafing, and wild-weasel. Roles that the Thud was asked to fill during Vietnam.

[SmiertSpionem]

That was one hardass ground attack plane. In the tradition of Republic.

[bbays]

good propaganda during vietnam.....congratulations !

[stappb]

you parents were probably hippes. thank them for thier effort

[teng27]

Damn I love this jet.

[chinobellako]

wow that was cool!

[avwiz]

Something else that's cool about this plane is that it really was as mean as it looks. It could take alot of AAA or even missile hits and still be able to fly on to a safe landing and it could withstand some pretty high Gs also. Safe to say its structure was "built to last". She's such a beauty for a flying tank and is the largest single-engined fighter bomber the U.S. has flown to date.

[mirikam8]

WOOOO!

[WulfAce]

It don't get any better than this.

[selby06]

The F-105 could start its engine by firing a 12 gauge shotgun shell, which would kick into spooling up.

[skipplet]

the mighty thud.. hell of an airplane and damn good looking too.

[rafaquintana]

See the ECM poods? Those Thuds were going to strike Route Pack 6!