the F-105 is an excellent plane...FOR ITS ROLE! the minute you start using aircraft for literally the exact opposite role they were designed for is when you start taking casualties,couple that with ludicrous ROE and the fact that the F-105 flew 75% of ALL sorties in vietnam and you can begin to see why there were so many losses,it really had nothing to do with the plane. watch the Discovery channels "Great Planes" episode about the F-105,i have a profound respect for the F-105 after watching it.
the ROE did not change, you have to wait till they fire at you before unleashing the guns/rockets etc...because we are civilized humans even when going to war against medeavel enemies. The only time that planes (A10's) were cut loose was in the Irak war when the Irak troops fled Kuwait, the A10's had a real turkey shoot....
p.s. Colonel Broughton was treated like he was the enemie during the Turkestan trial. Again proof that trusting politicians is like trusting your bank manager
I was in the Air force from 1968 to 1972 and was with the 23rd Wing towards the end of the war, posted with the 561st Squadron (Wild Weasels). It was the most stressful outfit I was ever with--I heard the casualty rate for Wild Weasel aircrews was 63%. When Giap invaded with 200,000 troops in 1972, we sent the 561st to SEA. As I recall, out of our 12 planes, four were shot down. In fact, a plane from my squadron was the last F105 shot down in Vietnam. We earned the AFOUA with Combat "V".
Do they still use that rule of engagement in this day and age becaue if they do that is stupid, whoever is first to fire with the munitions of today is usually the ace that wins the dogfight .
U, People lost so much of relatively good aircraft just because of white gloves Uncle Sam was fighting in. Only Line Baker 2 operation put the end to bloody stupidity of target engagement restriction policy.
The F105 was an awesome machine. The 'Thud' may have had flaws but it was well loved by its crews. More so than the F4 Phantom. Along with the 'Huey' it was an icon of Vietnam. Underrated and much loved machine.
Too bad it's so hard to find footage with actual sound . I remember when Texas Air National Guard was using them . We drove under a pair of them taking off together it was incredible sounding .
Kudos to the Thud drivers who took this fast but unmanuverable bird over the unfriendly skies of Vietnam. Greater kudos to the "Wild Weasel" pilots who went up daring the North Vietnamese to fire a SAM at them so they could home in on the missle radar. That took guts! The "F" designation was propbably a misnomer- it was more of a bomber than a fighter, it even had an internal bomb bay.
an obsolete aircraft the day it flew, so it was used up at the expense of the human occupant. it was ment for a one time strike nuclear inside russia at mach 2. it was used to bomb tiny targets none that were even worth the cost of the mission.
@StiviGun1 The location of the XF-107's Ultra Sabre jet induction system is what, in part, kept it from having been awarded a contract. Think about it: If one was fortunate enough to survive the ejection there was a real possibility of being sucked into the jet positioned above and behind the cockpit < A major concern although the plane had great flying characteristics, in the end, the survivability of the pilot came first.
@mojofuel62 From what I know, the official reason for which the F-105 was selected over F-107 was because the F-105 had an internal weapons bay. But it was never used in combat... Anyway, the F-107 incorporated much more advanced characteristics than the F-105 & much more advanced avionics. It even had a form of a primitive fly-by-wire system.
As for the location of the intakes, that is not a bigger problem than mechanical failures, poor performance and high maintenance costs.
I was a weapons loader for the F105 in Korat Thailand in 1966-67. I have many photos and 8mm movies I took and have now converted to a DVD/CD show. Look on eBay and search for "Korat Thailand".
The producers of this piece of shit obviously haven't the slightest idea of the situation handed our pilots in the conduct of the air war up north . turnyour sound off and enjoy the footage. Don't I beg of you listen to the narative (sheeesh!)
God bless the Thud. I was 474TFW 474OMS 429TFS at Nellis in the early 70's. 105's from GeorgeAFB 555TFS would come up to play on the range and develop their Wild Weasel skills. They had the loudest afterburner (single stage)...sounded like a bomb went off when it was engaged.
I'm currently reading the book "Thud Ridge" an autobiography of Col. Broughton, from what I have read, this video is mostly BS. The command was the reason the F-105 was not able to perform its mission correctly. The restrictions placed on it took the f-105 completely out of its element.
You should also check out "Going Downtown The War Against Hanoi and Washington'". Careful on which you believe Broughton or this video. My father is mentioned in this book and called it BS.
I hate hot the "experts" like to criticize the Thud for being a bad fighter. Of course it's a bad fighter; it's a *bomber*! That's like saying a Mack truck is lousy at driving on a road course.
plagued as the F-105! The Narrator makes the 105 sound as though it was a piece of sh*t!
EVERY airplane of that period had troubles of some kind!
One thing I can agree with the narrator on was the F-105's mission. It was designed to fly low and fast and deliver an A-bomb to the then USSR. It was not designed to be a dogfighter. Almost every mission flown by 105s was accompanied by MiG-CAP aircraft like the F-4 which stood guard while the 105 went to work.
Excellent points there ryanspeed, but actually the Thud was a good dogfighter in it's own element (low altitude). It shot down 27 and 1/2 MiG-17's, 25 with the gun, all before the end of Dec. of 67. After that, Air Force set the policy of the F-4 MiGCap's doing all the fighting. The Thud had no more kills, but was capable of it. Not a bad record, considering it took the entire war for Navy Phantoms to get their 40 kills.
Yea, I think I remember reading that years ago and no that's not a bad record at all!
I guess when the pilots learned how to manouver that big ol'gal against the more agile MiGs in a dogfight she could be a force to be reckoned with!
One point you mentioned was that 25 kills were with guns. I can't believe that other than wing pods the F-4 had no guns! This was about the stupidest thing they could have done, building a dogfighter without guns!
The mindset in the 50's was that guns would not be needed, with the advent of missiles, and it was presumed that there would be no WW2 type battles anymore. War would now be a matter of using long range bombers and nukes, and that dogfighting was no longer needed.
But then along came this place called Vietnam, and it was back to the drawing boards.
The F-4 was part of that 50's mindset, they figured with missiles, why bother with a gun. And you're right, what a mistake that was, not putting a gun on it.
The Air Force did install the M-61 Vulcan 20mm on the E model, which was first sent to Korat in Nov. of 68, but had to wait for the air war to resume over the North in 72. Unfortunately, the gun created a high repercussion problem, and was damaging the radar equipment, so it was limited in it's use. It still shot down 6 MiG's with the gun.
Yea, that same 50's mindset came to fruition a number of times when a lot of F-4 drivers would hit the missle button only to watch it detach from the pylon, fail to ignite and fall to the ground! I heard that happened several times in Vietnam.
Exactly. The propulsion system was very defective. And if it didn't fall to Earth, occasionaly it would detonate pre-maturely. They only had about a 10% effective rate.
It's amazing we were able to still come ahead with a 2:1 kill ratio. There's no doubt that if it was built with the internal gun, the ratio would've been much higher.
The narrator of this video kind of irritates me with his comments regarding mecahincal problems with the F-105.
I know pilots who flew and men who worked on this airplane and to listen to them talk they said that the 105 was really (from a mecahnical view point) not too much different that other aircraft of the Vietnam war. A few of these guys also flew/worked other aircraft of that period like the F-100, F-101, F-102 and the F-4, and they said that these aircraft were just as mechanically
The F-105 was designed to go as fast as possible very low. Even the later match 2 fighters of the 60s-70s couldn't catch it low (Thud driver/maintainer who participated in the "Flag" exercises of the 70s.)
Thud Ridge got its name because the base of mountains gave a perfect terrain masking route for flights coming across Laos up into Route Pack 6 (Hanoi area). The ridge was one of the most predominate terrain features in the Hanoi area and gave strike packages brief cover from air defenses.
Hello, my uncle working at Republic, California, 1950s, was part of a small team of engineers who designed and built the hardware and software for the fire and control systems on this aircraft. Went on to work on many of the top ICBM missle systems and later on, the space shuttle.
None that I know of Kabel51. I've attended many air shows since the early 80's, and never seen or knew of any since the Air Force retired them from the Georgia Air National Guard in about 1984.
There was some reson they had to ground the carrier fleets more modern jets so they brought the F-105 back into service. I herd it on some documentary years ago I'm not shure if it's true or not, I'm away to find out if it is cause it's starting to bug me now.
Well, I hate to see you waste your time, but I assure you, the F-105 was retired about 1984, and never seen service again. I kept good track of them, I used to be a crew chief on them. They were replaced in the Wild Weasel role by the F-4G, a re-designated E model.
Well, joining the military shouldn't be about who gives a better deal. It all counts on what you wish to do. Look at the various careers available each branch has to offer, decide which one you like, and go from there. If you go into it with the "better deal" attitude, you will be disappointed. The services will extract from you what they require, not what you desire. So if you're going to enlist, pick a field that you're comfortable with, and best of luck to you. Make us all proud.
You are 100% correct in your obxervation THUD086. I joined the USAF because I have always had an obsession with planes. Since the day I was born I have been looking to the sky. Work hard, have a positive attitude, be self-disciplined, and always remain motivated and determined. Even though you haveheard this all before It truly helps and it will get you places. Like THUD086 said, make us proud kingsman565. Good luck!
Hi Texas. If you wish, send me a PM, I'd like to hear about your father, although you say when they returned from Vietnam, which would mean at least three years after I was discharged (1970).
And both you and Redhawk bring up some good points. This vid fails to take in account the reason for the negative aspects of the Thud, not due to the plane itself.
I read Broughtons book myself and still have my copy.
He brings up good points, but it sounds to me that he had an "axe to grind" also.
Glad to meet you folks. I was a crew chief at Korat from 2Jun67-2Jun68, and again at Korat from 11Oct68-11Oct69, and 6 months at Tahkli from 11Oct69-8Apr70, all with the 13thTFS and 44thTFS. I loved it. I can go on all day about the F105. Quite an airplane.
This narrator was obviously never around the F105. The NICKEL was a workhorse and was in the air day AND night over Vietnam. So, yeah it had a few problems because it was go go go over there. I loaded weapons on the 105 and totally respected the aircraft and the pilots who flew them.
You're 100% correct... the Thud is a beautiful plane, and this narrator has degraded it... I respect all Thud pilots, and I fly my simulator one with pride!
lmost 400 out of 659 Thuds produced were shot down, the real guilties were LBJ and Mcnamara who overcontrolled the airwar and imposed the craziest ROE's in military history, costing the lives of many fine young men. Those two really lost the war, not the warriors... damn them !!
@rarebear14 very true, but 833 thuds were built! not 659, but still i love this airplane, if this was used how the plane was the designed, i think none would be lost!
@rarebear14 A damn good question my friend! Very stupid indeed!
I read a book years ago that was written by a former F-105 driver who expressesd his displeasure of how they couldn't touch a SAM site under construction until it became operational!! What kind of crap is that!!?? Wait till they start shooting you down...then go after them!!??
Johnson was an inept piss poor president but given the state of how the USA is today it sure as hell looks like he wont be the worst we've had!!
@ryanspeed The problem was very simple...LBJ tried to be everything for everybody. He never understood the military or what it was for. I agree-the ROE that they put in place were astoundingly stupid. I think that book you are talking about is Thud Ridge. Haven't had a chance to read it yet.
One F-105 pilot was awarded the CMOH after he and his backseater took on 2 Migs air-to-air with guns only. He hit at least one plane with guns but got shot down anyway and they both had an unfortunate long stay at the Hanoi Hilton. The pilot made it back to the US alright but not sure about the backseater's fate.
The Thud was an awesome aircraft originally intended as an a missile launching interceptor of Soviet bombers, but pressed into the tactical bomber at low level suffered substantial losses to SAMS.
Supposedly there is a ridge in Nam called "Thud ridge" due to how many thuds crashed there.
Its said also that it was a very fast and tough aircraft and packed a good payload.
the F-105 is an excellent plane...FOR ITS ROLE! the minute you start using aircraft for literally the exact opposite role they were designed for is when you start taking casualties,couple that with ludicrous ROE and the fact that the F-105 flew 75% of ALL sorties in vietnam and you can begin to see why there were so many losses,it really had nothing to do with the plane. watch the Discovery channels "Great Planes" episode about the F-105,i have a profound respect for the F-105 after watching it.
hotpocketpoison 1 month ago 3
the ROE did not change, you have to wait till they fire at you before unleashing the guns/rockets etc...because we are civilized humans even when going to war against medeavel enemies. The only time that planes (A10's) were cut loose was in the Irak war when the Irak troops fled Kuwait, the A10's had a real turkey shoot....
p.s. Colonel Broughton was treated like he was the enemie during the Turkestan trial. Again proof that trusting politicians is like trusting your bank manager
!
rarebear14 3 months ago
I was in the Air force from 1968 to 1972 and was with the 23rd Wing towards the end of the war, posted with the 561st Squadron (Wild Weasels). It was the most stressful outfit I was ever with--I heard the casualty rate for Wild Weasel aircrews was 63%. When Giap invaded with 200,000 troops in 1972, we sent the 561st to SEA. As I recall, out of our 12 planes, four were shot down. In fact, a plane from my squadron was the last F105 shot down in Vietnam. We earned the AFOUA with Combat "V".
gallantrycross 6 months ago
Do they still use that rule of engagement in this day and age becaue if they do that is stupid, whoever is first to fire with the munitions of today is usually the ace that wins the dogfight .
94AggressiveInline 6 months ago
U, People lost so much of relatively good aircraft just because of white gloves Uncle Sam was fighting in. Only Line Baker 2 operation put the end to bloody stupidity of target engagement restriction policy.
MrCasspir 8 months ago
The F105 was an awesome machine. The 'Thud' may have had flaws but it was well loved by its crews. More so than the F4 Phantom. Along with the 'Huey' it was an icon of Vietnam. Underrated and much loved machine.
pedrojak7 9 months ago
Too bad it's so hard to find footage with actual sound . I remember when Texas Air National Guard was using them . We drove under a pair of them taking off together it was incredible sounding .
losteroni 10 months ago
Kudos to the Thud drivers who took this fast but unmanuverable bird over the unfriendly skies of Vietnam. Greater kudos to the "Wild Weasel" pilots who went up daring the North Vietnamese to fire a SAM at them so they could home in on the missle radar. That took guts! The "F" designation was propbably a misnomer- it was more of a bomber than a fighter, it even had an internal bomb bay.
usafvet100 1 year ago
Poor Thud, it was a good ride after all...
canals22 1 year ago
an obsolete aircraft the day it flew, so it was used up at the expense of the human occupant. it was ment for a one time strike nuclear inside russia at mach 2. it was used to bomb tiny targets none that were even worth the cost of the mission.
datzfast 1 year ago
So this aircraft was notorious for its mechanical problem and lack of maneuverability. Than why was selected over the XF-107?
StiviGun1 1 year ago
@StiviGun1 The location of the XF-107's Ultra Sabre jet induction system is what, in part, kept it from having been awarded a contract. Think about it: If one was fortunate enough to survive the ejection there was a real possibility of being sucked into the jet positioned above and behind the cockpit < A major concern although the plane had great flying characteristics, in the end, the survivability of the pilot came first.
mojofuel62 10 months ago
@mojofuel62 From what I know, the official reason for which the F-105 was selected over F-107 was because the F-105 had an internal weapons bay. But it was never used in combat... Anyway, the F-107 incorporated much more advanced characteristics than the F-105 & much more advanced avionics. It even had a form of a primitive fly-by-wire system.
As for the location of the intakes, that is not a bigger problem than mechanical failures, poor performance and high maintenance costs.
StiviGun1 10 months ago
@StiviGun1 Thanks for the interesting information. I do appreciate it -
mojofuel62 10 months ago
@mojofuel62 You're welcome.
StiviGun1 10 months ago
I was a weapons loader for the F105 in Korat Thailand in 1966-67. I have many photos and 8mm movies I took and have now converted to a DVD/CD show. Look on eBay and search for "Korat Thailand".
THEFESTUS19 1 year ago
@THEFESTUS19 do you have and short vids to see what they are about?
Eirik36 8 months ago
@Eirik36 Yes. In the description area of my eBay ad. from ebay.com search for Korat Thailand.
THEFESTUS19 7 months ago
The producers of this piece of shit obviously haven't the slightest idea of the situation handed our pilots in the conduct of the air war up north . turnyour sound off and enjoy the footage. Don't I beg of you listen to the narative (sheeesh!)
bravrifl 1 year ago
God bless the Thud. I was 474TFW 474OMS 429TFS at Nellis in the early 70's. 105's from GeorgeAFB 555TFS would come up to play on the range and develop their Wild Weasel skills. They had the loudest afterburner (single stage)...sounded like a bomb went off when it was engaged.
DBLCC 1 year ago
Dint they build 833 thuds?
TheNovum 1 year ago
RH, you said it. This is all total BS.
bearlag 2 years ago
I'm currently reading the book "Thud Ridge" an autobiography of Col. Broughton, from what I have read, this video is mostly BS. The command was the reason the F-105 was not able to perform its mission correctly. The restrictions placed on it took the f-105 completely out of its element.
Redhawk092 2 years ago
You should also check out "Going Downtown The War Against Hanoi and Washington'". Careful on which you believe Broughton or this video. My father is mentioned in this book and called it BS.
texasorbusted 2 years ago
You have got to love the 'nickel'! What a versatile and unique airframe.
TheMigkiller 2 years ago
With a name like THUD, it's got to be good!
nevsky1961 2 years ago
I have the f-105 in a revell scale model...
HaloHayabusaHeadshot 2 years ago
is it 1:48 by any chance?
AdrianNtart 2 years ago
I hate hot the "experts" like to criticize the Thud for being a bad fighter. Of course it's a bad fighter; it's a *bomber*! That's like saying a Mack truck is lousy at driving on a road course.
brtshstel 2 years ago 3
Great bomber.
morbidfrost 3 years ago
Cont.
plagued as the F-105! The Narrator makes the 105 sound as though it was a piece of sh*t!
EVERY airplane of that period had troubles of some kind!
One thing I can agree with the narrator on was the F-105's mission. It was designed to fly low and fast and deliver an A-bomb to the then USSR. It was not designed to be a dogfighter. Almost every mission flown by 105s was accompanied by MiG-CAP aircraft like the F-4 which stood guard while the 105 went to work.
ryanspeed 3 years ago
Excellent points there ryanspeed, but actually the Thud was a good dogfighter in it's own element (low altitude). It shot down 27 and 1/2 MiG-17's, 25 with the gun, all before the end of Dec. of 67. After that, Air Force set the policy of the F-4 MiGCap's doing all the fighting. The Thud had no more kills, but was capable of it. Not a bad record, considering it took the entire war for Navy Phantoms to get their 40 kills.
THUD086 3 years ago
Yea, I think I remember reading that years ago and no that's not a bad record at all!
I guess when the pilots learned how to manouver that big ol'gal against the more agile MiGs in a dogfight she could be a force to be reckoned with!
One point you mentioned was that 25 kills were with guns. I can't believe that other than wing pods the F-4 had no guns! This was about the stupidest thing they could have done, building a dogfighter without guns!
ryanspeed 3 years ago
The mindset in the 50's was that guns would not be needed, with the advent of missiles, and it was presumed that there would be no WW2 type battles anymore. War would now be a matter of using long range bombers and nukes, and that dogfighting was no longer needed.
But then along came this place called Vietnam, and it was back to the drawing boards.
THUD086 3 years ago
The F-4 was part of that 50's mindset, they figured with missiles, why bother with a gun. And you're right, what a mistake that was, not putting a gun on it.
The Air Force did install the M-61 Vulcan 20mm on the E model, which was first sent to Korat in Nov. of 68, but had to wait for the air war to resume over the North in 72. Unfortunately, the gun created a high repercussion problem, and was damaging the radar equipment, so it was limited in it's use. It still shot down 6 MiG's with the gun.
THUD086 3 years ago
Yea, that same 50's mindset came to fruition a number of times when a lot of F-4 drivers would hit the missle button only to watch it detach from the pylon, fail to ignite and fall to the ground! I heard that happened several times in Vietnam.
ryanspeed 3 years ago
Exactly. The propulsion system was very defective. And if it didn't fall to Earth, occasionaly it would detonate pre-maturely. They only had about a 10% effective rate.
It's amazing we were able to still come ahead with a 2:1 kill ratio. There's no doubt that if it was built with the internal gun, the ratio would've been much higher.
THUD086 3 years ago
It was pretty maneuverable at high airspeeds which it was designed to fly at.
CVKent317 3 years ago
Comment removed
texasorbusted 2 years ago
The narrator of this video kind of irritates me with his comments regarding mecahincal problems with the F-105.
I know pilots who flew and men who worked on this airplane and to listen to them talk they said that the 105 was really (from a mecahnical view point) not too much different that other aircraft of the Vietnam war. A few of these guys also flew/worked other aircraft of that period like the F-100, F-101, F-102 and the F-4, and they said that these aircraft were just as mechanically
ryanspeed 3 years ago
The F-105 was designed to go as fast as possible very low. Even the later match 2 fighters of the 60s-70s couldn't catch it low (Thud driver/maintainer who participated in the "Flag" exercises of the 70s.)
Thud Ridge got its name because the base of mountains gave a perfect terrain masking route for flights coming across Laos up into Route Pack 6 (Hanoi area). The ridge was one of the most predominate terrain features in the Hanoi area and gave strike packages brief cover from air defenses.
ironroad18 3 years ago
Hello, my uncle working at Republic, California, 1950s, was part of a small team of engineers who designed and built the hardware and software for the fire and control systems on this aircraft. Went on to work on many of the top ICBM missle systems and later on, the space shuttle.
God bless America.
mitchblack 3 years ago
CSO247, where was he stationed at ? I was a crew chief on them.
THUD086 3 years ago
None that I know of Kabel51. I've attended many air shows since the early 80's, and never seen or knew of any since the Air Force retired them from the Georgia Air National Guard in about 1984.
THUD086 3 years ago
I herd some flew in operation desert storm in 91. Probably they'v all been sold on.
THUNDERCHIEF Thats got the be the best name ever.
kingsman565 3 years ago
They were retired by then, kingsman565. The last F-105's flew with the Georgia ANG, and their last flight was I believe, in 1984.
THUD086 3 years ago
There was some reson they had to ground the carrier fleets more modern jets so they brought the F-105 back into service. I herd it on some documentary years ago I'm not shure if it's true or not, I'm away to find out if it is cause it's starting to bug me now.
kingsman565 3 years ago
Well, I hate to see you waste your time, but I assure you, the F-105 was retired about 1984, and never seen service again. I kept good track of them, I used to be a crew chief on them. They were replaced in the Wild Weasel role by the F-4G, a re-designated E model.
THUD086 3 years ago
Cool sounds like I can trust your wisdom on the subject. Btw What's life in the airforce like would you say its a better deal than the army?
kingsman565 3 years ago
Well, joining the military shouldn't be about who gives a better deal. It all counts on what you wish to do. Look at the various careers available each branch has to offer, decide which one you like, and go from there. If you go into it with the "better deal" attitude, you will be disappointed. The services will extract from you what they require, not what you desire. So if you're going to enlist, pick a field that you're comfortable with, and best of luck to you. Make us all proud.
THUD086 3 years ago
Cheers for the info.
kingsman565 3 years ago
You are 100% correct in your obxervation THUD086. I joined the USAF because I have always had an obsession with planes. Since the day I was born I have been looking to the sky. Work hard, have a positive attitude, be self-disciplined, and always remain motivated and determined. Even though you haveheard this all before It truly helps and it will get you places. Like THUD086 said, make us proud kingsman565. Good luck!
TheMigkiller 2 years ago 2
Thud086 my old man was the Capt. of the Weasels when they returned from Vietnam
texasorbusted 2 years ago
Hi Texas. If you wish, send me a PM, I'd like to hear about your father, although you say when they returned from Vietnam, which would mean at least three years after I was discharged (1970).
And both you and Redhawk bring up some good points. This vid fails to take in account the reason for the negative aspects of the Thud, not due to the plane itself.
I read Broughtons book myself and still have my copy.
He brings up good points, but it sounds to me that he had an "axe to grind" also.
THUD086 2 years ago
So your daddy was actually a F-105 pilot? Cool! Any chance I could add him to my msger or face book?
Turan123 2 years ago
are there any 105s flying? =)
kabel51 3 years ago
Glad to meet you folks. I was a crew chief at Korat from 2Jun67-2Jun68, and again at Korat from 11Oct68-11Oct69, and 6 months at Tahkli from 11Oct69-8Apr70, all with the 13thTFS and 44thTFS. I loved it. I can go on all day about the F105. Quite an airplane.
THUD086 4 years ago
This narrator was obviously never around the F105. The NICKEL was a workhorse and was in the air day AND night over Vietnam. So, yeah it had a few problems because it was go go go over there. I loaded weapons on the 105 and totally respected the aircraft and the pilots who flew them.
Herb Jensen 333rd Tahkli, Thailand 67 - 68
hagar339 4 years ago
You're 100% correct... the Thud is a beautiful plane, and this narrator has degraded it... I respect all Thud pilots, and I fly my simulator one with pride!
DauntlessDriver546 3 years ago
The men who flew the "lead sled" in Vietnam were better most. There was a SAM or AA with your nane on it.
biko0909 4 years ago
Thanks for posting this video. There is not much on this aircraft on youtube.
AviationFavorites 4 years ago
My Dad flew in the Thud in Vietnam as a backseater. He was one true American hero!!
Thanks to all our Vets!!
CSO247 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Are the people that shot down F-105s hero's too?
westman2003 4 years ago
My Dad flew several missions in this plane as a backseater. Makes me proud to be his daughter!!! Best plane EVER!!
CSO247 4 years ago
That looked like it was from that old show called "Wings" that aired on Discovery Channel years ago.
kawaninja500 4 years ago
The Lead Sled . What a truly nice aeroplane , warts and all !
meforyoutentimes2 4 years ago
lmost 400 out of 659 Thuds produced were shot down, the real guilties were LBJ and Mcnamara who overcontrolled the airwar and imposed the craziest ROE's in military history, costing the lives of many fine young men. Those two really lost the war, not the warriors... damn them !!
rarebear14 4 years ago 24
@rarebear14 The good thing of this is that the F-105 was replaced by the F-111 Aardvark
Skybolter 1 year ago
@rarebear14 very true, but 833 thuds were built! not 659, but still i love this airplane, if this was used how the plane was the designed, i think none would be lost!
everythingman987 7 months ago
@rarebear14 I've heard some Vietnam vets say that the best thing that ever happened to LBJ (and McNamara) was when they finally kicked the bucket!
ryanspeed 6 months ago
@ryanspeed worst team ever in the White House and Pentagon....the ROE were ridiculous...
like in the movie Topgun: do not fire until fired upon .... Holy Sh*t who invents such stupidity !!!!
rarebear14 6 months ago
@rarebear14 A damn good question my friend! Very stupid indeed!
I read a book years ago that was written by a former F-105 driver who expressesd his displeasure of how they couldn't touch a SAM site under construction until it became operational!! What kind of crap is that!!?? Wait till they start shooting you down...then go after them!!??
Johnson was an inept piss poor president but given the state of how the USA is today it sure as hell looks like he wont be the worst we've had!!
ryanspeed 6 months ago
@ryanspeed The problem was very simple...LBJ tried to be everything for everybody. He never understood the military or what it was for. I agree-the ROE that they put in place were astoundingly stupid. I think that book you are talking about is Thud Ridge. Haven't had a chance to read it yet.
336kgf 6 months ago
One F-105 pilot was awarded the CMOH after he and his backseater took on 2 Migs air-to-air with guns only. He hit at least one plane with guns but got shot down anyway and they both had an unfortunate long stay at the Hanoi Hilton. The pilot made it back to the US alright but not sure about the backseater's fate.
avwiz 4 years ago
@avwiz : There were actually two F-105 pilots that earned the Medal of Honor during Vietnam, Leo Thorsness and Merlyn H. Dethlefsen
fulcrumSMT29 2 years ago 6
Yup, designed to carry one nuclear weapon
GarageBoy 4 years ago
The Thud was an awesome aircraft originally intended as an a missile launching interceptor of Soviet bombers, but pressed into the tactical bomber at low level suffered substantial losses to SAMS.
Supposedly there is a ridge in Nam called "Thud ridge" due to how many thuds crashed there.
Its said also that it was a very fast and tough aircraft and packed a good payload.
WulfAce 4 years ago
great video. i really like the thud
Lundamyrstrollet 4 years ago