|
|
|
#21
11-02-2009, 04:30 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
We did pathfinder missions for the F-105Ds out of Carswell in the early 1970s with our F-111Ds from Cannon into the Nellis ranges. The Thud only had a doppler for navigation and, although fairly reliable, the dopplers were not gigantically accurate. The Thud was the only aircraft that could almost keep up with an F-111 at low altitude. On early missions, they asked for 540 KTAS during low level, later they wanted 570 KTAS, which just about maxed them out without using burner. They did not want to use burner for long, because that J-75 really burned up the JP-4 (then) when the burner was lit.
We were told the sight of an F-111D at low altitude followed by four F-105Ds in a tactical box (~1 nm on a side) in trail was a wonderful thing to see and really made a ton of noise. First the F-111, which they did not hear until we were on top of them, and then the four Thuds, which were way louder than we were. Fun days. Incidentally, the F-105D guys were really sorry to give up their Thuds, because everything wrong with them had been fixed by 1975 or so. Same story for the F-100 guys and their Huns. Perfect them and then they are obsolete. The F-111s were retired because they were too expensive to maintain, a bit different. Taz Terry Phillips Last edited by tazandjan; 11-02-2009 at 04:34 PM. 
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
