Collings Foundation F-105 Restoration

[yak52driver]

http://collingsfoundation.org/enews/enewsletter_105.2010.htm

This is kind of interesting. The Collings Foundation wants to restore an F-105 to airworthy condition as a tribute. There is some resistance to the idea from some within the Air Force and government, but it would be cool to see one of these fly in a Heritage formation with the F-4 and other military aircraft. Hadn't seen it posted here yet.

 

[nittany03]

OK, so what's the other side of the story? I'm assuming that the Department of the AF doesn't just sit around all day dreaming up ways to screw over Vietnam POWs. Any word on what their rationale is for not transferring a jet?

 

[jmcquate]

OK, so what's the other side of the story? I'm assuming that the Department of the AF doesn't just sit around all day dreaming up ways to screw over Vietnam POWs. Any word on what their rationale is for not transferring a jet?

As I understand it, the Air Force doesn’t sell/transfer aircraft stricken from their inventory. Those aircraft become the property of the National Museum of the Air Force. They are concerned that if the aircraft are transferred out of their control they can be transferred to a third party and used in a way that the Air Force would not approve.

If memory serves me correctly, the Air Force Museum traded a C-123 to a firefighting company that turned out to be a CIA front. The C-123 was shot down over Honduras. They weren’t amused.

The F-86s, F-104s and the like on the air show circuit are from foreign air forces. The Collins F-4D took an act of Congress to force the Air Force’s hand

 

[Owen]

And there is also the "perpetual liability" issue raised by
certain lawyers looking for the deep pockets of the US
Govt.

I am amazed that the Collings organization has already
gotten some jet warbirds into the air. God bless 'em!!

 

[Hozer]

Paid $400 to fly in one of their B-17's painted up in Nine-O-Nine livery, best money I ever spent on non (cough) essential services. And I love the Thud.

 

[HackerF15E]

There has been a decade-plus-long fight between the Collings Foundation and the USAF, and it's not scheduled to get any better. They had to get permission to obtain and operate their F-4D through Congressional intervention and a bill because the USAF was so vehemently against it. Even then, more than one USAF General Officer has gone out of their way to not comply with the conditions established in that bill (like the part about releasing the spare parts for the airplane).

The process to get a Thud flying will be equally as challenging, but I wish them all the luck.

 

[Fog]

Thud looks frighteningly like a single-tail F-35

Just a Man-from-Mars observation, but IMHO the 105 looks alot like the new savior of western civilization airpower, the F-35 Llightening II. For those old enough to have been around, the Thud hauled a lotta stuff, but was the biggest grape in the air - especially when loaded. If the F-35's highly-touted all-aspect situational awareness system doesn't work as-advertised, a lot of them could get sixed by a/c or missiles they never saw - assuming they're used in situations where we don't have total air superiority. Not having a 360 degree aspect cockpit (like the F-16) is a big "aw-shit" IMHO because as long as there's a pilot in it, you still need all the Mark I eyeball you can get.

 

[Catmando]

Thuds, Phantoms, and MiGs, oh my!



Linky

 

[A4sForever]

.... the Thud hauled a lotta stuff, but was the biggest grape in the air - especially when loaded......

The 'THUD' was HUGE ... every time I stood next to one, I was reminded of how big that bird really was ...

But using it in Vietnam ... ?? The way it was used .. ?? It was fodder -- a classic case of the wrong airplane, wrong war, utilizing tactics for which it was never designed.

Hat's off to all the 'THUD' drivers -- they had guts. They had to ...

 

[jtmedli]

The 'THUD' was HUGE ... every time I stood next to one, I was reminded of how big that bird really was ...

The only one I've ever seen was at the Smithsonian Udvar Hazay Center and man, what an airplane. It made the MIG-21 look like a go-cart. Definitely one of those airplanes I'd love to see flying again.

 

[yak52driver]

The 'THUD' was HUGE ... every time I stood next to one, I was reminded of how big that bird really was ...

But using it in Vietnam ... ?? The way it was used .. ?? It was fodder -- a classic case of the wrong airplane, wrong war, utilizing tactics for which it was never designed.

Hat's off to all the 'THUD' drivers -- they had guts. They had to ...

Last fall I had the privilege of checking out a retired AF Colonel in a Yak 52 TW he bought. He had flown Thuds in Vietnam and been shot down, amazing story. Hell of a good pilot.

 

[A4sForever]

Last fall I had the privilege of checking out a retired AF Colonel (who) had flown Thuds in Vietnam and been shot down, amazing story. Hell of a good pilot.

Roger that ... while I was still a F/O we were approaching Danang one fine night enroute to Bangkok and we started 'reminiscing' ... the CAPT, a 1st-class guy ... he said he'd flown THUDs, operating out of Korat. We swapped some stories, some lies, some names ('do you know') -- and suddenly I realized who I was flying with -- we'd never been paired up before, so at first it didn't 'click'. The CAPT had spent over 7 years in Hanoi. He came back, passed his physical, and was told he'd always have a job as long as the airline flew airplanes.

Wes got furloughed and went back into the AF for a while so he could pay the bills (he thought) ... the rest is history. Actually, the 'history' is a little mixed up, as Wes told me he thinks he 'shot himself down' ... as his gun 'jammed' and came apart while on a run -- engine fodded -- time to step out.

Veteran Tributes: Wesley D. Schierman

Former POW ends sortie after 40-year detour

Quiet, unassuming, a gentleman in every sense of the word. He's the best.

 

[Redux]

The DC Air Natl Guard had them all the way through the 70's, LOUD somebitches cracking the morning air on weekends. Big, not particular pretty IMO not in a Phantom sort of way, you knew it wasn't the VFP squadrons F-8's without looking.

 

[squeeze]

Awesome. I love the F-105... it's in my blood I suppose. Forwarded the link to my dad - he was a Crew Chief on Thuds in the AF in the 60s. Maybe he can get on board for a retirement project.

 

[HackerF15E]

Can some mod please change the name in the thread title to "Collings"?