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What loadouts did these a/c use?

From what i hear Mk. 82 and snakeyes and napalm.

Anything else?

In addition to what you mentioned they both carried 750 lb bombs, rocket pods, AIM-9, and AGM-45 Shrike. The F-100's carried a cluster dispenser (can't remember the name) that stayed on the jet, and dispensed the bomblets out the back. The two seat F-105G, also carried the Standard ARM, while the single seat F-105's carried the larger Mk-84 series bomb. The AGM-12 Bullpup is another option for both; although, I believe only a certain portion of the F-100 fleet could carry it. There were also various nukes they both could carry also.

Regards,

Murph

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For the 105, try a centerline tank and M-118 3,000 lb bombs on the inboard stations.

A common load (105) seems to be M-117 750 lb bombs on a centerline MER, tanks inboard and ECM on the outboard stations.

There are a lot of choices for both. They served a long time, and targets and threats changed.

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These two jets carried a wiiiiiiddddeeee range of weapons. My favorite Thud load was carried only once of twice in combat, as far a I know. Two 105s were loaded with 12 750lb Mk117s and struck a couple VC caves in South Vietnam. I'm goona build one of them one of these days.

Chappie

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F-105 (all marks)

CBU-24 cluster bombs, BLU-1C napalm bombs, M117 750lb bombs, M118 3000lb bombs, Mk82 500lb (slick and snakeye) bombs, AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-12C Bullpup, LAU-3A 2.75" rockets. G models were AGM-78 capable.

Murph, you sure about the Mk84 series on Thuds? I've never seen pics of em with 84's loaded.

Jon

Edited by Cobrahistorian
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Murph, you sure about the Mk84 series on Thuds? I've never seen pics of em with 84's loaded.

Jon

I've seen several pictures of Thuds carrying 84s. I've also seen pictures of a F-105D carrying 5 Mk 83s- 3 on the C/L MER and one one each outer station.

Chappie

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This seems a good opportunity to ask a question I have been trying to research for some time.

Does anyone know anything about loadouts for F-100s in French service? I've only been able to find shots of them carrying tanks but no weapons.

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These two jets carried a wiiiiiiddddeeee range of weapons. My favorite Thud load was carried only once of twice in combat, as far a I know. Two 105s were loaded with 12 750lb Mk117s and struck a couple VC caves in South Vietnam. I'm goona build one of them one of these days.

Chappie

Like this? :)

f105d_61_0169_040718_11.jpg

Early F-105s

Project Look-Alike painted most of the F-105’s exterior skin with aluminum lacquer to combat corrosion and brought all earlier aircraft up to Block 25 standard, correcting wiring deficiencies, adding an arresting hook, wiring for the Bullpup missile, and a boom refueling receptacle.

Not added until later were features like the radar homing and warning (RHAW) antennas on the tail fin cap and beneath the radome (not to mention the even later addition of a strike camera to the latter). Also missing were the “Rabbit Ears†(afterburner cooling scoops) and their associated base structures (often overlooked is that the inlet at the base of the vertical tail went most of the way to the fuselage before the rabbit ears were installed). The blister type anti-collision light on the spine had yet to appear (a flush installation was used instead), as had the narrow faring between the back of the spine and the vertical tail covering rerouted hydraulic lines. Also, the vents on both sides of the nose had yet to be added. The external stiffeners on the top and bottom of the wings wouldn’t be added until after the war was over. Finally, only one blade antenna was affixed beneath the cockpit—more were added as the war went on.

The Inspiration

Doing a model of an early D was something I’d been thinking about for a while. When I saw a photo of some 563rd TFS jets carrying loads of 16 M117 750-lb bombs in combat, I finally knew I had to act. Cutting Edge did a decal sheet with their colorful markings, so I figured I was set. I didn’t feel like getting another set of metal struts and resin cockpit, so I decided to build it taking off with the gear being retracted. Since the Monogram kit depicted a post war jet, all of the above modifications had to be undone—which meant re-scribing the panel lines--Yuck!

I began to question whether or not the bright red and white stripes were actually applied to the bottom of the wings, so I queried a couple of friends knowledgeable about the F-105. One of them put me in touch with Bill Sparks, who had flown aircraft 61-0169 with the 563rd during that deployment to SEA. Bill was able to confirm that the stripes were applied to both the top and bottom of the wings and stabilators. He said they were added by the crew chiefs at Takhli, who then begged forgiveness from their squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jack Brown, for not asking permission first!

I found a picture of 169 in The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, by James Geer, complete with Bill’s name on the nose gear door. (He seemed to remember that the crew chief’s name was “Tub†Wermuth.) When I researched several of the 563rd jets, I found that the one on the Cutting Edge sheet, 62-4398, had crashed due to fuel starvation on 3 Jul 65. On the other hand, 61-0169 was shot down on 28 Oct. 67 on a mission to the Doumer Bridge while being flown by the 357th TFS Commander, Lt. Col. Thomas Henry Kirk, who became a POW for the rest of the war. So, I decided to model that jet instead. When I asked, Bill told me that they had white helmets with the 563rd TFS decal on one side of a red visor while deployed—I took the liberty of adding his nickname, “Sparky†on the other side.

The History

A four-ship detachment was sent from Tahkli RTAFB, Thailand to South Vietnam for a week in May 1965 (first to DaNang AB and then Tan Son Nhut AB), to evaluate use of the F-105D for in-country close support and strike using various loadouts. The last two days they flew four-ship missions, three times a day, with the 16 M117 loadout. The last two missions were flown 125 miles out with a 20-minute loiter in the target area—when they returned to base (RTB), the mission commander, Al Logan reported that they only had about 1,000 pounds on initial (10 to 15 minutes of fuel left). Although the test was a judged a success, F-105s never bombed in the south again until the battle for Khe San because they were needed for bombing the bombing of North Vietnam.

The bombs early in the war were rusted to the point that “they all looked like crap†and most should have been destroyed due to deterioration of the filler. The fuzes were World War II vintage and most had only been designed for internal carriage in a bomber. To keep them from spinning up too fast and arming the bombs prematurely, the ordnance loaders clipped the fuze vanes, and doubled the arming wires and Fahnestock clips on all the fuzes. Bill added, “We were in a sorry state for all ordnance, but Mr. McNamara didn't think we needed anything else.â€

On another close air support (CAS) mission, their loadout was M118 bombs on the inboard pylons, LAU-3 rocket pods on the outboards, and a 650-gal. centerline tank. Flight lead Al Logan laughed when the FAC directed single-ship, single-bomb passes, not bothering to explain that M118s weighed 3,000-lb. each. When the first bomb detonated, the FAC said, “What the F*** was that; a nuke?†When I asked if they could really drop singles with such a heavy bomb, Bill said that level deliveries were easy, but a 4g pullout after a dive delivery “was a ***** with one on and one gone--great care was required to not do strange snaps.â€

Another interesting jet the 563rd had was 59-1818. The pilot was Capt (?) Jim Rhodes, and his crew chief, Sgt. “Buddha†Fuell (?) wanted the fastest F-105 in the world. Budda waxed the entire airframe and the inlets down to the compressor face and then began drilling little holes in the engine pressure ratio (EPR) gauge line to make it read low. He kept it up until he had maximized exhaust gas temperature (EGT), fuel flow, and RPM for water injection takeoffs. When they figured out what he had done, it was computed that the thrust being generated was in excess of 31,000 pounds in the takeoff setting of afterburner with water injection (normal was about 26,000)! Budda indeed had the fastest bird in the world; it would cook along at 0.99 Mach in MIL power and was “truly fast†in afterburner. The engines didn't last too long, “but it would haul ***â€. It was lost on 25 Aug. 69, along with its pilot, Maj. Steven Roy Sanders, during a Barrel Roll mission (in northern Laos) while making a strafing pass after five bombing passes on enemy troops.

Sources:

Modeling Madness

Wings of Fame, Volume 18, F-105 in Southeast Asia by Larry Davis

Vietnam Air Losses, Chris Hobson

The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, James Geer

Republic F-105 Thunderchief, Larry Davis & Dave Menard

Edited by mrvark
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I've seen several pictures of Thuds carrying 84s. I've also seen pictures of a F-105D carrying 5 Mk 83s- 3 on the C/L MER and one one each outer station.

Chappie

Thanks Chappie! Most of the pics I've got are standard 117 loadouts. Gotta dig for some different stuff. I've got six Thuds in various stages of construction right now (4 D's, an F and a G) and they're all getting different loads.

Jon

Edited by Cobrahistorian
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and they're all getting different loads.

Jon

Yeah, Murph just like that. Same exact jet to I believe.

Jon,

I've got 12 or 13 D models and 3 G-models and each one of mine will have a different load as well. I got most of my ideas from an F-105 Wings and Sqaudrons History book. Lots of shot in there I have never seen before. It runs about $65 and weighs about 6 pounds but it is well worth it.

Chappie

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I got most of my ideas from an F-105 Wings and Sqaudrons History book. Lots of shot in there I have never seen before. It runs about $65 and weighs about 6 pounds but it is well worth it.

Chappie

That is an invaluable source.

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I added a bit of the (pretty interesting) history to the original post for your entertainment.

Jim,

Neat stuff, thanks for posting.

The engines didn't last too long, “but it would haul ***â€.
:worship:

I would imagine that was quite the understatement.

Regards,

Murph

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Thanks for the replies folks, truly appreciated :worship:

mrvark , lovely bird! I'll be doing the Mono F-105G soon, wanted to know how you modified the underwing pylons to accept those M117s?

Did you steal them from another kit, scratchbuild them?

Also where did you get the bombs from?

Thanks

Kevin

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wanted to know how you modified the underwing pylons to accept those M117s?

Did you steal them from another kit, scratchbuild them?

Also where did you get the bombs from?

Thanks

Kevin

The F-105G used a modified version of the Inboard Multi-Weapon Pylon (MWP) to mount the LAU-34/A launcher and its AGM-78 Standard ARM missile. This cast magnesium pylon was 90-inches long, 26.5 inches high and 11.0-inches wide. Either it or the similar Inboard Universal B/D Pylon could mount the (left) MAU-42/A or (right) MAU-43/A MERs. These were similar to normal MERs, but lacked inboard stations. I scratched my pylons using the Cobra Co. pylons as a pattern. The MERs and M117s were from the Hasegawa Aircraft Weapons Kit A.

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