|
Air Force Exchange March, 1968 - March, 1970 (Updated January 21st, 2023) |
We
traded
in our VW Beetle
and bought a
1967 Buick
LeSabre with a
450cc Wildcat
engine. Ours was
maroon with a
black top.The
first thing I
did was to go
out to
Interstate 10
(which had just
opened) and
drove it at 110
mph.
|
We left Jacksonville in late February and drove to Wichita. I don't remember if we did it in one or two days. I remember that we drove through Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and a bit of Oklahoma to get there. |
McConnell
Air
Force Base (AFB)
was a Strategic
Air Command
(SAC) Base
(Titan ICBMs).
The 23rd
Tactical Fighter
Wing was a
tenant command.
|
We
lived
in base housing
with other
officer
families.
|
Titan
Missile
Site
This one is very close to base housing ! (just a short drive to the office) |
Titan
Missile
Facility
(sleeping and office spaces, control room, maintenance spaces,and the missile) |
Titan
Missile
Control Room
|
Titan
Missile
|
The
weapons
training version
of this T-33
Shooting Star
called the AT-33 because it had two 50 cal machine guns and weapons stations capable of carrying MK 76 practice bombs and 2.75 rockets. |
The
4519th
CCTS also flew a
version of the
T-39 configured
to train F-105
Wild Weasel
Electronic
Warfare
officers.
(F-105 F Wild Weasel aircraft) |
The
F-105F
two seat version
Used for training student pilots and similar to the F0105 Wild Weasel aircraft |
The
F-105D
Combat configured version |
The
F-105B
An older version with only a probe refueling capability (no receptacle for boom refueling) |
Col
Harry
Schurr
|
Paul
Doumer
Bridge,
Hanoi-August
11th, 1967
|
Air
Force
Cross
|
Beautiful
painting
of the Paul
Doumer bridge
F-105 strike by
Keith Ferris
|
The
four
plane flyover
went as
scheduled.
|
However,
Black
Matt's single
flyover did
not.
He was at 250 feet but his airspeed was just over supersonic! |
Cannon
AFB
is located
about 7 miles
southwest of
Clovis, New
Mexico on the
eastern edge
of New Mexico
northwest of
Lubbock, Texas
|
Cannon AFB is currently the home of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) |
The
27th
Special
Operations Wing
at Clovis
operates two
types of drones
and two types of
aircraft
|
The
MQ-1
Predator drone
|
The
MQ-9
Reaper drone
|
The
AC-130W
Stinger 2
aircraft gun
ship
|
The
CV-22
Osprey VSTOL
aircraft
|
The
27th
Tactical Fighter
Wing
|
The
F-111D
|
104th
Tactical
Fighter Squadron
of the Maryland
Air National
Guard
|
104th
TFS
F-86H Sabres in
their camo paint
scheme as they
looked during
our training at
Cannon AFB
|
139th
TFS
from the New
York Air
National Guard
was a part
of the 139th Air
Support Wing
|
139th
TFS
F86H Sabre
aircraft
|
The
F86F
had 792 MIG
kills with the
loss of 78
(10 to 1 kill rate) Sabres during the Korean War. |
The
F86H
was fighter
bomber
configured with
a low altitude
bombing site.
|
We
drove
across
the states of
Kansas and
Colorado and
then southwest
to the Grand
Canyon in
north central
Arizona. I
don't know if
we took a
different
route back to
Wichita.
|
I'm
looking
for a
wonderful
picture of my
daughters
Heather who
was 4 1/2 and
Laura age 2
1/2 in front
of the Grand
Canyon.
|
Heather
(front) and
Laura with
Mary at the
rim of the
Grand Canyon. |
Tuscon
is
in the
southeast
corner of
Arizona
|
Davis
Monthan
AFB
|
The
exceptionally
low humidity
climate of
Tuscon makes
it an ideal
location to
store aircraft
either for
future resale
or for
historical
purposes
|
Here,
a
pile of F84s
await their
fate!
|
The
355th
TFW operates
the A-10
Warthog
|
The
4453rd
CCTW operated
the F4C
Phantom
|
The
Davis
Monthan BOQ
Once again, our home away from home |
We
usually
had our
evening meals
along with a
few beers at
the Davis
Monthan
Officers Club.
|
Even
though
the air
temperature
exceeded
100
degrees, the
humidity was
so low
(<10%) that
you didn't
sweat on the
golf course,
However, you
needed to
drink a bottle
of water every
three holes or
so to remain
hydrated.
There was
never any one
else on the
course (Only a
crazy man
would play out
there in July
in the
afternoon).
The problem
was that the
concession
stands were
also closed in
the afternoon.
So, we were on
our own. Each
player would
have to carry
at least a six
pack of water
with him in
the cart. But the desert courses like this one were beautiful and the weather was always clear with 40 miles plus visibility. |
Mt.
Lemmon: Mt. Lemon is the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains in the Colorado National Forest. It's elevation of 9,159' compared to the local Tucson elevation of 2,389' means that the relative relief of the mountain is 6,770'. So, as you drive up the mountain from the desert, you experience several micro climate changes from the dry desert through lush forest and moderate temperatures to cool temps above the tree line at the top. It's a spectacular drive! There is a ski resort at the top which gets plenty of snow! |
|
Suguaro
Cactus: The Saguaro National Park is located on both sides east and west of Tucson. The park is home to the spectacular Saguaro cactus which grows to a height of 66' (20 meters). The cactus produces a reddish purple eatable fruit. |
At a River Rats Convention (a River Rat is any one who flew over the Red River in North Vietnam) that I attended, the F4 River Rats lead by Colonel Robin Olds clashed with F-105 River Rats lead by Colonel Chappy James. It wasn't pretty! |
"Thud Ridge, Flying the F-105 Thunderchief in Combat Over Vietnam" written by Colonel Jack Broughton You should read this book if you want to read a detailed description about what it was like to fly F-105 missions to Hanoi via Thud Ridge during Operation Rolling Thunder. It is a detailed narrative report about flying the "Thud" written by the Wing Commander at Takhli Air Base in Thailand. Col. Broughton specifically mentioned two of my 4519th CCTS F-105 instructors in his book; Captian Paul Sheehy on page 115 Major Ted Tolman on pages 235 and 236 |
"The Hunter Killers" The Extraordinary story of the first Wild Weasels Dan Hampton Harper Collins Publishers New York, NY |
F-105D
cockpit
|
F-105B
cockpit
|
Notice
how well
organized this
late version
of the F-105D
is with the
ADI in the
middle
betweeen two
banks of "tape
type guages". |
Notice
how poorly
organized the
older F-105B
cockpit is
with round
guages. |
I passed my IPU Check flight on January 8th, 1969 |
From
left to right:
Lt Bob Board,
Dick Nolte,
me, Jane and
Dave
Thornhill,
Miller
Detrick, Dave
Parsons,
Midshipman
Thornhill
(Dave's
brother) |
This
is
my F-105 model
|
My F-105 flight time increased significantly now that I was a designated instructor pilot. I will try to relate some of the more interesting stories that I can remember over the next year before I returned to my next Navy squadron, the VA-82 Marauders flying the A7E Corsair II. |
F-105
Division
Formation
(original
paint scheme) |
1943-
Drafted into
the army as an
infantryman "one stripe" 1949- Graduated from West Point 1952- flew F84 fighters in Korea 1966- Completed F4 training at MacDill AFB- Tampa, Fl 1967- Completed over 100 missions over Vietnam flying from Ton Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon 1968- F-111 Test Director Nellis AFB Las Vegas, NV 1968- 23rd Tactical Wing Commander McConnell AFB Promoted to BGen 1970- Commandant of the Air War College Maxwell AFB 1975- Commander of 9th Air Force, Shaw AFB Promoted to LtGeneral 1978- Commander of 12th Air Force, Bergstrom AFB, TX 1980 Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Command 1981- Promoted to General- "Four Stars" October 9th, 2000- passed away |
George Air
Force Base is
located
northwest of
Victorville,
California (Just north of Adelanto on the above map) The green area (mountains) separate the desert on the north side and the fertile valley on the southside (San Bernandino and Riverside in Ontario County). |
At
the time,
George Air
Force Base was
the home of
the 479th
Tactical
Fighter Wing
which
conducted
readiness
training in
the F4D
Phantom |
The 479th Tactical Fighter Wing training syllabus in the F4D was similar to the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing training in the F-105 |
George
Air Force Base
was an active
exciting
location for a
weapons
detachment
during my time
flying the
F-105
Thunderchief |
DART
|
The DART was an airborne radar target. It could by carried by both the F4 and F-105 aircraft. A normal flight would consist of the tow aircraft and a flight of four shooters which would track the target and fire using either the airborne radar or manual gun sight. The DART would rarely last for very few runs as a cluster of uranium depleted rounds from the M 61 gun would usually destroy the target. |
One
of the reasons
why I didn't
have more
flights was
that I took a
break for
three days to
attend another
River Rats
Convention in
Las Vegas. I was picked up with a TA 4F from NAS Miramar nearby in San Diego on April 25th and returned to George on April 27th |
West Winds Golf Course at George Air Force Base |
Victorville
was a small
town about 10
miles from
George. It was convenient for a good mexican meal. |
Victorville
was well known
at the time as
the home of
the Roy Rogers
and Dale Evans
Museum in
Apple Valley. |
I expect that either Mary, Heather, Laura, and I either took leave and visited our families in Ridgewood and Duxbury OR this is the time that we visited the Grand Canyon |
We played teams from other Tactical Air Command bases both at McConnell and away. I was pretty competitive as a player in those days and played both singles and doubles. It was very interesting playing tennis in Kansas. The wind either blew 20 kts or more either from the north or south. On one occasion, our match with another team was cancelled because strong winds blew the wind break screens down. |