tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post4559851083903398848..comments2023-11-03T09:36:22.100-04:00Comments on In From the Cold: Bringing a Thud Back to LifeGeorge Smileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049707648660651119noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-4079979116627096122010-06-09T17:20:42.026-04:002010-06-09T17:20:42.026-04:00Corky, you reiterate a number of myths about the a...Corky, you reiterate a number of myths about the airplane. Yes, it was designed for an internal nuke, but it never sat alert in that configuration, it was always external bombs. It was simultaneously designed with exceptional conventional weapons capability and also had a great air/air radar and lead-computing gun-sight. It did like to go fast and was very good at it!<br /><br /><br />The J-75 wasn't remarkable for excessive fuel consumption. To the contrary I flew many missions from Korat to NVN without refueling at all. While in the F-4, I never flew a mission without at least a pre-strike tanker and usually a post-strike as well. <br /><br />It did well in air-air as long as the operator kept it in the sweet zone--what Boyd would later quantify as "energy maneuverability" charting and P-sub-S (excess energy over required). People lost when they attempted to turn with MiG-17s when the proper choice was make the MiG turn where you want.Ed Rasimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667325554289268659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-71545823883237098252010-06-09T12:14:38.135-04:002010-06-09T12:14:38.135-04:00When I first laid eyes on an F-105 at Hickham arou...When I first laid eyes on an F-105 at Hickham around 1960, I couldn't believe my eyes. Here was a monster fighter perched on the tallest landing gef I had ever seen on a single engine plane. It towered over me. It was awesome.<br /><br />In Viet Nam it was used in a role it was never deigned for. I was intended to be low altitiude/supersonic pentrator able to deliver nuclear weapons from an internal weapons bay. It was thick skinned and heavy. It didn't have a lot of wing and it didn't like to go uphill. And its monster J-75 was very thirsty.<br /><br />It was never meant for air to air combat. Yet in the hands of capable pilots it did shoot down agile Migs.Corky Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16363812378536729410noreply@blogger.com