For Speed and other plane junkies....

[shutterman]

Was in Tucson earlier this year (Easter - seems so long ago) and had the chance to visit Pima Air Museum. Lots of good stuff there - especially the SR-71. It is amazing how small the fighters seem and how huge the bombers were in real life. Attached are some of my favorites....

http://www.photosbyjw.com/Pima/index.html

thanks,
wes

[srobb]

Pretty cool pics, Wes. What on earth is that one monstrosity? Don't know that I have seen anything like that. Looked like a passenger plane on a bad case of steroids. ;)

Hmmmmm, may have to find the pics I have from the local air show here earlier in the year. Not as good as what you have here, but some cool old planes.

[SmartWombat]

Looks like a super-guppy transport (SGT).
Slightly different form the one on the tarmac at Bruntingthorpe where I do car track days.
Maybe I should get some photos of the planes there?
... 747, lightning, buccaneer, SGT, hunter - all in various states of preservation.

[Speed]

Was in Tucson earlier this year (Easter - seems so long ago) and had the chance to visit Pima Air Museum. Lots of good stuff there - especially the SR-71. It is amazing how small the fighters seem and how huge the bombers were in real life. Attached are some of my favorites....

http://www.photosbyjw.com/Pima/index.html

thanks,
wes

Cool shots Wes! SR-71 from the front and the rear, F-15 Eagle, is that a B-17 or a B-29?, the WWII fighter I'm not sure about, though it is definitely a Navy bird, cruise missile, F-111 Ardvark, F-105 Thunderchief, B-58 Hustler (that baby could go supersonic), a version of the Super Guppy (hard to believe that thing could actually fly!), and a B-47. Quite a collection they've got there!!!

I love the shots of these great old birds. It looks like you favor a wide angle lens as well. ;-)

[JSPhoto]

The huge ugly thing was nicknamed the "Whale" by pilots. It was if I remember correctly an early version of an AWACS aircraft but didn't have the huge radar dome on top. They also made some into transports I think.

I didn't think there were anymore F105's left other than a couple in parks. I think thee is one in a park in Burlington Iowa.
Anyone know what the F105's "other" nickname was? Why/how did it get that nickname?

JS

[swmdrayfan]

F-105 Thunderchief....."Thud". Can't remember how it got that nickname though. It may have had something to do with the bird's landing characteristics.
John

[swmdrayfan]

A few of mine...B-17 was here in June. The B-24 was from the mid-90's (taken with a Minolta Maxxum film slr).

[ken1953]

Looks like a super-guppy transport (SGT).
Slightly different form the one on the tarmac at Bruntingthorpe where I do car track days.
Maybe I should get some photos of the planes there?
... 747, lightning, buccaneer, SGT, hunter - all in various states of preservation.

Back in the day...hehe...we used to call it the "Pregnant Guppy"!!! hahahaha

Ken

[JSPhoto]

F-105 Thunderchief....."Thud". Can't remember how it got that nickname though. It may have had something to do with the bird's landing characteristics.
John

Well you are correct on the nickname. It wasn't just the aircrafts landing though, well, it is to a point. The aircraft was a bear to control, takeoff , landing or in flight, and all too often it went "Thud", straight into the ground.
I met a pilot who flew one in Vietnam and he only flew that thing 5 times, they barely got off the ground the final time, and when he landed it he said he'd rather fly a big old slow chopper than that thing. He got his wish. He crashed the chopper once and was shot down once, but survived.
The F105 was an interesting aicraft though, just not too stable off the ground.

[shutterman]

Now that we know more about what it was called -----what did they use it for? I think I remember a sign saying NASA used it to transfer the boosters for the Space Shuttle? Is that possible or am I getting confused?

[shutterman]

Cool shots Wes! SR-71 from the front and the rear, F-15 Eagle, is that a B-17 or a B-29?, the WWII fighter I'm not sure about, though it is definitely a Navy bird, cruise missile, F-111 Ardvark, F-105 Thunderchief, B-58 Hustler (that baby could go supersonic), a version of the Super Guppy (hard to believe that thing could actually fly!), and a B-47. Quite a collection they've got there!!!

I love the shots of these great old birds. It looks like you favor a wide angle lens as well. ;-)

Thanks Speed! Glad you posted the names too. My son wants a t-shirt iron on of the F-15 and now that I know the name I can come up with a cool frame and title for him ( I think)

I do like the wide angle (BTW I use only the finest NIKON equipment!) It is hard to make the shots interesting after a while.

Thanks again!
Wes

[shutterman]

[QUOTE=swmdrayfan]A few of mine...B-17 was here in June. The B-24 was from the mid-90's (taken with a Minolta Maxxum film slr).

Nice shots! It is amazing to think what these guys did in these planes. It good that we don't forget and we can still see them as they were.

[adamsti]

Read about the Thud here. One of the finest pilots in the country, and one hell of a race pilot!!

http://www.skipholm.com/vietnam.htm

[Speed]

Now that we know more about what it was called -----what did they use it for? I think I remember a sign saying NASA used it to transfer the boosters for the Space Shuttle? Is that possible or am I getting confused?

Possible, but I think the Super Guppies were retired by the time the Space Shuttle came on line. They were used to transport large, bulky items, including space boosters.

[Speed]

The huge ugly thing was nicknamed the "Whale" by pilots. It was if I remember correctly an early version of an AWACS aircraft but didn't have the huge radar dome on top. They also made some into transports I think.

I didn't think there were anymore F105's left other than a couple in parks. I think thee is one in a park in Burlington Iowa.
Anyone know what the F105's "other" nickname was? Why/how did it get that nickname?

JS

The other nickname was Thud, and it was a derogatory term. It came from "What sound does a F-105 make when it hits the ground?" The answer was "Thud".

The F-105 was an unusual aircraft for sure, but they carried about 75% of the ordanance dropped in Vietnam! I never heard about it being squirrely to fly, in fact one pilot commented that you could trim it up 50 feet above the trees, take you hand off the stick, shove the throttles up and go supersonic.

I also read where the F-105 couldn't get a lot of altitude when fully loaded down (something around 18,000 feet) but it carried a tremendous amount of ordanance. In fact, it carried more ordanance than a B-17 bomber! Now that's packing a wallop!

The F-105 was also legendary for the amount of abuse it could take and still fly. I've seen photo's of them with holes in the wing big enough for the pilot to put his head through, and I saw one photo of a Thunderchief that took a heat seeking missile in the tailpipe and still brought it's pilot home. That was a tough bird.

The last F-105's on active duty were Wild Weasels (F-105F). Their job was to find enemy SAM sites and take them out. They were retired years ago.