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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0327.PDF
206 FLIGHT International, 6 February THE FIVE IS THE THUNDERCHIEF . . . and-brake-drum and net-and-chain arrester barriers, and each aircraft is fitted with an arrester hook lowered by bottled compressed air. Approach speed at an average landing weight, say, with 6,0001b of fuel and no external load remaining, is abbut 185kt, though angle-of-attack indication is provided and followed as a check on airspeed. An aircraft of this character is, of course, not normally stalled and the handbook datum is a minimum control-speed of 155kt. The book also says that touchdown should be at 156kt. It is generally in this region. The F-105 is quite capable of exceeding Mach 1 at sea level, but this is strictly avoided over Europe, because of the certainty of damage, not to mention nuisance on the ground. Mach numbers of around 2 at high levels also cause disturbance on the ground. Standard configuration of the F-105s at Bitburg and Spangdahlem was a pair of underwing 450gal tanks and either the 39Ogal tank or a store in the weapon bay. Aircraft on some degree of alert status were isolated in so-called Victor hangars, but all aircraft were efficiently, even enthusiastically guarded not only by armed sentries, but by everyone in the area. We went nowhere on the "flight line" area without being challenged by anyone who saw us, even though we were under uniformed escort. Prominent notices instructed anyone observing or suspecting an act of sabotage to call the base police with the code-word "Seven High," whereupon all hell would break loose as the security machine went into top gear. We were told at all costs not to make any move which might result in a Seven High call, because it would take days to recover us from the security system. Key commanders on each base were also virtually on instantaneous call to receive operational commands direct from the USA. Reaction time is evidently minimal. Nevertheless, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem, commanded by Col W. P. McBride delegated Lt Canterbury and Capt Hamal of the 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the "Iron Knights," to fly two F-105s for the accompanying air-to-air photographs, taken by Flight International photographer Michael Barnes from a T-33 "T-bird" flown by Capt Matthew Wallace of the flying training section of the 49th Combat Support Group. When not engaged in weapon training at Wheelus or alert status in Germany, F-105D pilots fly intensive attack training missions ranging over Germany, France and Benelux. Classic map-reading navigation in a jet aircraft at low level has always been a specialized art requiring detailed planning and a stop-watched eye on a succession of fleeting landmarks. With the "systemized" navigation afforded by terrain radar, Doppler, and computer coupled to autopilot, the task is more certain, but no less demanding of the pilot. Pre-flight planning is even more detailed, because the landmarks and turning points must be identified by radar and followed if necessary in IMC conditions. Although Nasarr is supposedly capable of ensuring terrain avoidance when flying at 500ft, this type of flying is more generally carried out at 1,000ft above the highest terrain within ten miles of track. The Doppler computer can accommodate two straight legs at a time, but the route followed almost invariably calls for more than two legs to be flown, so that new data must be manually inserted in flight. Continued on page 210, after double-page drawing of F-I05D
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