Big news from the Collings Foundation, and good news for all those who love classic jet aviation. The Hun made a ferry flight from El Paso to Midland, Texas yesterday and is heading into the paint shop where she will trade her Thunderbirds markings for those worn by the Misty FAC of Medal of Honor awardee George "Bud" Day.
QuoteF-100F Super Sabre joins the Collings Foundation's Vietnam Memorial Flight
Through the generous support of the Dworak family, a F-100F Super Sabre jet will join the Collings Foundation's Vietnam Memorial Flight Collection and Programs
The North American F-100 Super Sabre is a sleek, swept wing supersonic jet fighter that served with the US Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. This versatile fighter set numerous records for speed, endurance, range and maintenance.
The F-100 was the first supersonic aircraft in level flight. The "A" and "C" models established the world's first supersonic speed records. Colonel F.K. Everest reached 755.149 mph in October 1953, and Colonel Horace Hanes topped 822 mph in August 1955.
In addition to its nuclear bomb armament capability and four 20 mm cannons, the Super Sabre could be equipped to fire missiles and rockets.
On April 16th, 1961 Super Sabres were first deployed to Don Muang Airfield in Thailand for air defense in the Vietnam War. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the Air Force's primary close air support. The F-100's are the longest serving US fighter-bomber to fight in the war. The Super Sabres served as eMISTY FACs (forward air control) for bombers like the 105 and Wild Weasels over North Vietnam. The Super Sabre had the first confirmed kill during the war when Capt. Donald Kilgus shot down a Mig-17 using cannon fire. The F-100 is often referred to as "the Hun", short for "one hundred".
The F-100F is a two-seat model that saw service as a "Fast FAC" or Misty FAC (forward air controller) during the Vietnam War. The F-100F would conduct dangerous low-level missions to spot targets for other fighter-bombers, reconnaissance, SAR (search and rescue) and was the first Wild Weasel SEAD (air defense suppression) aircraft. The Hun logged over 360,000 combat sorties during the Vietnam War until operations ended in 1971.
The Collings Foundation will fly the F-100F in honor of our Vietnam Veterans and all who fought for the freedom of the Vietnamese people. We will be adding the F-100F to the Foundation's Vietnam Memorial Flight Training Program. Eventually, we would like to add it to our Flight Experience Program that currently features the F-4 Phantom II, A-4 Skyhawk and Bell UH-1E "Huey". This will be a very rare opportunity for people to see the Super Sabre streak across the sky and fly in one of the most iconic aircraft of the Vietnam War.
We would like to thank Frank and Bruce Dworak and their families for making this possible. With his support there is now a F-100 flying in tribute to our Veterans and accessible to all.
Maybe 32 years later I'll be able to pose for a 'retake' of this pic?
(http://www.lucky-devils.net/fence/100.jpg)
Mike
Awesome news! They're still working on getting a Thud back in the air, too.
Ben