Just a Nice Pic....

[PanzerKiel]

Identify the aircraft please View attachment 710355

Martin P6M SeaMaster

 

[Gripen9]

Identify the aircraft please View attachment 710355

Martin P6M SeaMaster

 

[fatman17]

MiG21 Fishbed

 

[fatman17]

K8P of No1 Sqdn

 

[fatman17]

A10

 

[fatman17]

A full load

 

[fatman17]

Cobra on fire

 

[fatman17]

P3s and P2s

 

[fatman17]

Identify the aircraft please

 

[Tair-Lahoti]

 

[Gomig-21]

Nice run again, Fatso!

Looks deadly View attachment 709344

Those frontal shots of A-10s are mostly to show off the gattling gun that aircraft is so well known for. But not sure many know about the front landing gear having to be mounted offset to the right side of the centerline to make room for that big gun and amo stack. These frontal pics are always a great way to see how that landing gear is uniquely offset like that. Also appears that the front cap on the left landing gear housing is off and hanging to access some of the equipment inside it. That's another rare view of that feature.

F105 Thunderchief View attachment 709346

Anyone know the story behind this particular aircraft in Vietnam and especially the type of missile it is carrying as well as the dumb bomb? These have a very interesting and cool story as well as a famous name.

MiG21 Fishbed View attachment 710555

Look at that bullet. That's probably the best angle for the venerable MiG-21.

Anyone know that the nose cone that had to create shock waves at supersonic speeds and temper the air entering to subsonic speed was actually made of plywood! Yep, that beautiful nose cone on the MiG-21 is made out of plywood to help increase the original range finder's ability to signal through the material without any metallic interference and then later with the early radars they started installing in these 21's, the wood material also helped the waves in and out.

You can see the wood in these cutouts of that nosecone.

 

[Gripen9]

F105 Thunderchief View attachment 709346

Anyone know the story behind this particular aircraft in Vietnam and especially the type of missile it is carrying as well as the dumb bomb? These have a very interesting and cool story as well as a famous name.

F-105F/G Wild Weasels armed with AGM-45 Shrike Anti Radiation Missiles and most probably Mk 83 1000lb iron bombs. They were the first dedicated SEAD aircraft and went after North Vietnamese SA-2 missile sites. Targeting the Fan Song radar with shrikes and then going after the missile launchers with bombs or rockets. These were then followed by more advanced F-4G and now F-16CJ "Super Weasels".

These were "hunter killers". At the advent of Vietnam war, a new hunter arose i-e the Surface to Air Missile. Just like a mongoose or weasel (ferret family) that likes to dance with the cobra and playfully kill it, these aircraft and their crew went after the SAMs instead of running away from them. They had primitive missiles and dumb bombs and very basic (if any) RWR and jamming capabilities but still pressed on.

Here is a good article on the start of the "Wild Weasel" program.
Vietnam Wild Weasels

Identify the aircraft please View attachment 710602

Looks a lot like deHavilland Mosquito

 

[Gomig-21]

F-105F/G Wild Weasels armed with AGM-45 Shrike Anti Radiation Missiles and most probably Mk 83 1000lb iron bombs. They were the first dedicated SEAD aircraft and went after North Vietnamese SA-2 missile sites. Targeting the Fan Song radar with shrikes and then going after the missile launchers with bombs or rockets. These were then followed by more advanced F-4G and now F-16CJ "Super Weasels".

These were "hunter killers". At the advent of Vietnam war, a new hunter arose i-e the Surface to Air Missile. Just like a mongoose or weasel (ferret family) that likes to dance with the cobra and playfully kill it, these aircraft and their crew went after the SAMs instead of running away from them. They had primitive missiles and dumb bombs and very basic (if any) RWR and jamming capabilities but still pressed on.

That's right, Wild Weasels, that's them. They basically created the methods and tactics for SEAD missions. Using birds as decoys to get the Vietnamese SA-2 operators to turn on their radars so they can locate them and send a shrike at them and through time, the Vietnamese figured out what was going on and so they would turn one radar on and then turn if off a few seconds later before the Weasels could get a lock on them and turn another one on somewhere else to confuse them. There were some great back and forth tactics developed through that part of the war that essentially created the general rules of SEAD missions. Later on, they passed all that information to the Israelis who then took it to Syria in 82. That was all the stuff learnt by the WW in Vietnam that the Israelis got the benefit of.

The dumb bombs were used when they needed to drop them but didn't want to get too close and for that, they would fly rather high at an AoA of around 45 degrees or so and at the max speed allowable to deploy a bomb and then they would "toss" it. The called it lobbying the bomb to get it to travel further than just freefalling. Some pretty incredible and very cool stuff.

 

[Gripen9]

That's right, Wild Weasels, that's them. They basically created the methods and tactics for SEAD missions. Using birds as decoys to get the Vietnamese SA-2 operators to turn on their radars so they can locate them and send a shrike at them and through time, the Vietnamese figured out what was going on and so they would turn one radar on and then turn if off a few seconds later before the Weasels could get a lock on them and turn another one on somewhere else to confuse them. There were some great back and forth tactics developed through that part of the war that essentially created the general rules of SEAD missions. Later on, they passed all that information to the Israelis who then took it to Syria in 82. That was all the stuff learnt by the WW in Vietnam that the Israelis got the benefit of.

The dumb bombs were used when they needed to drop them but didn't want to get too close and for that, they would fly rather high at an AoA of around 45 degrees or so and at the max speed allowable to deploy a bomb and then they would "toss" it. The called it lobbying the bomb to get it to travel further than just freefalling. Some pretty incredible and very cool stuff.

Yes. Initially the F-100s would act as bait and try to get the SAM operators to react and then the F-105s would pounce on them. In the era of no standoff weapons, these pilots/RIOs were pioneers of EW tactics.

 

[fatman17]

Yes. Initially the F-100s would act as bait and try to get the SAM operators to react and then the F-105s would pounce on them. In the era of no standoff weapons, these pilots/RIOs were pioneers of EW tactics.

Of that generation Korea / Vietnam, the F86 Sabre and the F4 Phantom remain my all time favourite aircraft.