Hobby Master 1-72 Air Power
HA2550 F-105G "Wild Weasel"
63-8320, 561 TFS, Vietnam War
The F-105 earned the nickname Thud after the character Chief Thunderthud on the Howdy
Doody TV show. The main mission of the F-105G was the detection and destruction of North
Vietnamese SAMs that would then allow other aircraft to safely carry out their assignments. In
order for the F-105Gs to do this they were always “First In Last Out” and piloted by volunteers.
The F-105 was the only U.S. aircraft withdrawn from combat due to high losses. Having flown
20,000 sorties over Vietnam 382 of the 833 F-105s produced were lost.
Republic Aviation built 833 F-105 Thunderchiefs of which 143 were “F”s and the USAF converted
65 of them into F-105G Wild Weasel III. The F-105G was the first aircraft dedicated to
Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions. The 561st TFS was equipped with 12
F-105Gs and lost 4 to enemy fire and 1 to an accident. The surviving F-105Gs S/N 63-8320 that
was converted to a G is credited with shooting down 3 MiGs and is on display at the National
Museum of the USAF at Wright Patterson AFB.
The F-105G is a dual seat dual control advanced trainer variant of the F105D and is fully combat capable.
General specifications F-105G Wild Weasel
Manufacturer – Republic Aviation
Number Produced – 65
Year Of Conversion From F-105F – 1970
Year Of Last Flight - 1983
Crew – 2 X (1 Pilot / 1X Navigator - Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO)
Role - Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions
Dimensions
Length – 67 ft (20.4 m)
Wingspan – 34 ft 11 in (10.6 m)
Height – 20 ft 1 in (6.1 m)
Performance
Powerplant – 1 X P7W J75-P-19W After-Burning Turbojet With Water Injection Producing 26,500
Pounds Of Thrust
Maximum Speed – 1,372 mph (2,208 km/h) @36,090 ft (11,000 m)
Service Ceiling – 48,500 ft (14,782.8 m)
Maximum Range – 1,493 miles (2,403 km)
Fuel
450 US Gallon Tank Under Starboard Wing
650 US Gallon Tank On Center-Line
Gun – Nose Mounted 20 mm M61A1 Vulcan Cannon
Missiles
AGM-78A Standard Anti-Radiation Missile - Range 75 miles
AGM-45A Shrike Anti-Radiation Missile - Range 10 miles
Pods
AN/ALQ-5 – Automatic Jamming System
