Escorting F-105s in an F-4 Phantom



Bill Swendner will tell what it was like flying escort for F-105s while flying an
F-4 Phantom on 14 July 1966, over Vietnam.

Editor: Muskan Khan

#aviation #history #fighterpilot #fighteraircraft #vietnamwar

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40 Comments

  1. I loved the F105. We started out using it for close air support before we had the F4 on call. Not the best use for a craft that was designed for very fast low delivery of a nuclear bomb.

  2. The F-105’s were huge and beautiful airplanes, faster than anything in the sky. I still don’t understand why so many were lost. It seems there were so many shot down that being assigned as a Thud pilot was nearly the equivalent of a death sentence.

  3. I used to go to church with an older fellow who was real quiet and meek. I asked him one day what he had done in his working days. I think that he ended up as an accountant and that's just what I figured him for. But he said he started off in the air force flying F-105s in Vietnam. I was shocked. I didn't say so, but I was. I never had him pegged for a killer. But what did I know about it other than what Hollywood presents. I went home after that and looked him up on my computer. I found out that he had earned the silver star in Vietnam. He may have been on one or more of the missions that this fellow flew on.

  4. USAF Aircraft tech here, mostly transports. I am shocked and dismayed that they didn't give these men at least a rudimentary radar, which was available in the 60-70's

  5. REQUESTED MAST TO OJT. JETS. PRESIDENT DALE POWELL, VIETNAM. WE ACTUALLY ENDED THE WAR ON A 99-1 VOTE. I BELIEVED AFTER HOURS IN THE WAR ROOM. IT WAS A SIMPLE WASTE OF TIME, EFFORT, MONEY AND LIVES. ❤😊

  6. Man,you guys have big brass ones. Going to Hanoi every day ain't no joke and you say it like ya'll were just running to the corner store for a loaf of bread 😅 thanks to you and all of you guys who put your lives on the line protecting our freedom here at home.

  7. Salute, sir. My dad flew RIO for the USMC in the beginning days of the program, and was with the original units to arrive at Da Nang. My older brother flew back seat in these, as well for the USAF near the end of the program. Before my turn in USAF, I helped turn the last of these beasts into drones as a blue collar mechanic. They were some menacing beasts in their day.

  8. His stories are legend in the combat pilot community. Me dad flew the Navy Phantom 2 during the war. I used to love when his flight buddies would come by the house and reminisce. Better have plenty of beer in the fridge!

  9. Glad you didn't end up in Hanoi Hilton. Sorry we couldn't have whacked the NVA HQ which to my memory was about 30 clicks from the Parrot's Beak. You did the best with what you had. You have my eternal respect, and lest we forget, Communism is still evil, to this day.

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