Warbird Information Exchange

I doubt it. The 106 was not used in Viet Nam. Right now the emphasis of the Collings foundation is to add more planes to two areas: 1) the SEA tribute and 2) the ETO tribute with bombers/fighters. The F-106 doesn't really fit the theme of what they are doing unless they decide to expand into the Cold War stuff as well. Due to the expense/rarity and less popular nature of the Cold War compared to the other two, I don't see them doing that any time soon. I would much rather they put maximum effort into getting that elusive 105. That "extinct" bird needs to come back to life!

Thanks guys but I had very little to do with the acquisition.



NO !!

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Thud - Nobody is sure. It is still a work in progress with Congress and the USAF, so no timeline is known

Me-262 - They are hoping for the test flying to begin in March. Hopefully it will be on the tour by the end of 2011.

A-36 - American Aero is working heavily on it. They are hoping for a first flight in early summer 2011. Maybe in time for the large gathering in WI at the end of July

Saab - Not coming. The cost and complexity of getting it into the US was more than we were willing to go through for a static airplane that would just sit here in Stow. If we could have flown it here, or flown it once it got here it would have been a different situation, but I believe the aircraft has already been reassigned.

Very cool that CF has acquired the F-100. Congratulations!!! It's a beautiful aircraft, and the type is one of my favorites. The USAF Thunderbirds markings are gorgeous, but refinishing the plane in Vietnam-era markings would be a great idea since the Hun served with distinction during the Vietnam war. What a great way to pay homage to those who maintained and flew F-100s during that time! Since it's a two-seater, I'd like to see it done in a Wild Weasel paint scheme with some mock AGM-45 Shrike missiles under the wings. Defense Suppression was, and still is, a dangerous mission. In my professional career, I have about 20 years of involvement in the Defense Suppression mission (the AGM-88 HARM program).

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Rick - I can understand that the Collings Foundation does not have unlimited financial or personnel resources, so keeping the vintage jet focus on the Vietnam Memorial Flight is probably the most sensible thing, but I hope you at least like the idea (not for the Collings Foundation) of some person or group paying homage to the long Cold War period by perhaps restoring an F-106, F-102 or F-101 to flight status someday (not to mention the even less likely task of of trying to put an F-86D/L, F-89 or F-94 back in the air).

Rick, is there any timetable yet as to when the Super Sabre might be flying as part of the Vietnam Memorial Flight and as part of the Flight Experience program? Any chance in 2011 or are we looking at 2012 as more likely? 2012 is a good year incidentally with the 65th Anniversary of the USAF coming up....

Jim, this jet is flying NOW ! We flew it from El Paso to Midland a week and a half ago. It's in the paint shop now. Primer should go on tomorrow.

They should finish the paint in a week or two, then the aircraft will be flown to Ellington where we'll commence pilot training.

Look for more info regarding operations in a day or two.

Once we get our guys up to speed on the jet we'll look to add it to the flight training program. That will give us a chance to really get some operational experience both pilots and for the ground/maintenance crew.

We certainly appreciate the Cold War jets, but the problem is that there really aren't any viable candidates for restoration. We had the F102s, and F101s here in Houston, the F-4 came on line here with the 147th in 1985. These guys sat a hot alert here in Houston, Holloman, and New Orleans since the 50s, they were BRACed to Predators in the recent realignment.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

As I recall, the previous owner of this Hun, is a S. African chap.
I believe he was restoring one or two F-106s for flight in El Paso, TX. Also, he might have another century series jet as well.
Can anyone confirm this?
Thx,
VL

Believe he has dual citizenship. He owns several -106s (IIRC 2X2 seaters, 3X1 seaters) and an F-5. As far as I know he does not own any additional Century series.

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Had God intended for man to fly behind inline engines, Pratt & Whitney would have made them.

CB

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/jinxx1/Desrt_Wings.html

at least one is ex 177th FIW NJANG

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-recovering Viper crew chief
-AWACS driver/soon-to-be A-26 driver
-displaced Philadelphian

He has the 106s. They've been demilled but strategically so. They are repairable. They are also gutted, and he only has one J75. He also owns a former Norwegian F5 that he flies periodically. Don't know about citizenship issues, but he does live in S Africa, owns an airline over there.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Hi all! We are the shop doing the paint on the F-100. If you would like to follow along on the work, we have set up a live feed. It can be viewed at www.evolutionaerostyling.com/f100.html. We will have the feed up for the entire process, including when we are shooting paint. Hope everyone enjoys!!!

Great idea! Thanks for doing this. It's definitely a fun thing to watch a paint job come together.

Calling an American fighter or bomber a "HUN" seems strange. Maybe the guys had back then had already forgotten what Hun stood for a few decades before.
It must have been popular in Germany if NATO used them as I am sure there were some German pilots who were still unrepentant.
Glad my friends and by Brother who were at Ellington about then didn't work on them.
I can't recall what planes they had when I was there a few times, I am certain I would have taken note if it had been Mustangs.
I was more into football then, and not yet a pilot though my Brother was.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Bill - from what I understand the nickname "Hun" for the F-100 Super Sabre originated during the Vietnam era and was merely a shortened name derived from the fact that the Super Sabre was "The One Hundred." I don't believe the post-WWII West German Air Force ever flew the F-100. I believe they flew the F-86 and/or Canadair built versions of the Sabre and the F-84F Thunderstreak before flying the F-104 Starfighter, but I may be wrong. The United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) and other NATO countries did fly the Super Sabre.

The Super Sabre is a great historic vintage jet with a proud Vietnam Era and Cold War Era record of service with the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and several Allied foreign nations.