Subject: Number One Hundred in the Series--North American F-100 Super Sabre (6 of 12)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 29 Oct 93 16:20:17 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The F-100D (company design numbers NA-223, -224, -235, and -245) was 
an improved version of the F-100C fighter-bomber.  It was also the 
most widely-produced version of the Super Sabre, some 1274 examples 
being built.  

The F-100D was intended as a dedicated fighter-bomber, with no 
concession being made to a secondary air-superiority role.  The F-100D 
had a wing with an increased root chord, increasing the total wing 
area to 400.18 square feet.  Unlike earlier Super Sabres, the F-100D 
was equipped with landing flaps, with the added flap area giving rise 
to the crank-wing trailing edge, which was the familiar distinguishing 
feature of the F-100D.  The F-100D had the same six underwing hard 
points as the F-100C, but the detachable underwing pylons used forced 
ejection rather than gravity release for dropping their stores.  The 
vertical fin and rudder were increased in area, and the fin trailing 
edge featured a larger and wider square protrusion which carried an 
AN/APR-26(v) rearward radar warning antenna in addition to the usual 
fuel jettison pipe.  The nose-mounted AN/APR-25(v) gun tracking radar 
of the earlier F-100s was retained.  The F-100D was equipped with a 
Minneapolis-Honeywell MB-3 automatic pilot which allowed the pilot to 
concentrate on navigation or tactics while the F-100D flew itself to 
the target.  Improved electronic LABS equipment was fitted so that a 
MK-7, MK-38, or MK-43 nuclear bomb could be delivered.  Conventional 
bomb loads could include six 750-pound or four 1000-pound bombs.  

The first F-100D (54-2121) flew on January 24, 1956, piloted by Dan 
Darnell.  Deliveries to the USAF began in September of 1956, the first 
receipient being the 405th Fighter Bomber Wing at Langley AFB in 
Virginia.  It rapidly replaced the F-100C in most USAF wings.  By the 
end of 1956, 79 F-100Ds were in TAC's operational inventory and 136 
F-100Ds were in service at overseas bases in Japan, France, and 
Morocco.  

There were several major deficiencies identified during early service 
of the F-100D.  The F-100D, like the A and C before it, continued to 
be plagued with bugs.  Among these were the unreliability of the 
electrical system, the incomplete tie-in between the autopilot and the 
low-altitude bombing system, and the inaccuracy of the MA-3 fire 
control system.  Despite these problems, large numbers of F-100Ds 
entered the operational inventory before they could be corrected.  

Provision for the installation of a quartet of GAR-8 (later designated 
AIM-9B) Sidewinder air-to-air infrared homing missiles was introduced 
on the production line with the 184th F-100D.  Air-to-air missile 
armament had initially been tested on six modified F-100Cs.  

Also introduced with the 184th F-100D was a provision for 
centerline-mounted fuselage attachment points.  These points could 
carry "special stores" including nuclear weapons.  

Nuclear weapons could be carried on the left wing intermediate 
attachment point or on the fuselage centerline attachment points.  The 
nuclear weapons that could be carried included the Mk 7, Mk 28 EX, Mk 
28 RE, Mk 43, TX-43, and TX-43 X1, with yields ranging from a kiloton 
to nearly ten megatons.  For delivery of these nuclear weapons, the 
F-100D carried the AN/AJB-1B low-altitude bombing system (LABS).  This 
system was used in conjunction with information provided by the A-4 
gyro sight to calculate aiming and release information for the 
toss-boming of nuclear weapons.  In a typical mission, the F-100D 
would approach the target down on the deck at about 500 mph and pull 
up at a steady 4Gs acceleration.  Partway into what would be a half 
loop, the bomb would be automatically released by the computer.  The 
plane would then complete the half-loop and undergo a half-roll and 
head away from the target.  The F-100D would then go to full 
afterburner in order to get as far away as possible from the bomb when 
it exploded.  

In late 1959, 65 F-100Ds were modified to carry the Martin GAM-83A 
Bullpup air-to-surface missile.  The Bullpup missile was 
optically-guided to its target by the pilot using a radio command 
joystick to impart guidance commands to the missle while keeping a 
flare on the missile's tail lined up with the target as seen through 
his gunsight.  The GAM-83A differed from earlier Bullpup versions in 
that it had an improved radio guidance system that freed the operator 
from the need to align the target with his sight, permitting guidance 
from an offset position.  Delays in Bullpup deliveries caused the 
operational debut of the first GAM-83A-equipped F-100D squadron to 
slip to December of 1960.  Unfortunately, this missile was to prove 
almost useless in Vietnam and was withdrawn from action after only a 
few sorties.  

North American's Columbus, Ohio factory was designated as a second 
source for the F-100D.  The first Columbus-built F-100D (company 
designation NA-224) with serial number 55-2734 flew on June 12, 1956.  

The correction of the F-100D's autopilot problems took longer than 
expected.  The installation of the improved autopilot, originally 
planned for the 184th F-100D, was delayed to the 384th.  In-service 
F-100Ds were subsequently retrofitted with the improved autopilot.  

The last 48 F-100Ds had built-in zero-length launch (ZEL) capability.  

The last F-100D rolled off the production lines at Inglewood in August 
of 1959.  Production of the F-100D at Columbus had ended in December 
of 1957.  

Problems were encountered with the engine bearings and with the 
aircraft's afterburner fuel system.  Problems were also encountered 
with inadvertent bomb releases from the underwing pylons as a result 
of improper bomb-loading procedures.  Mid-air refuelling probes tend 
to fall off the wing during high-G maneuvers.  This problem got so bad 
that for a period most refueling probes were actually taken off the 
F-100D aircraft, pending reinforcement of the underwing structure.  

By the early 'sixties, the F-100D had been subjected to so many 
in-service modifications to correct its obvious deficiences that no 
two F-100Ds were alike, making for a maintenance and spare parts 
nightmare.  Beginning in 1962, about 700 F-100Ds and Fs were subjected 
to a series of modifications under *Project High Wire*, a major 
standardization and upgrading program.  The goal of this program was 
to extend the variety of non-nuclear weapons that could be carried, to 
eliminate excess weight, and to standarize the cockpit and rewire it 
completely.  Perhaps the most readily noticeable modification produced 
by the *High Wire* program was the addition of a spring-steel tailhook 
underneath the rear fuselage.  This tailhook was NOT meant for 
carrier-based operations, but was intended to engage wires at the end 
of runways to prevent overshooting during bad landings.  Aircraft so 
modified were distinguished by adding one to their production block 
numbers--for example, the F-100D-25-NA became F-100D-26-NA after 
modification.  These modifications were completed in 1965.  

Even after *Project High Wire* was completed, some problems persisted.  
Malfunctions of the landing gear and the unreliability of the drag 
chutes accounted for a number of accidents.  Compressor stalls of the 
J57-P-21 engine still occurred with high regularity.  A solution to 
the compressor stall problems eventually was obtained by installing 
F-102-type afterburners on the F-100D.  

The F-100D was widely used in Vietnam.  Several F-100 aircraft 
initially stationed in the Philippines were deployed to Thailand in 
May of 1962 to try and restrain the Pathet Lao which were busily 
overrunning most of northwestern Laos.  F-100s began to be stationed 
in South Vietnam beginning in February of 1964.  The first combat 
strike by the F-100D was flown on June 9, 1964 when eight F-100Ds of 
the 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron flew strikes against targets in 
the Plaines des Jarres in Laos.  The first recorded combat loss was an 
F-100D (56-3085), shot down on August 18, 1964 over Laos.  

Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, USAF F-100Ds began to fly 
missions over North Vietnam.  These missions were generally of two 
types--MiG-CAP patrols to protect strike aircraft from attack by 
marauding North Vietnamese fighters and fighter-bomber strikes carried 
out with iron bombs against ground targets.  

On April 1, 1965, F-100Ds flew MiG combat air patrol for a strike 
force of F-105s that were hitting the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North 
Vietnam.  However, the F-100D was not considered an effective fighter 
in air-to-air combat, since it lacked a powerful radar set and could 
not carry advanced air-to-air weapons.  It was generally presumed to 
be inferior to its MiG-17 and MiG-21 opponents.  However, encounters 
between F-100s and MiGs were fortunately very few and far between, and 
I think that the F-100 fired its guns and missiles against enemy 
fighters only on one or two occassions, with inconclusive results.  If 
enemy fighters were encountered, the general instructions were for 
F-100 pilots immediately to dump their loads, light the afterburner, 
go right down on the deck, and get the hell out of there as fast as 
they could.  

By June of 1967, only five squadrons of F-100s remained at home in the 
USA, most of the rest having been transferred to Vietnam to fight in 
the rapidly-escalating war.  Although it encountered some maintenance 
difficulties, the F-100D proved remarkably adaptable to rough-field 
operations in the tropical heat and rain of Southeast Asia.  For a 
time, F-100s enjoyed the best maintenance record of any aircraft in 
the Vietnam combat zone.  However, as a tactical bomber, the F-100D 
was inferior to the F-105 and the F-4.  The F-105 could carry a larger 
bombload further and faster.  In addition, the F-105 was built to take 
the extrememe structural loads of low-level, high-speed flight, 
whereas the F-100 was not.  Consequently, from mid-1965 onward, F-100D 
fighter bombers generally operated only in the South, leaving the 
North for the F-4 and the F-105.  

Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, the F-100s were gradually 
withdrawn from combat in Vietnam and replaced by more capable types 
such as the F-105 and the F-4.  The last F-100Ds left Vietnam in July 
of 1971.  

The following Tactical Air Force Wings were equipped with the F-100D: 

3rd Tactical Fighter Wing (90, 416, 510, and 531 Squadrons) 
27th Tactical Fighter Wing (478, 522, 523, and 524 Squadrons) 
31st Tactical Fighter Wing (306, 307, 308, and 309 Squadrons) 
354th Tactical Fighter Wing (352, 353, 355, and 356 Squadrons) 
401st Tactical Fighter Wing (612, 613, 614, and 615 Squadrons) 
474th Tactical Fighter Wing (428, 429, 430, and 481 Squadrons) 
20th Tactical Fighter Wing (55, 77, and 79 Squadrons) 
48th Tactical Fighter Wing (492, 493, and 494 Squadrons) 
50th Tactical Fighter Wing (10, 81, and 417 Squadrons) 
405th Tactical Fighter Wing (511 Squadron) 

Following their withdrawal from Vietnam, numerous USAF F-100Ds were 
turned over to the Air National Guard.  The ANG had actually gotten 
its first F-100Ds in 1969, with the 174th TFS of the Iowa ANG being 
the first receipient.  However, the needs of Vietnam had caused the 
USAF to delay the handover of F-100Ds to the ANG, and by mid-1970 the 
ANG still had only 20.  As the pace of the drawdown from Vietnam 
stepped up, transfers to the ANG began to accelerate, and by mid-1972, 
the Guard had gotten 335 F-100Ds.  

The F-100D served with the following ANG squadrons: 

152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Arizona ANG 
188nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New Mexico ANG 
110th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Missouri ANG 
118th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Connecticut ANG 
119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New Jersey ANG 
120th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Colorado ANG 
121th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, District of Colombia ANG 
127th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Kansas ANG 
136th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New York ANG 
166th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Ohio ANG 
174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Iowa ANG 

The last F-100D was withdrawn from ANG service in 1979.  

In early 1964, the Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team 
began replacing their F-100Cs with Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs.  This 
turned out to have been a mistake.  A major F-105 flying accident in 
May of that year caused the USAF to decide to re-equip the 
Thunderbirds with eight F-100Ds modified for demonstration purposes.  
The USAF Thunderbirds flight demonstration team operated F-100Ds from 
July of 1964 until November of 1968, when they started to convert to 
the F-4E Phantom.  

During an air show at Laughlin AFB in Texas on October 21, 1967, 
Thunderbird pilot Captain Merrill A. McPeak's F-100D (55-3520) 
disintegrated in midair during a solo demonstration.  Fortunately, he 
was able to eject safely.  The cause was traced to a catastrophic wing 
failure caused by a series of wing cracks that had been produced by 
metal fatigue.  The Thunderbirds were temporarily grounded until their 
planes could be fixed.  Some losses in Vietnam were also thought to 
have been caused by this problem rather than by enemy action, and the 
entire F-100D fleet was temporarily restricted to a 4-G maneuver limit 
until all the planes could be fixed by carrying out a complete 
modification of the wing structural box.  These modifications were not 
completed until 1969.  

A succession of in-service difficulties and problems beset the F-100D 
throughout its career.  The safety record of the F-100D left a lot to 
be desired.  Over five hundred were lost in accidents between mid-1956 
and mid-1970, far more than were lost in combat in Vietnam.  

F-100D 56-3440 is in storage at the Paul E. Garber Facility of the 
Smithsonian Institution in Suitland, Maryland.  

An F-100D in Thunderbirds markings is on display at the USAF Museum at 
Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.  I am unaware of the serial number of 
this particular aircraft.  

Serials of the F-100D:

54-2121/2132 	North American F-100D-1-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
54-2133/2151 	North American F-100D-5-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
54-2152/2221 	North American F-100D-10-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
54-2222/2303 	North American F-100D-15-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
55-2734/2743 	North American F-100D-35-NH Super Sabre (NA-224) 
55-2744/2783 	North American F-100D-40-NH Super Sabre (NA-224) 
55-2784/2863 	North American F-100D-45-NH Super Sabre (NA-224) 
55-2864/2908 	North American F-100D-50-NH Super Sabre (NA-224) 
55-2909/2954 	North American F-100D-45-NH Super Sabre (NA-224) 
55-3502/3601 	North American F-100D-20-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
55-3602/3701 	North American F-100D-25-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
55-3702/3814 	North American F-100D-30-NA Super Sabre (NA-223) 
56-2903/2962 	North American F-100D-60-NA Super Sabre (NA-235) 
56-2953/3022 	North American F-100D-65-NA Super Sabre (NA-235) 
56-3023/3142 	North American F-100D-70-NA Super Sabre (NA-235) 
56-3143/3198 	North American F-100D-75-NA Super Sabre (NA-235) 
56-3199/3346 	North American F-100D-90-NA Super Sabre (NA-235) 
56-3351/3378 	North American F-100D-80-NH Super Sabre (NA-245) 
56-3379/3463 	North American F-100D-85-NH Super Sabre (NA-245) 

Specificiations of the F-100D: 

One Pratt & Whitney J57-P-21/21A turbojet, 10,200 lb.st. dry and 
16,000 lb.st. with afterburning.  Wingspan 38 feet 9 inches, length 
50 feet 0 inches, height 16 feet 2 3/4 inches, wing area 400 square 
feet.  Maximum speed 770 mph at sea level (clean), 864 mph (Mach 1.3) 
at 36,000 feet (clean).  Initial climb rate 19,000 feet/minute.  An 
altitude of 35,000 feet could be attained in 2.3 minutes.  Service 
ceiling 36,100 feet, combat ceiling 47,700 feet, absolute ceiling 
50,000 feet.  Normal range 534 miles, maximum range 1995 miles.  Fuel 
capacity 1739 US gallons internally, total of 2139 gallons if maximum 
external fuel is carried.  Weights were 21,000 pounds empty, 28,847 
pounds gross, 34,832 pounds maximum takeoff.  Armament consisted of 
four 20-mm Pontaic M-39 cannon.  Six underwing pylons for up to 7040 
pounds of bombs, fuel tanks, or rockets.  A MK-28 or Mk-43/57/61 
nuclear weapon could be carried.  In later versions, four AIM-9B/E/J 
Sidewinder air-to-air infrared homing missiles could be carried.  

Sources:

  North American F-100 Super Sabre, David A. Anderton, Osprey, 1987

  The North American F-100 Super Sabre, Ray Wagner, Aircraft in Profile,
  1965.

  The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston,   
  Orion, 1988.

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
  Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

  Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and
  David Donald, Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.

  American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday,
  1982.

  Post-World War II Fighters, 1945-1973, Marcelle Size Knaack,
  Office of Air Force History, 1986. 

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033