Subject: Number One Hundred in the Series--North American F-100 Super Sabre (8 of 12)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 6 Nov 93 14:29:45 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The F-100F two-seat Super Sabre originated on May 10, 1954 in a North 
American design study for a supersonic trainer version of the F-100 
single-seat day fighter.  The initial in-service accident rate of the 
Super Sabre had been alarmingly high, and it was suspected that part 
of the problem might be the inexperience of its pilots.  It was 
thought that a two-seat trainer version might help green pilots get 
used to this hot new supersonic aircraft.  On September 2, 1954, the 
USAF offered to loan NAA a standard F-100C for conversion to trainer 
configuration under the designation TF-100C.  

In December of 1955, a contract was issued for 259 TF-100Cs, the 
contract being accompanied by a corresponding reduction in F-100D 
procurement.  

The USAF loaned F-100C 54-1966 to North American for the conversion to 
two-seat configuration, and the converted TF-100C flew for the first 
time on August 3, 1956, NAA test pilot Alvin S.  White being at the 
controls.  The company designation was NA-230.  The TF-100C lacked all 
operational equipment.  On April 9, 1957, the TF-100C was lost when it 
spun into the ground and crashed during a spinning test.  Fortunately, 
test pilot Bob Baker ejected safely.  

In the meantime, the two-seat Super Sabre concept had evolved into a 
combat trainer under the company designation of NA-243.  The USAF 
designation was changed to F-100F.  Full combat capability was to be 
retained and the same underwing loads as the F-100D were to be 
carried.  However, the internal armament was reduced to two 20-mm 
cannon rather than the four guns of the F-100D.  The front cockpit 
contained all the controls for the armament.  

The first production F-100F (56-3725) was flown on March 7, 1957, NAA 
test pilot Gage Mace being at the controls.  

First deliveries of the F-100F began to the USAF in January of 1958, 
and by the end of that year, F-100Fs had reached most of the overseas 
units that were operating F-100Ds.  

The F-100F-20-NA (company designation NA-255) was a special production 
model developed at the specific request of the Pacific Air Forces.  It 
was equipped with a navigational system including an AN/ASN-7 
dead-reckoning computer, a PC-212 Doppler radar, and a standard J-4 
compass system.  It had modified flaps with a spanwide duct built into 
the leading edges to direct air from the lower surface over the upper 
to reduce buffeting during landing.  The flaps had a full deflection 
angle of 40 degrees, as compared to the 45-degree angle of deflection 
for the standard F-100D and F.  

The last of 339 F-100Fs was delivered in October of 1959.  All of them 
were built at NAA's Los Angeles plant.  Included in this total were 45 
aircraft specifically purchased for the Military Assistance Program 
and intended for export to US allies overseas.  Total Super Sabre 
production finally totaled 2294, including 359 built at Columbus.  

In 1959, fifteen F-100Fs were modified to carry the GAM-83A Bullpup 
air-to-surface guided missile.  

The same engine malfunction problems, wing structural failures, spare 
and parts shortages, and component deficiencies that bedeviled the 
F-100D were also experienced by the F-100F, which is not all that 
surprising since they were basically the same airframe.  In 1962, all 
F-100Fs (along with their F-100D single-seat cousins) began to go 
through *Project High Wire*, which was an extended program to 
standardize the weapons delivery system which had been modified on so 
many separate occasions that individual aircraft ended up with 
significant differences from each other, making for a maintenance and 
spare parts nightmare.  

When American bombing raids against North Vietnam began in 1964, 
combat losses of US aircraft began to mount.  Many of these losses 
were caused by the increasingly effective use by the North Vietnamese 
of radar-guided surface-to-air missiles.  Someone in the USAF got the 
bright idea that the best way to defeat the surface-to-air missile 
threat was to destroy or otherwise shut down their guidance radars, 
leaving enemy missile sites effectively blind and impotent.  

In 1965, several F-100Fs were modified for the role of identifying, 
marking, and attacking North Vietnamese SAM sites, particularly their 
radar installations.  Applied Technology Inc.  did much of the early 
work.  This company began by adapting electronic equipment that had 
originally been developed for the U-2.  In the system which eventually 
emerged, the F-100F was provided with an AN/APR-25 radar homing and 
warning receiver which was capable of detecting the S-band signal 
emitted by the North Vietnamese SA-2 fire control radar as well as the 
C-band signal emitted by upgraded SA-2 systems and the X-band signals 
emitted by enemy airborne interception radars and radar-guided 
antiaircraft artillery.  A cockpit display included a "threat panel" 
plus a cathode-ray tube which showed the bearing of the threat signal.  
An AN/APR-26 receiver was fitted which detected missile guidance 
launch signals by sensing a power change in the enemy's command 
guidance radar signal and flashed a red launch warning signal light in 
the cockpit.  An IR-133 receiver was fitted, this receiver having a 
greater sensitivity than the APR-25 homing and warning receiver and 
having the additional capability of indicating the nature of the 
threat by signal analysis.  

The modified F-100Fs carried the usual load of 20-mm cannon ammunition 
plus a pair of LAU-3 canisters loaded with 24 rockets which served as 
markers as well as weapons which could demolish a radar site.  
Fighter-bombers accompanying the F-100F would then attack the target 
with iron bombs.  The project was given the name *Wild Weasel*, after 
the fierce little mammal which has a reputation of being so fearless 
that it pursues its prey into its very den.  

Wild Weasel F-100Fs included 58-1221, 1226, 1227, 1231, 1212, and 
1232.  The first F-100F Wild Weasel I aircraft arrived in Southeast 
Asia in November of 1965.  The first Wild Weasel F-100F combat mission 
was flown on December 3.  The missions were flown under the codename 
*Iron Hand*, and the antiradar missions were usually flown by one 
F-100F accompanied by four F-105s.  The F-100F would identify and mark 
the radar site for attack by the accompanying F-105Ds.  

Three additional Wild Weasel I aircraft arrived in SEA on February 27, 
1966, also to participate in the *Iron Hand* anti-SAM campaign.  
Later, F-100Fs carried AGM-45A Shrike antiradiation missiles.  The 
Shrike missile contained a passive homing system which detected the 
enemy radar beam and followed it all the way back to its source.  The 
first combat use of the Shrike was on April 18, 1966, when F-100Fs 
themselves began attacking North Vietnamese radar sites.  

On August 11, 1967, Lt.Col. James E. McInerney Jr and Capt. Fred 
Shannon in an F-100F led a mission that destroyed six SAM sites and 
damaged four, clearing the way for a strike on Hanoi's Paul Doumer 
Bridge.  

The F-100F Wild Weasel I program claimed credit for nine confirmed SAM 
radar kills.  An undetermined number of other enemy radars were forced 
off the air as a result of Wild Weasel I activities.  Two F-100F Wild 
Weasel I aircraft were lost in action.  

Having proven the general concept, the F-100F Wild Weasel I was 
eventually replaced by the F-105F Wild Weasel III and the F-4 Wild 
Weasel IV 

F-100Fs also flew as forward air controller (FAC) aircraft, replacing 
lighter planes such as the Cessna O-2 Bird Dog in this role.  This 
switch was made after enemy antiaircraft made it too hazardous for 
light planes to operate, especially in areas where there were SAMS, 
AAA, or the threat of MiGs.  The crew member in the rear seat had the 
maps, carried a hand-held strike camera, and communicated by radio 
with the fighters in the strike team.  When the strike team arrived at 
the target, the pilot would fire the markers and the rear seat would 
direct the strike.  These high-speed FAC missions were flown under the 
codename *Misty*.  

As F-105s and F-4s became available in quantity, F-100Fs were phased 
out of the active Air Force inventory and passed along to the Air 
National Guard.  The Air National Guard had received an initial batch 
of six F-100F in 1958, but acquired very few more until the late 1960s 
because of the needs of the Vietnam war.  As the 'sixties came to an 
end, the pace at which F-100F left Air Force service quickened and 
large numbers of F-100Fs began to reach the Guard.  By June of 1972, 
almost all F-100Fs were out of USAF service, and a hundred F-100Fs 
were in service with the ANG.  

Even though the F-100F had originally been designed as an operational 
trainer intended to familiarize pilots with supersonic flight, its 
safety record was just as atrocious as that of its single-seat F-100D 
version.  About a quarter of all F-100Fs built were destroyed in 
accidents.  This leads one to suspect that it wasn't just a problem 
with pilot training that was the cause of the Super Sabre's high 
accident rate, but basic problems with the aircraft itself.  

The first F-100F (56-3725) was modified by the USAF Systems Command's 
Aeronautical Systems Division for testing of very steep approaches and 
very fast landing speeds.  This work was done in preparation for the 
X-15 and Dyna-Soar programs.  In order to perform these tests, means 
had to be found to build in a large additional drag which could be 
added or removed on command.  This was done by replacing the drag 
chute and afterburner by a thrust reverser that could be operated in 
flight.  In addition, the standard belly airbrake was replaced by a 
special perforated air brake with almost three times the area.  The 
use of these features enabled the F-100F to touch down at 230 mph 
rather than the usual 155 mph.  

Serials of the F-100F: 

56-3725/3739 	North American F-100F-1-NA Super Sabre (NA-243) 
56-3740/3769 	North American F-100F-5-NA Super Sabre (NA-243) 
56-3770/3919 	North American F-100F-10-NA Super Sabre (NA-243) 
56-3920/4019 	North American F-100F-15-NA Super Sabre (NA-243) 
58-1205/1233 	North American F-100F-20-NA Super Sabre (NA-255) 
58-6975/6983 	North American F-100F-15-NA Super Sabre (NA-261) - for MDAP 
59-2558/2563 	North American F-100F-15-NA Super Sabre (NA-262) - for MDAP 

Specifications of the F-100F: 

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 760 mph at sea level, 852 mph at 35,000 feet.  
Initial climb rate 23,800 feet/minute.  Service ceiling 44,900 feet, 
combat ceiling 51,000 feet.  Normal range 358 miles, maximum range 
1294 miles.  Fuel capacity 1294 US gallons.  Weights were 21,712 
pounds empty, 31,413 pounds combat, 39,122 pounds maximum takeoff.  
Internal armament consisted of two 20-mm Pontaic M-39 cannon.  
Underwing loads could include up to 5000 pounds of bombs and fuel 
tanks on six stations.  

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