WINGS June 1991 Vol. 21 No. 3 F-100 Super Sabre Article

Corrections

By David W. Menard

• Cover Image has been flipped, as in inflight refueling probe is on right wing!
• p.10 Napalm on Centerline pylon? Never! That is an MN-1 practice bomb dispenser.
• p.14 F-100 first AF fighter to make air to air refueling routine? Tell that to all the SAC F-84G and F84F drivers of the 50s!
• p.16 Caption to photo 2. What is "U.S. Air Research"? That Hun is assigned to the Air Research and Development Command at Edwards, and does not have a hook installed, as hooks didn't get fitted until early 60s. The D was developed by NAA.
• p.17 Caption to photo 5. That open panel behind the cockpit is the saddle panel, not the Ram Air Turbine, and was taken off before engine start so crew chief could monitor the pressure guages in that area. After everything checked out OK, saddle was put back on and secured on both sides of fuselage The speed brake was moved by two hydraulic actuators, not a "ram" whatever that was.
• p.18 Caption to photo 3. 450 gallon tanks were not carried or used in SEA war. Those are 335 gallon, which were 275s with a 28" plug in them.
• p.19 The 119th TFS flew mostly F-100Cs, with only two Fs. They were not involved in any way with training Wild Weasel crews.
• p.20 Caption to photo 2. The 4758th Hun has 275s on, not 335s. The F-100C in photo 3 was not the first Hun in USAFE--RF-100As had a few months start in Germany (on 15 April 1955) Photo 7. That fuel vent boss on the D and F also Carried the APS-54 tail warning radar.
• p.22 Photo 3. That panel off is the saddle panel, and has absolutely nothing to do with access to the engine or with removing the engine! Photo 4 shows the 531st TFS sqdn commanders a/c, LtCol John Sellers. Photo 8 is a C from the 7272nd Flying Training Wing, at Wheelus AB, Libya. Photo 9 - that open panel is where the battery was kept, and it has been removed. And three star generals didn't fly single seaters in 1967...
• p.26 Bottom two photos show Huns from the Armament Development & Test Center at Eglin-- there is no such unit as Air Defense Tactical Command.
• p.27 Bottom photo shows the 48th Fighter Bomber Wing, not Tactical Fighter Wing.
• p.28 Photo 4 shows 307th TFS Hun TDY to Bien Hua, and photo 7 is from the 429th TFS on TDY, not the 481st.
• p.33 I was TDY with two different Hun units to SVN in late 64 and early to mid 65 and at no time did they fly with anything but full USAF markings on them! Who ever told you this was drunk. No way VNAF markings on Huns!
• p.36 Photo 4. The KAN ANG was the 127th not the 124th. Photo 11 is not a 417th TFS Hun (the 417th was a USAFE unit at the time) ut is from the 615th.
• p.37 Photo12. TAC was not the boss of the Hun units in SEA--PACAF was.
• p.38 Photo 2 caption. Last Hun unit in RegAF was the 524th TFS not TFW
• p.39 Photo 7 caption. The 355th TFS went to SVN, but the 119th sure didn't.
  Photo 5. This Hun has 335s on.
  Photo 6. This Hun has 275s on.
• p.40 Caption for photo 5. There is no such thing as a Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon on an aircraft. That is the AF Outstanding Unit Award!
• p.54 The ANG did indeed send four F-100C units to SVN: 120th from CO, 136th from NY, 174th from IA, and the 188th from NM. Normal number of Huns per sqdn did not exceed 25, so four sqdns would only be 100 aircraft. Where did 300 figure come from? Also, again, it was the 524th TFS that flew the Hun last in RegAF
• p.55 Top photo of a VP coded Hun is a 614th TFS a/c
• p.36 Caption to photo 7 again. "Abnormal accident rate"--says who? The ANG units lost less to accidents than any regular unit.
• I spent seven years in F-100 maintenance sqdns, in Europe, Japan, Philippines, and South Viet Nam. I served with the 614th and 416th TFSs "in country" and out, and with the 3rd TFW at Bien Hoa from early Nov 65 to Aug 66. All units were awarded AFOUA and one didn't get them for dropping practice bombs!

David Menard

(Dave Menard provided the above information to me, which was part of a letter to the editor of WINGS. I reproduced it as exactly as possible, except for combining two separate blocks of corrections to p.22. Any mistakes in the information is my fault. Ben Brown)