Century Jets by AIRtime Publishing

Comments & Corrections to F-100 Chapter

By David W. Menard

• pg.6 Bien Hoa AB was far busier than Tuy Hoa in all aircraft movements, but Tuy Hoa could have been a busier F-100 base, what with five units assigned.
• p.11 F-100A 25767 is not WADC, but ARDC chage a/c out of Patrick AFB FL (see badge on center fuselage and I know who took it!).
• p.12 J75 afterburner cans fitted to J57s? Impossible, as it was a larger diameter engine!.
• p.14 The 335 gallon tank was a standard 275 fitted with a 28 inch plug forward of the pylon and was fitted to Cs, Ds, and Fs, not just Ds...
• p.15 36th FDW F-100C Skyblazers from the fall of 1956, not 1958.
• p.17 Item #93 was the APW-11, and was moved from fin tip to fuselage in 1959/60 while item #95 was the AN/APS-54 radar before the APR-26 came along.
• p.22 Where is proof that NF-100F 56-3725 ever was modified back to a DF-100F? The N prefix meant a permanent modification and 725 was modified way too much to go back to a normal F configuration.
• p.23 F-100F 63917 was either a 413th or 31st FBW a/c, depending on date photo was taken.
• p.24 RoCAF F-100F 0011 has the aft section off F-100A 31566 fitted to it.
• p.27 Col George H Laven Jr did not fly his ex-George AFB F-100C 54-2076 in that first strike! Good grief, where did that come from? He was the wing commander of the 405th FW and was in charge of the TDY TAC units, so he would pick one whose tail number ended in a 5 and have red/yellow/blue painted around the nose of that aircraft AND its external tanks. And he was not a USAF ace, only 4, but he did get one while flying with the IDAF in an F-4E...
• p.27 What unit had tail codes in late 1965 please?
• p.28 What 27th unit was at Tan Son Nhut in October 1966? The 3rd had five units: 90th, 308th, 416th, 510th, and 531st (I was there!). The four called up ANG units were not on "rotational deployments" but were permanently assigned to the parent wings!
• p.33 CT ANG F-100D 56-3093 was never a Thunderbird, but has an aft section fitted to her that was on a Thunderbird at one time.
• p.38 Under 3rd TFW (my unit from May 64 - Aug 66!), the 308th TFS was not TDY for a year! It was permanently assigned to the 3rd, as a unit cannot be TDY more than 179 days.
• p.38 Under 21st TFW (I was in the 21st FMS at Misawa from June 62 - May 64), yes, the wing was deactivated with four squadrons then assigned to the 39th AirDiv (416th & 531st TFSs with F-100D/F, 4th FIS wih F-102A & 45th TRS with RF-101C. The 3rd Wing then was a B-57 equipped wing down at Yokota. The devices on the fins were alars, not chevrons.
• p.38 Under 39th AirDiv, the 418th was at Misawa, but not with F-100Cs, as no Cs got to FEAF/PACAF. There is now way in hell a unit would be at Clark and its parent up at Misawa! Span of control was far too long. The 356th TFS came in under the 475th TFW which took place of 39th AD. The 416th and 531st were there until the spring of 1964 when we moved to England AFB to form the brand new 3rd TFW. My two year extension was cancelled so I had to move with them, and I'm glad I did. The 401st never took over anything at Misawa, period. The 418th was at Misawa from 10 Dec 57, and at Clark (under 13th AF) from 15 Mar 58 - 1 Jul 58, when it got renumbered the 72nd which was at Clark from 1 Jul 58 - 9 Apr 59. The 418th was a FDS while the 72nd was a FBS.
• p.38 31st TFW did not have a 31st TFS assigned? It was the 413th that got renumbered the 31st, not the other way around.
• p.39 Photo of 81st TFS/50th TFW F-100D 52928 not taken at Wheelus AB (not AFB!) but at Toul Rosieres AB (I got there in May 59 and moved to Hahn in Dec 59!). No grass at Wheelus! And those are French cement fence posts in background.
• p.39 The 50th transitioned from F-86Hs to F-100Ds.
• p.39 The 83rd FDW started the conversion but had only a few Huns when they got renumbered 4th FDW in Dec 57!.
• p.39 SAC's 95th Bomb Wing did not control or have anything to do with the ADC's 4758th DSES as the Hun unit was just a tenant on the base. The landlord was the 95th! SAC did not tell ADC what to do, period.
• p.39 The 322nd was a FDGp, under the 450th FW, which also had a 450th FDGp assigned to it!
• p.40 The 388th TFW at McConnell had one F-100C unit assigned.
• p.40 402nd FDW got aircraft? Really? What proof do you have please?.
• p.40 When the 405th moved to Clark AB (not AFB!), it became a 405th FW, period, with the 509th FIS (F-86D, then F-102A) and the 510th with the ex-72nd F-100D/Fs.
• p.40 474th TFW used herringbone design on its fins, not the markings described which were on 479th A and C!
• p.40 475th TFW was at Misawa AB from 15 Jan 68-15 Mar 71, so not a "paper" unit.
• p.40 4403rd TFW was at England AFB LA not Homestead AFB FL!
• p.42 That black Army F-100 is NOT a drone! Drones are painted overall red or red-orange or have large areas painted as such. Gloss black us not used for drones period!

(Dave Menard provided the above information to me, which I reproduced it as exactly as possible. Any mistakes in the information is my fault. Webmaster)