To have fun... I visit the Lone Star Flight Museum next to Moody Gardens
at Scholes Field on Galveston Island
They are open every day 9:00AM to 5:00PM
In the parking lot you can see a North American F-100 Super Sabre
It survived IKE
Still standing on static display
This type aircraft was a jet fighter that served with the USAF from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979.
F-100 Super Sabre military supersonic jet fighters have an empty weight of 20,638 lbs and a max weight of 38,048 lbs.
Super Sabre Fighters used one Pratt & Whitney J57-P-21A producing 11,700 lbs of thrust
It's afterburner it produced 17,000 lbs of thrust.
F-100 Fighters had a cruise speed of 587 mph and a max speed of 877 mph making it a supersonic military jet fighter.
It's maximum climb rate was 19,000 feet per minute
Designed to replace the F-86, the F-100 was first flown on May 25th, 1953.
Easily recognizable by its oblong nose inlet the F-100 was the USAF's first operational aircraft capable of flying faster than the speed of sound.
Variants featured advances like in-flight refueling, extra fuel drop tanks, improvements in aerodynamics, weapons delivery, electronic bombing, and nuclear weapons capability.
As a fighter-bomber, armament consisted of four 20-mm cannons and up to 6000 pounds of external ordnances such as bombs and rocket pods.
Often referred to as "the Hun", for "one hundred"
The Super Sabre made its combat debut in Vietnam where it attacked targets such as bridges, river barges, and road junctions.
A few more notes: Fighter - Bomber with nuclear bomb capability
F-100C was considered an excellent platform for nuclear toss bombing because of its high top speed. .. delivering ordnance and munitions with a 99.5% reliability rate
The C-model was a "step up" in most respects, incorporating the ground attack feature to make it a true fighter-bomber - in effect, a multi-role performer to an extent.
Armament could now go beyond the standard cannon armament and a few bombs - nuclear munitions and High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR) could now be carried in addition to external fuel tanks if needed.
The AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-ground missile was added to the mix.
A 335-gallon fuel tank was introduced.
The Pratt & Whitney J57-P-7 was also improved with more power output.The F-100D became the definitive Super Sabre, produced in no fewer than 1,274 examples.
Instead of it being a conversion fighter-bomber model, the D-model was designed from the outset as a dedicated fighter-bomber platform.
Key features included in-flight refueling, ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) equipment, larger wing and tail surfaces, an autopilot system and a "buddy" refueling system - allowing one F-100 to refuel another.
Additional flaps became standard in this model to accommodate for the longer landing distances inherent in this heavier aircraft.
A 450-gallon external fuel tank option was also introduced. Like the C-model before it, the D-model could sport the AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-surface missile.
The F-100F followed the D-model. This particular model was introduced as a two-seat trainer in the hopes of curtailing the appalling accident rates encountered with the F-100.
As a pioneer of Mach 1 flight, it was without question that the aircraft would see a few bumps in the road.
The F-100F was developed from a single-seat F-100C model known as the TF-100C and 339 F-models were delivered to the USAF.
The prototype trainer first flew in July of 1957.
Unfortunately, the trainer did little in the way to bring the accident numbers down to acceptable status.
These F-100F models took on the designation of TF-100.
The F-100 would, however, find itself a home in the "Wild Weasel" role - and anti-radar version of the Super Sabre that utilized the two-pilot configuration to good effect.
Despite its origins in the C-model, the F-model was more akin to the D-model, retaining its new wing design and, thus, its external munitions capability.
USAF F-100F "Wild Weasels" proved effective in the Vietnam War and were distinguished from their two-seat trainers by the appearance of angled antennas protruding from the underside of the nose intake and the trailing edge of the vertical tail fin.
The QF-100 was the designation used for target drones represented by the F-100 series.
As can be assumed, distinct designations per model type are noted as such - the QF-100D represents the F-100D in target drone form, etc...The RF-100A "Slick Chick" represented six F-100A conversion models in tactical reconnaissance forms.
These aircraft saw their M39 cannon systems and ammunition stores removed in favor of five reconnaissance scanning cameras.
Additionally, the aircraft was fitted with up to four external fuel tanks to get the most out of their operational range.
ArmamentAs standard, all combat Super Sabres carried a battery of 4 x Pontiac M39E automatic cannons.
These cannons were based upon the World War 2-era German Mauser MG213C 30mm cannon but with a higher rate-of-fire in a 20mm form, with projectiles fed from a revolving gas-operated cylinder type arrangement.
The cannons were allocated to a position underneath the cockpit and intake duct work.
The weapons were in a staggered formation, two to a side.
Spent ammunition casings were forcibly ejected away from the aircraft to reduce any damage to the underside.
Between 200 and 275 rounds of ammunition could be carried as needed.
Aiming was assisted by the A4 gyro-computing gun sight in the cockpit.
Weapons varied slightly from model to model.
The C-model, as noted above, introduced true fighter-bomber characteristics, especially with their new six-hardpoint wings.
Despite slight differences between models, all F-100 Super Sabres were cleared to use two missile types - the AIM-9B Sidewinder short-range, air-to-air missile and the AGM-12B Bullpup, an air-to-surface missile.
Later Wild Weasel derivatives were sporting the AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation/anti-radar missile systems.
F-100's could also carry conventional bomb loadouts of varying weights as well as high velocity 5" rockets.
Bomb and rocket aiming was handled by the A4 gun sight as well.
Perhaps most important to the Super Sabre - considering its introduction into a Cold War-dominated world - was the ability for the aircraft to carry and release nuclear-tipped missiles.
Types cleared for use included the B28, B43, B57, B61 an MK7 munitions.
Both the D- and F-models made use of the Low-Altitude Bombing System (LABS).
In essence, this allowed the Super Sabre to "toss" ordnance onto a target.
The F-100 could fly at speed above the trees and then immediately pull up to release its ordnance.
While the aircraft continued on its way, the falling ordnance would follow its gravitational path, or trajectory, towards the target.
Some F-100 Super Sabres were showcased in a "ZEL" (Zero-Length Launch System) program testing the aircraft out with rocket-assisted take-offs.
These aircraft would have been stationed throughout NATO countries across Europe and be a first-response element against the impending Soviet invasion.
As airborne Soviet nuclear missiles represented NATO air forces with a limited window to which launch their aircraft, the program was deemed a requirement though it never fully materialized for one reason or another.
Vietnam War...by war's end, 242 F-100 Super Sabres had been lost in Vietnam, as the F-100 was progressively replaced by the F-4 Phantom II and the F-105 Thunderchief.
The Hun had logged 360,283 combat sorties during the war and its wartime operations came to end on 31 July 1971.
Go visit the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston , Texas!
You'll have a good time & take lots of pictures!!!
Roland Dressler
