4–5 March 1944

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Flight Officer Charles E. Yeager with his North American Aviation P-51B Mustang. (littlefriends.co.uk)
Flight Officer Charles E. Yeager, Air Corps, Army of the United States, with his North American Aviation P-51B-5-NA Mustang, 43-6763, “Glamourus Glen.” (littlefriends.co.uk)

4 March 1944: Flight Officer Charles E. Yeager, Air Corps, Army of the United States, was leading an element of White Flight, 363d Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, southeast of Kassel, Germany. Yeager was flying a North American Aviation P-51B Mustang, 43-6763, named Glamourus Glen and marked B6 Y. It was his seventh combat mission. At 13:05 British Standard Time, he observed a Messerschmitt Bf 109G fighter. He wrote (errors in original):

Leading the second element of Chambers White Flight, I was flying at 26,000 feet [7,925 meters] when I spotted a Me. 109 to the right and behind us about 2,000 feet [610 meters] below. I broke right and down. The E/A [Enemy Aircraft] turned right and down and went onto a 50° dive. I closed up fast and opened fire at 200 yards [183 meters]. I observed strikes on fuselage and wing roots, with pieces flying off. I was overrunning so I pulled up and did an aleron roll and fell in behind again and started shooting at 150 yards [137 meters]. The e/A engine was smoking and wind-milling. I overran again, observing strikes on fuselage and canopy. I pulled up again and did a wingover on his tail. His canopy flew off and the pilot bailed out and went into the overcast at 9,000 feet [2,743 meters]. The E/A had a large Red and Black “Devil’s Head’ on the left side of the ship. The E/A took no evasive action after the first burst.

A flight of three Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 109 fighters, 20 July 1944. (Bundsarchive Bild 101l-676-7975-36)
A flight of three Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, 20 July 1944. (Bundsarchive Bild 101l-676-7975-36)

Flight Officer Yeager’s combat report indicates that he fired 461 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition. He was credited with one enemy aircraft destroyed. (He previously had claimed another enemy plane shot down over the English Channel, but that was not credited.)

The following day, 5 March, Yeager was again in the cockpit of Glamourus Glen. A Focke-Wulf Fw 190A 4 flown by Unteroffizier Irmfried Klotz, shot him down east of Bourdeaux, France.

In his autobiography, Chuck Yeager wrote:

. . . The world exploded and I ducked to protect my face with my hands, and when I looked a second later, my engine was on fire, and there was a gaping hole in my wingtip. The airplane began to spin. It happened so fast, there was no time to panic. I knew I was going down; I was barely able to unfasten my safety belt and crawl over the seat before my burning P-51 began to snap and roll, heading for the ground. I just fell out of the cockpit when the plane turned upside down—my canopy was shot away.

—Yeager: an Autobiography, by Charles E. Yeager and Leo Janos, Bantam Books, New York, 1985, Chapter 4 at Page 26.

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3, June 1942. (Imperial War Museum)

Yeager was slightly wounded. His Mustang was destroyed. Over the next few months he evaded enemy soldiers and escaped through France and Spain, returning to England in May 1944. He returned to combat with a new P-51D Mustang, and by the end of World War II was officially credited with 11.5 enemy aircraft destroyed.

Colonel Yeager became Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, 23 July 1962. (U.S. Air Force)

Yeager remained in the Air Force until retiring in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general, and having served 12,222 days. He was a world famous test pilot, breaking the sound barrier with a Bell XS-1 rocketplane, 14 October 1947. He commanded F-86H Sabre and F-100D fighter bomber squadrons, flew the B-57 Canberra over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and commanded the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California.  General Yeager celebrated his 94th birthday 13 February 2017.

Identical to the Inglewood, California-built North American Aviation P-51B Mustang, this is a Dallas, Texas-built P-51C-1-NT, 42-103023. (North American Aviation, Inc.)
Identical to the Inglewood, California-built North American Aviation P-51B Mustang, this is a Dallas, Texas-built P-51C-1-NT, 42-103023. (North American Aviation, Inc.)

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is a single-place, single-engine long range fighter. It is a low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear and is of all-metal construction. The fighter is powered by a liquid-cooled V-12 engine. It was originally produced for the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force as the Mustang Mk.I. Two examples were provided to the U.S. Army Air Corps, designated XP-51. This resulted in orders for the P-51A and A-36 Apache dive bomber variant. These early Mustangs were powered by the Allison V-1750 engine driving a three-bladed propeller, which also powered the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.

In 1942, soon after the first  production Mustang Mk.I arrived in England, Rolls-Royce began experimenting with a borrowed airplane, AM121, in which they installed the Supermarine Spitfire’s Merlin 61 engine. This resulted in an airplane of superior performance.

In the United States, the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, had begun building Merlin engines under license from Rolls-Royce. These American engines were designated V-1650. North American modified two P-51s from the production line to install the Packard V-1650-3. These were designated XP-51B. Testing revealed that the new variant was so good that the Army Air Corps limited its order for P-51As to 310 airplanes and production was changed to the P-51B.

Cutaway illustration shows the internal arrangement of the P-51B/C Mustang. (Eugene Clay, North American Aviation, Inc.)

The P-51B and P-51C are virtually Identical. The P-51Bs were built by North American Aviation, Inc., at Inglewood, California. P-51Cs were built at North American’s Dallas, Texas plant. They were 32 feet, 2.97 inches (9.829 meters) long, with a wingspan of 37 feet, 0.31-inch (11.282 meters) and overall height of 13 feet, 8 inches (4.167 meters) high. The fighter had an empty weight of 6,985 pounds (3,168 kilograms) and a maximum gross weight of 11,800 pounds (5,352 kilograms).

P-51Bs and Cs were powered by a right-hand tractor, liquid-cooled, supercharged, 1,649-cubic-inch-displacement (27.04-liter) Packard V-1650-3 or -7 Merlin single overhead cam (SOHC) 60° V-12 engine which produced 1,380 horsepower at Sea Level, turning 3,000 r.p.m at 60 inches of manifold pressure (V-1650-3) or 1,490 horsepower at Sea Level, turning 3,000 r.p.m. at 61 inches of manifold pressure (V-1650-7). (Military Power rating, 15 minute limit.) These were license-built versions of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 63 and 66. The engine drove a four-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed propeller with a diameter of 11 feet, 2 inches (3.404 meters) through a 0.479:1 gear reduction.

A Packard Motor Car Company V-1650-7 Merlin liquid-cooled, supercharged SOHC 60° V-12 aircraft engine at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. This engine weighs 905 pounds (411 kilograms) and produces 1,490 horsepower at 3,000 r.p.m. (NASM)
A Packard Motor Car Company V-1650-7 Merlin liquid-cooled, supercharged SOHC 60° V-12 aircraft engine at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. This engine weighs 905 pounds (411 kilograms) and produces 1,490 horsepower at 3,000 r.p.m. (NASM)

The P-51B/C had a cruise speed of 362 miles per hour (583 kilometers per hour) and the maximum speed was 439 miles per hour (707 kilometers per hour) at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). The service ceiling was 41,900 feet (12,771 meters). With internal fuel, the combat range was 755 miles (1,215 kilometers).

Armament consisted of four Browning AN-M2 .50-caliber machine guns, mounted two in each wing, with 350 rounds per gun for the inboard guns and 280 rounds per gun for the outboard.

1,988 P-51B Mustangs were built at North American’s Inglewood, California plant and another 1,750 P-51Cs were produced at Dallas, Texas. This was nearly 23% of the total P-51 production.

North American Aviation P-51B-1-NA Mustang in flight. (Air Force Historical Research Agency)
North American Aviation P-51B-1-NA Mustang in flight. (Air Force Historical Research Agency)

© 2021, Bryan R. Swopes

4 March 1936

Aviation, , , , , , , , , ,
Airship Hindenburg, D-LZ129, at Friedrichsafen, Germany
Airship Hindenburg, D–LZ 129, over Friedrichshafen, Germany, March 1936. (Unattributed)
Dr. Hugo Eckener

4 March 1936: The airship Hindenburg (D–LZ 129) made its first flight at Friedrichshafen, on the north shore of Lake Constance in southern Germany. In command was Hugo Eckener,¹ chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH. There were 87 passengers and crew aboard.

The airship was operated by a flight crew of 40, with 12 stewards and cooks. There were 50 passenger sleeping berths in private cabins, with large public areas on the upper, “A” deck, with crew quarters, galley, a public bar and smoking lounge on the lower “B” deck. The ship’s control station was located in a gondola below the forward part of the hull.

The airship was designed by Ludwig Dürr. Its rigid structure was built of triangular-section duralumin girders (a specially heat-treated alloy of aluminum and copper, and anodized blue for corrosion protection). There were 15 ring frames and 36 longitudinals.

The airship’s control surfaces were operated by electric servo motors.

The Zeppelin’s covering was cotton fabric painted with a cellulose varnish which had been impregnated with aluminum powder, both to give it the silver color, but also to act as a reflector to protect the sixteen hydrogen-filled bouyancy gas bags contained inside from heat and ultraviolet light.

Hindenburg's dining room (Speisesaal).
Hindenburg‘s dining room (Speisesaal). (O. v. Stetten)

Hindenburg was 803 feet, 10 inches (245.008 meters) long, with a diameter of 135 feet, 1 inch (41.173 meters). Hindenburg had a gross weight of approximately 215,000 pounds (97,522 kilograms).

The huge airship was powered by four liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 88.514 liter (5,401.478-cubic-inch-displacement) Daimler-Benz DB 602 50° V-16 diesel engines with 4 valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 16:1. Mounted in a pusher configuration, the engines turned 19 foot, 8.4 inch (6.005 meter) diameter, four-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propellers through a 0.50:1 gear reduction. The DB 602 had a cruise power rating of 850 horsepower at 1,350 r.p.m. It could produce 900 horsepower at 1,480 r.p.m., and a maximum 1,320 horsepower at 1,650 r.p.m. (5 minute limit). The engines could be run in reverse. The DB 602 was 2.69 meters (8 feet, 10 inches) long, 1.02 meters (3 feet, 4 inches) wide and 1.35 meters (4 feet, 5 inches) high. Each engine weighed 1,976 kilograms (4,356 pounds).

A Daimler-Benz DB 602 V-16 diesel airship engine at the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen. (Wikipedia)
This photograph shows Hindeburg's duralumin structure and a latex/cotton hydrogen cell. A walkway goes through the center of the cell.
This photograph shows Hindenburg‘s duralumin structure and a latex/cotton hydrogen cell. A walkway goes through the center of the cell. (Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH)

Lift was provided by 16 hydrogen gas cells which were made of multiple layers of cotton fabric which was brushed with latex gelatin. These contained 7,062,000 cubic feet (199,974 cubic meters) of hydrogen with a lift capacity of 511,500 pounds (232,013 kilograms), nearly double the airship’s weight when fully loaded.

LZ 129 had a cruising speed of 76 miles per hour (122 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 84 miles per hour (135 kilometers per hour).

Airship Hindenburg, D-LZ129, moored.
Airship Hindenburg, D–LZ 129, moored at Lakehurst, New Jersey, 1936. (U.S. Navy).

¹ Eckner is universally referred to as “Dr. Eckener.” He earned a doctorate from the Institute for Experimental Psychology, University of Leipzig, 1892.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

3 March 1969, 16:00:00 UTC, T Plus 000:00:00.26

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apollo 9 launches from Pad 39A, at 11:00:00 a.m., EST, 3 March 1969. (NASA)
Apollo 9 Saturn V (AS-504) launches from Pad 39A, at 11:00:00 a.m., EST, 3 March 1969. (NASA)

3 March 1969: At 11:00:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (16:00:00 UTC), Apollo 9 Saturn V (AS-504), the second manned Saturn V rocket, is launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aboard are astronauts Colonel James Alton McDivitt, U.S. Air Force, the Spacecraft Commander; Colonel David Randolph Scott, U.S. Air Force, Command Module Pilot; and Mr. Russell Louis Schweickart (formerly an Air Force pilot), Lunar Module Pilot. McDivitt and Scott were on their second space flight. Rusty Schweickert was on his first.

The 10-day Earth orbital mission is used to test docking-undocking with the lunar module, and to certify the LM as flight-worthy. This was necessary before the program could proceed to the next phase: The Moon.

The flight crew of Apollo 9, James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott and Russell L. Schweickart. SA-504 is in the background. (NASA)
The flight crew of Apollo 9, James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott and Russell L. Schweickart. AS-504 is in the background. (NASA)

The Apollo Command/Service Module was built by the Space and Information Systems Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Downey, California.

The SPS engine was an AJ10-137, built by Aerojet General Corporation of Azusa, California. It burned a hypergolic fuel combination of Aerozine 50 and nitrogen tetraoxide, producing 20,500 pounds of thrust (91.19 kilonewtons). It was designed for a 750 second burn, or 50 restarts during a flight.

Astronaut David R. Scott stands in the open hatch of the Apollo Command Module “Gumdrop” in Earth Orbit, 6 March 1969. (Russell L. Schweickart/NASA)

The Apollo Lunar Module was built by Grumman Aerospace Corporation to carry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface, and return. There was a descent stage and ascent stage. The LM was intended only for operation in the vacuum of space, and was expended after use.

Three-view drawing of the Lunar Module with dimensions. (NASA)

The LM was 23 feet, 1 inches (7.036 meters) high with a maximum landing gear spread of 31 feet (9.449 meters). It weighed 33,500 pounds (15,195 kilograms). The spacecraft was designed to support the crew for 48 hours, though in later missions, this was extended to 75 hours.

The Descent Stage was powered by a single TRW LM Descent Engine. The LMDE used hypergoloc fuel and was throttleable. It produced from 1,050 pounds of thrust (4.67 kilonewtons) to 10,125 pounds (45.04 kilonewtons). The Ascent Stage was powered by a Bell Aerospace Lunar Module Ascent Engine. This also used hypergolic fuels. It produced 3,500 pounds of thrust (15.57 kilonewtons).

Apollo 9 Lunar Module “Spider” (Apollo LM-3) in Earth orbit, 7 March 1969. (Dave Scott/NASA)

The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage, liquid-fueled heavy launch vehicle. Fully assembled with the Apollo Command and Service Module, it stood 363 feet (110.642 meters) tall. The first and second stages were 33 feet (10.058 meters) in diameter. Fully loaded and fueled the rocket weighed 6,200,000 pounds (2,948,350 kilograms). It could lift a payload of 260,000 pounds (117,934 kilograms) to Low Earth Orbit.

The first stage was designated S-IC. It was designed to lift the entire rocket to an altitude of 220,000 feet (67,056 meters) and accelerate to a speed of more than 5,100 miles per hour (8,280 kilometers per hour). The S-IC stage was built by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was 138 feet (42.062 meters) tall and had an empty weight of 290,000 pounds (131,542 kilograms). Fully fueled with 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of RP-1 and 318,065 gallons (1,204,000 liters) of liquid oxygen, the stage weighed 5,100,000 pounds (2,131,322 kilograms). It was propelled by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, producing 1,522,000 pounds of thrust (6770.19 kilonewtons), each, for a total of 7,610,000 pounds of thrust at Sea Level (33,850.97 kilonewtons). These engines were ignited seven seconds prior to lift off and the outer four burned for 168 seconds. The center engine was shut down after 142 seconds to reduce the rate of acceleration. The F-1 engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation at Canoga Park, California.

The S-II second stage was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. It was 81 feet, 7 inches (24.87 meters) tall and had the same diameter as the first stage. The second stage weighed 80,000 pounds (36,000 kilograms) empty and 1,060,000 pounds loaded. The propellant for the S-II was liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The stage was powered by five Rocketdyne J-2 engines, also built at Canoga Park. Each engine produced 232,250 pounds of thrust (1,022.01 kilonewtons), and combined, 1,161,250 pounds of thrust (717.28 kilonewtons).

The Saturn V third stage was designated S-IVB. It was built by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB was 58 feet, 7 inches (17.86 meters) tall with a diameter of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). It had a dry weight of 23,000 pounds (10,000 kilograms) and fully fueled weighed 262,000 pounds. The third stage had one J-2 engine and also used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for propellant. The S-IVB would place the Command and Service Module into Low Earth Orbit, then, when all was ready, the J-2 would be restarted for the Trans Lunar Injection.

Eighteen Saturn V rockets were built. They were the most powerful machines ever built by man.

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

3 March 1942

Aviation, , , , , , , , , ,
KNILM Douglas DC-3 PK-AFV derelict on a beach north of Broome, Western Australia.
KNILM Douglas DC-3 PK-AFV derelict on a beach north of Broome, Western Australia. (Geoff Goodall’s Aviation History Site)
Captain Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov
Captain Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov

3 March 1942: A Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KNILM) Douglas DC-3 airliner, registration PK-AFV, named Pelikaan, was flying from Bandoeng, Java, Dutch East Indies, to Broome, Western Australia. The flight was under the command of Captain Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov, a World War I fighter ace of the Imperial Russian Air Service. There were three other crew members and eight passengers on board.

And A£300,000 in diamonds.¹

At about 10:30 a.m., as the DC-3 approached the shore of Western Australia, it was attacked by three Mitsubishi A6M2 Navy Type 0 Model 21 (“Zero”) fighters of the Third Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy, then based at Timor. The flight was lead by Lieutenant Zenjiro Miyano, IJN.

Lieutenant Zenjiro Miyano, Imperial Japanese Navy. (Ciel de Gloire)

Captain Smirnov and several others were wounded and the airliner’s left engine caught fire. Smirnov made a crash landing on a beach at Carnot Bay, approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Broome. The fighters continued to strafe the DC-3 on the beach.

The following day, 4 March, the airliner was bombed by a Kawanishi H6K “Mavis” four-engine flying boat, but there was no further injury or damage.

Over the next several days, four of the passengers died of wounds. The survivors were rescued on 9 March.

The diamonds disappeared.

A beach comber, John (“Diamond Jack”) Palmer, later turned in a parcel of diamonds which he said he had found on the beach. These were valued at A£20,447, but were only about 10% of the original amount. Palmer was charged with stealing the diamonds, and he and two others, John Arthur Mulgrue and Frank Archibald Robinson, were charged with unlawfully receiving the diamonds. They were prosecuted in 1943, but all were acquitted.

Wreck of KNILM Douglas DC-3 PH-AFV, north of Broome, Western Australia, 1942.

PK-AFV was a Douglas DC-3-194B, serial number 1965, built in 1937. It was one of twenty-three DC-3s operated by Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM, or Royal Dutch Airlines) and was originally registered PH-ALP. It was transferred to KNILM in the Dutch East Indies in June 1940.

KLM Douglas DC-3-194B PH-ALP (Gavin2806)

The Douglas DC-3 was an all-metal, twin-engine civil transport with retractable landing gear. The airplane was operated by a pilot and co-pilot and could carry up to 21 passengers.

The DC-3-194B was 64 feet, 5 inches (19.634 meters) long with a wingspan of 95 feet (28.956 meters). It was 16 feet, 11 inches (5.156 meters) high. The airplane weighed approximately 18,000 pounds (8,165 kilograms) empty and had a gross weight of 25,200 pounds (11,431 kilograms). The -194Bs were built with the passenger door on the right side of the fuselage.

The DC-3-194B was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 1,829.39-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp two-row, 14-cylinder radial engines. The specific engine variant is not known. The engines drove three-bladed Curtiss Electric propellers.

[Douglas C-47 Skytrains were equipped with the R-1830-92 (Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3-G). These had a maximum continuous rating for normal operation was 1,060 horsepower at 2,550 r.pm., up to 7,500 feet (2,286 meters), and 1,200 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m., at Sea Level, for takeoff. Each engine drives a three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed full-feathering propeller with a diameter of 11 feet, 6 inches (3.505 meters) through a 16:9 gear reduction. The R-1830-92 is 48.19 inches (1.224 meters) long, 61.67 inches (1.566 meters) in diameter, and weighs 1,465 pounds (665 kilograms).]

The DC-3 had a cruise speed of 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 237 miles per hour (381 kilometers per hour) at 8,500 feet (2,591 meters). The airplane had a service ceiling 24,000 feet (7,315 meters), and its range was 1,025 miles (1,650 kilometers).

The Douglas DC-3 was in production for 11 years with 10,655 civil and C-47 military airplanes built, and another 5,000 license-built copies. Over 400 are still in commercial service.

¹ Equivalent to approximately A$26,922,580.65 in 2025.

© 2025, Bryan R. Swopes

2 March 1978

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Republic F-105F-1-RE Thunderchief (converted to F-105G Wild Weasel III) 63-8321, 561st TFS, 35th TFW, at George AFB, Victorville, California. (Image from Michael Klaver Collection at www.thexhunters.com)
Republic F-105F-1-RE Thunderchief (converted to F-105G Wild Weasel III) 63-8321, 561st TFS, 35th TFW, at George AFB, Victorville, California. (Image from Michael Klaver Collection at www.thexhunters.com)

2 March 1978: Major Charles Thomas Fulop and First Lieutenant William A. Stone departed George Air Force Base, Victorville, California, in a Republic F-105G Thunderchief, 63-8321, call sign “Thud 71.” Their mission was a routine instrument training flight, making instrument approaches and departures at NAS Point Mugu on the southern California coast, then return to George AFB.

The weather surrounding Point Mugu was poor, with heavy clouds, rain and fog. Thud 71 made an instrument approach to the airfield and then initiated a missed approach, a normal procedure for a training flight. However, while climbing out, the pilot, Major Fulop, radioed Mugu Approach Control that he had a problem and requested an immediate return to George AFB. His request was approved.

Approach Control then lost the fighter bomber’s radar transponder signal. Fulop declared an emergency, and requested an immediate return to Point Mugu for landing. He stated that the altimeter had failed and that he was trying to climb above the clouds.

Moments later, witnesses in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park saw the F-105 diving out of the overcast. Major Fulop initiated the ejection sequence for the Electronics Warfare Officer, Lieutenant Stone, in the back seat. Stone was ejected and parachuted to safety. He suffered a broken arm.

The witnesses said that the pilot was obviously steering the Thunderchief away from homes surrounding the open space of Wildwood Regional Park. Thud 71 crashed on the west side of Hill Canyon. The airplane exploded on impact and Major Fulop was killed.

The crash site is less than two miles (three kilometers) from where I am now sitting.

Major Charles T. Fulop, United States Air Force, with his Republic F-105G Thunderchief at George Air Force Base, california.
Major Charles Thomas Fulop, United States Air Force, 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, with a Republic F-105G Wild Weasel III at George Air Force Base, California. (www.thexhunters.com)

Charles Thomas Fulop was born 6 October 1946 at Barberton, Ohio. He was the second son of Louis James Fulop and Elizabeth Theresa Ittes Fulop. He graduated from Copley High School in Akron, Ohio. He then attended Miami University, Oxford,  where he was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity, graduating in 1968.

Fulop joined the United States Air Force, 14 May 1969. He was trained as a B-52 navigator. Later selected for flight training, Captain Fulop was assigned to Class 73-06 at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas. He was an Outstanding Graduate and was awarded his pilot’s wings, 26 February 1973. Captain Fulop was then assigned to a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II squadron at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.

On 20 December 1969, Charles Fulop married Miss Cheryl P. Lewis at Sacramento, California. They would have two daughters, Michelle and Kelley.

Major Fulop was buried in the Veteran’s Court at Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Sacramento, California.

Republic F-105G Thunderchief 63-9320 Wild Weasel at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. This is the sister ship of Thud 71. (U.S. Air Force)

The F-105 was the largest single-seat, single-engine combat aircraft in history. It was designed as a Mach 2+ tactical nuclear strike aircraft and fighter-bomber. The fuselage of the F-105B incorporated the “area rule” which gave the Thunderchief its characteristic “wasp waist” shape. The F-105F was a two-place variant, flown by a pilot and a weapons system operator. Its high speed, low radar cross-section, and heavy bomb load capacity made it a good candidate for the “Wild Weasel” mission: locating and attacking enemy radar and surface-to-air missile installations.

The F-105F/G Thunderchief was 67 feet (20.422 meters) long with a wingspan of 34 feet, 11 inches (10.643 meters) and overall height of 20 feet, 2 inches (6.147 meters). Its wings were swept 45° at 25% chord. The angle of incidence was 0° and there was no twist. The wings had 3° 30′ anhedral. The total wing area was 385 square feet (35.8 square meters). Modified to the Wild Weasel III configuration, it had an empty weight of 31,279 pounds (14,188 kilograms), and a maximum takeoff weight of 54,580 pounds (24,757 kilograms).

Republic F-105G Wild Weasel III 63-8320, sister ship of Major Fulop’s 63-8321. (U.S. Air Force)

The Thunderchief was powered by one Pratt & Whitney J75-P-19W engine. The J75 is a two-spool axial-flow afterburning turbojet with water injection. It has a 15-stage compressor section (8 low- and and 7 high-pressure stages) and 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2 low-pressure stages.) The J75-P-19W is rated at 14,300 pounds of thrust (63.61 kilonewtons), continuous power; 16,100 pounds (71.62 kilonewtons), Military Power (30-minute limit); and Maximum Power rating of 24,500 pounds (108.98 kilonewtons) with afterburner (15-minute limit). The engine could produce 26,500 pounds of thrust (117.88 kilonewtons) with water injection, for takeoff. The J75-P-19W is 21 feet, 7.3 inches (6.586 meters) long, 3 feet, 7.0 inches (1.092 meters) in diameter, and weighs 5,960 pounds (2,703 kilograms).

The F-105G Wild Weasel III had a cruising speed of 514 knots (592 miles per hour/952 kilometers per hour). Its maximum speed was 681 knots at Sea Level—0.78 Mach—and  723 knots (832 miles per hour/1,339 kilometers per hour) at 36,000 feet (10,973 meters)—Mach 1.23. It could climb to 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) in 28.0 minutes. The F-105G’s combat ceiling was 43,900 feet (13,381 meters), and it had a combat radius of 391 nautical miles (450 statute miles/724 kilometers). The maximum ferry range, with external fuel tanks, was 1,623 nautical miles (1,868 statute miles/3,006 kilometers).

A Republic F-105G Wild Weasel III, serial number 62-4423, of the 6010th Wild Weasel Squadron, takes of from Korat Royal Thai Air Base, circa 1971. The modified Thunderchief is armed with an AGM-45 Shrike on the outboard hardpoint, and an AGM-78 Standard HARM on the right inboard hardpoint. (U.S. Air Force)

The Wild Weasel III was armed with one M61A1 Vulcan 20 mm six-barrel rotary cannon with 581 rounds of ammunition, one AGM-78 Standard High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM),  and two AGM-45A Shrike anti-radiation missiles.

65 F-105Fs were converted to the F-105G Wild Weasel III configuration. Republic Aviation Corporation built 833 F-105 Thunderchief fighter bombers at its Farmingdale, New York, factory. 334 of them were lost in combat during the Vietnam War.

Thud 71’s sister ship, Republic F-105G Thunderchief 63-8320, shot down three enemy MiG fighters. It is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Republic F-105F-1-RE Thunderchief (converted to F-105G Wild Weasel III) 63-8320 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB. (U.S. Air Force)
Republic F-105F-1-RE Thunderchief (converted to F-105G Wild Weasel III) 63-8320 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2021, Bryan R. Swopes