Feather Duster I and II programs

Ed Rasimus wrote:

Juvat wrote:

Ed Rasimus posted:

snip

Whoa---ain't no F-105 that ever went anywhere at 360. If you needed to
save gas, you might hump along at 420, but if you were in a threat
envrionment, even with wall-to-wall ordinance, you were doing 540
KIAS.

Except the first F-105s shot down by MiG-17s (unobserved entry ISTR)
guys hovering near a bridge waiting their turn to attack.

There's always 10% that don't get the word.

snip

I think the losses preceded Featherduster, or at least its publication.
According to several accounts I've seen, they had showed up a bit early to
bomb the Dragon's Jaw (4 April 1965), so had to orbit to wait their turn,
and were churning around at 325 KCAS when they got tapped. The A/A threat
was probably assessed as minimal at the time, especially that far south,
although F-100s had been assigned as MiGCAP and/or escort.

Guy