When Thunder Rolled

"ikke" wrote:


Steven
Cave Putoriem

WW #2488.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

I went up to Borders Sydney city store today, and they dont have it and
cant
order it in. Looks like I'll be ordering it off the net.

You'll likely come out best at Amazon US. You can compare prices by
clicking on the links at www.warbirdforum.com/thunder.htm -- over on
the right column.

Take surface mail. It may well turn out to be air. I bought a book
from Amazon.co.jp and got it by US (!) Priority Mail in about a week.
Evidently they send the stuff over in batches by air freight, then
remail. Might do the same for Oz.

It arrived today from Amazon, with some post marks on the box to suggest it
came from Hong Kong.

Matt.

It arrived today from Amazon, with some post marks on the box to suggest it
came from Hong Kong.

Matt, was that surface mail? How many weeks (days?) did it take to
reach you?

I don't think anybody really understands how Amazon works. They have
these so-called stores in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Canada,
but we suspect that they are really broom closets in Washington State,
with maybe a small warehouse in the host country. Of them all,
Amazon.co.uk seems to be the closest to an actual operation. And
Canada, it's generally agreed, doesn't exist at all, but is just a
business model to handle Canadian dollars and Canadian postage.
(Probably Jeff Bezos drives the books across the border after work


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Cub Driver wrote:
It arrived today from Amazon, with some post marks on the box to
suggest it came from Hong Kong.

Matt, was that surface mail? How many weeks (days?) did it take to
reach you?

I don't think anybody really understands how Amazon works. They have
these so-called stores in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Canada,
but we suspect that they are really broom closets in Washington State,
with maybe a small warehouse in the host country. Of them all,
Amazon.co.uk seems to be the closest to an actual operation. And
Canada, it's generally agreed, doesn't exist at all, but is just a
business model to handle Canadian dollars and Canadian postage.
(Probably Jeff Bezos drives the books across the border after work

UK version won't even guarantee to send multiple items out from the same
depot! You order, say, 5 books all listed as in stock, at least 1 will turn
out to be OOS and the other 4 usually turn up in 3 boxes spread over 2 days.
The final book turns up a week later in a box big enough for a small horse.
Truely bizarre way of running a mail order business if you ask me. They do
very good packaging though, never had an item damaged with them.

--
James...
http://www.jameshart.co.uk/

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

It arrived today from Amazon, with some post marks on the box to suggest
it
came from Hong Kong.

Matt, was that surface mail? How many weeks (days?) did it take to
reach you?

I don't think anybody really understands how Amazon works. They have
these so-called stores in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Canada,
but we suspect that they are really broom closets in Washington State,
with maybe a small warehouse in the host country. Of them all,
Amazon.co.uk seems to be the closest to an actual operation. And
Canada, it's generally agreed, doesn't exist at all, but is just a
business model to handle Canadian dollars and Canadian postage.
(Probably Jeff Bezos drives the books across the border after work

It went via "Standard International Shipping" whatever that means. My order
was placed on the 27th, it shipped on the 29th and arrived here in Sydney
yesterday (Tuesday 10th about lunch time), and I finished reading it 10
minutes ago (dont tell my boss I was reading it at work).

All the amazon info says it shipped from the US ("std-intl-us-aus" on the
invoice). There is a sticker on the box saying "Postage Paid / Hong Kong /
Port Paye".

I cant wait for Ed's next book.

Matt.

Ed:
Got the book today!! Can't wait to read it!!
Quick question: what were the altitudes flow by the F-105 inbound to targets?
What were some of the considerations for altitude selection, if there were any?
Thx mucho,
VL

(MLenoch) wrote:

Ed:
Got the book today!! Can't wait to read it!!
Quick question: what were the altitudes flow by the F-105 inbound to targets?
What were some of the considerations for altitude selection, if there were any?
Thx mucho,
VL

Altitudes for ingress/egress varied over time. I discuss a bit about
the philosophies of the two wings (without belaboring it as did
Broughton and Bell).

Initially the years of low-low-low tactics used in Europe for nuclear
profiles prevaiiled. We realized while I was doing the job in '66 that
you could do that on a target you studied extensively, but on daily
changing tactical targets, it meant lots of opportunity to get lost,
miss the target entirely, or be in a position from which delivery was
impossible.

At Korat we raised the ingress to about 4500 AGL--high enough to be
out of small arms, high enough to give a longer lead/time-of-flight
for AAA, yet low enough to get quickly down into ground clutter and
terrain masking for SAM evasion.

By December of '66 when ECM pods came into use, the ingress altitude
was raised to 14-18,000 MSL.

Here's a brief excerpt from WTR on the topic:

"Mitchell was one of the few leaders in the squadron who still
supported the tactic of low level run in to the target. Most had
decided that the disadvantages far out-weighed any advantage. Enemy
radar reached as far as the tanker tracks, so the bad guys knew we
were coming. Sure, the low altitude provided shielding from SAM radar,
but it also meant you were within range of even the smallest of guns.
It also made it a whole lot harder to find the targets. Low altitude
meant your navigation had to be absolutely perfect, because it was
only when you popped up to bombing altitude that you could see to
identify your target. A few degrees off on your run-in and you might
be too close to drop, you might be so wide that you'd have to float at
the apex of your pop exposed to all of the target area guns, or you
might simply miss your target entirely.

Let there be no doubt about it, running along on the tree tops at 540
knots in a flight of four F-105s loaded with high explosive iron may
be the most exciting thing a man can do with his pants on. You've got
the most impressive piece of machinery on the planet strapped to your
ass and it responds to your every wish. The throttle controls the
beast's heartbeat and the slightest movement of the stick directs your
flight path. You're the lord of evil perched on your rocket-powered
throne and coming to deliver justice. It's exhilarating and thrilling,
frightening and almost orgasmic. But it isn't necessarily tactically
sound."



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038