Your list of favorite Nam' era flying things.

It has occurred to me on this bleak Sunday afternoon that not all of my favorite 'Nam era flying things wore SEA camo.

Mars, PBM, Neptune, and the EC121 leap to mind. 

As do the Mercury and Gemini program birds.  And the X-15 & X-22 for that matter

How about the SR-71?....

Oh!, and I cannot forget the AC-130 gun ship... 

A couple others that come to mind are the F-100 Super Sabre in bare metal, vietnam camoflage, or even the Thunderbirds; and the A-1H "Sandy" Skyraider close air support plane.

Ben

 

First two that come to mind any time someone mentions Vietnam.  Herc and Phantom.

Favorite has to be the MiG Master....the F-8 Crusader. Close second would be the A-4E, had a relative shot down while flying Iron Hand in one and was MIA. Also, really like the RF-101C. The RF-8 photo-bird as well. And I've always been a big fan of the OV-10, those were some dangerous flights down low and those pilots had balls of solid rock. I think that's what the aft storage compartment on the OV-10 was really for. Man, there's too many. The RA-5C was just plain beautiful. Nothing about that plane looks wrong. On the opposite end, the OV-1 Mohawk....it was a piece of ugly with two engines mounted on it. I bet the visibility out of that cockpit was second to none. One that you very rarely hear about is the B-66, or A-3D in Navy speak. The Navy used to joke that A-3D stood for "All Three Dead" because the A-3D had no ejection seats.

All versions of the Phabulous Phantom.

OK, F-4, F-111, and the A-7, mainly because I've been buzzed by all 3. Talked about WOW.

The OV-10 has a special place. My Uncle was lost over Cambodia in one trying to help a special forces team. The more I read about FAC's and what they did and the more I talk to my mom about her brother I get a picture of someone not only with solid steel rocks but a highly intelligent and skilled individual. My cousin also fills in some of the holes. Being a former Army Ranger he has contacts some of whom knew our uncle.

 

 

For me all of those aircraft are works of art. If it flies I love it. That having been said, I have an emotional attachment to the UH-1. (HUEY, SLICK). The wop, wop, wop sound is etched in my memory. I'm also very fond of the guys who flew them and the guys who manned the door guns. The C-47 gun ship left an impression on me and a whole lot of others. They provided air support like no others. The A-1s hung around and laid down fire and other ordinance which was also much appreciated. The "fast movers" zipped in and out. We have a UH-1 out in front of our VFW building and whenever I go there I salute that old bird. I also toast Maj. Charles L. Kelly. Currahee.

Hands down favorite would be the F-4.

But I also love all the Century series aircraft and the B-52.

A couple that my step-dad worked during his time in Vietnam was the P2V7 Neptune and the P-3B Orion. I built him one of each of those (had to back-date the Hasagawa P-3C kit to a B).

German Armour

Hi all, I was wondering what your favorite vietnam era flying things are.

 

A-6 Intruder....  VA-75 Sunday Punchers  ....'72-76

I can't just pick one, lol. By catagory, though...

Fighter/Attack: F-4. EDIT: Reading other replies, it's actually a straight tie between this and the F-100. I can't believe I forgot about that. 

Medium: AC-119G, by far. It's all my favorite things about the AC-47 crammed into a strange looking airframe with an extra minigun. 

Heavy/Bomber: Tu-95. (Right era, though I don't think it ever actually saw the war). If if has to be IN the war, B-52.

Helicopter: Oh ***, that one's hard. I'm not really a helicopter guy, but I've always liked the Flying Banana. I don't know that it counts, though- it may have been used in an extremely limited role very early into the conflict or the couple of years before the conflict.

H-21s were the Army's main battle helicopter in Vietnam until the late part of 1963.

As far as I know, there never were any bombers used by the north, or attack aircraft either.  In the early 80s the J.A.S.D.F. intercepted a Vietnamese bomber entering their airspace.  It was a Beagle, camoflaged and wearing north markings.  I was very tempted to borrow that photo when I saw it.

Never heard of any either......But had they done it, they would have caught us, pants down, at least for the first couple of strikes.  Not much down south or in Thailand for AA defenses.  At least that was obvious.

ikar01

As far as I know, there never were any bombers used by the north, or attack aircraft either.  In the early 80s the J.A.S.D.F. intercepted a Vietnamese bomber entering their airspace.  It was a Beagle, camoflaged and wearing north markings.  I was very tempted to borrow that photo when I saw it.

 

The North did have a squadron of IL-28s during the war but never used them in combat. They did do a strike on a CIA station in Laos using AN-2 Colts. IIRC, one was engaged and shot down by a UH-1. They also used some bombed up Mig-17s to do an air strike on USS Higbee and USS Oklahoma City which ere doing shore bombardment of North Vietnam during the Easter Invasion of 1972.They actually scored a hit on USS Higbee, destroying the after 5” turret during that strike.

 

 

 

Illustrating why those 5" mounts are more properly reffered to as gun rooms.

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol52no2/iac/an-air-combat-first.html

 

A toss up between a Skyraider and a B-57

Thought about this thread just the other day--an image popped up in my feed of a USAF EC-121 in full SEA camo.  ind of striking to see a Connie like that.