North American F-100F Super Sabres

The extremely high loss rate of early F-100 Super Sabres led the USAF to request a two-seat conversion trainer, which originally had not been planned. An F-100C was returned to North American for conversion into the TF-100C, which involved extending the fuselage and the canopy slightly to provide for a second cockpit with a full set of flight controls. The crash of the only TF-100C in April 1957 did not interrupt work on the project, as the USAF had requested the two-seater be combat capable and incorporate all of the modifications made to the baseline Super Sabre. As a result, the F-100F two-seater was built from the F-100D tactical fighter bomber, and differed in performance only in the deletion of two of the four 20mm cannon; a few F-100Fs were subsequently modified to carry the AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-surface missile, while a few also had better navigational equipment than the standard Super Sabres—these aircraft were specifically intended for Pacific-based F-100 units. The F-100F entered service in January 1958.

 

The F-100F’s otherwise unremarkable career as a conversion trainer was to be changed by the Vietnam War, by two projects: the Wild Weasel suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) campaign and the Misty “fast FAC” forward air control program.

 

The Wild Weasel campaign began in response to increasing losses by USAF aircraft to North Vietnamese SA-2 Guideline (S-75 Dvina) surface-to-air missiles. Unable to attack the SAM sites before they were made operational due to Rules of Engagement restrictions, something had to be done to defend the strike forces from SAM attacks: while scoring comparatively few kills at first, the SAM sites were forcing American aircraft out of previously-safe high and medium altitudes into the murderous low-altitude North Vietnamese antiaircraft defenses. Wild Weasel was intended to not only provide early warning of SAM launches, but also to attack and destroy SAM sites and their attendant radars.

 

The F-100F was determined to be the best platform for what became known as Wild Weasel I, as it was readily available in Southeast Asia and would need a minimum of conversion. Wild Weasel I F-100Fs were equipped with a comprehensive warning and detection suite originally developed for the U-2 spyplane, allowing the Weasels to detect Fansong, Firecan, and Spin Scan guidance radars—those used by SA-2s, radar-guided antiaircraft guns, and MiG-21 fighters. The intent was that a single F-100F would lead the way into the target area accompanied by three or four F-105D Thunderchiefs, with the F-100 using rockets to mark any sites for the accompanying F-105s, or strafing the sites themselves; later, the Weasels would be equipped with AGM-45 Shrike antiradar missiles designed to destroy the radars directly. The F-100F Weasels flew their first combat mission in April 1966, and while successful, showed one shortcoming: the F-100 simply could not keep up with the F-105. Once the Thuds had dropped their ordnance, they would rapidly leave the slower F-100 behind. Moreover, the comparative low speed of the Super Sabre made it very vulnerable to the deadly air defenses around the Hanoi area. Subsequently, the USAF made the decision to withdraw the F-100F Weasels in favor of modified F-105F Wild Weasel II aircraft in late 1966.

 

The Misty FAC program—officially known as Commando Sabre—had similar origins. Prior to 1967, the antiaircraft threat in South Vietnam and southern North Vietnam was relatively low. This began to change, with a resultant spike in losses among forward air control (FAC) pilots. FACs were flying propeller-driven O-1 Birddogs and O-2 Skymasters, which were highly vulnerable to medium-altitude antiaircraft fire, especially around Mu Gia Pass, the northern “terminus” of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The USAF began looking into the “fast FAC” role, using two-seat jets. Two-seat F-105Fs were in short supply and were needed for Wild Weasels in the north; there were not yet enough F-4 Phantom IIs to go around to both strike and fighter units. The F-100F again seemed tailor made to the role, and the USAF began Project Commando Sabre in June 1967, with the unit designated as Detachment 1 of the 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron, based at Phu Cat, South Vietnam.

 

Major George “Bud” Day was put in command of Commando Sabre, due to his experience with both the F-100 and South Vietnam; Day selected the callsign “Misty” based on a song by the same name, and handpicked the crews. Each crew had to have at least 100 missions in Southeast Asia and 1000 flying hours in the F-100. Misty F-100Fs were identical to the baseline F-100F, with the only modifications being more radios to speak with strike units and a strike camera installed in the lower fuselage. While Commando Sabre was originally intended as fast FACs, Day expanded the program to include hunter-killer teams directly attacking North Vietnamese antiaircraft sites, reconnaissance, rescue force escort, and artillery spotting in the I Corps sector of South Vietnam.

 

If anything, Misty loss rates were worse than the F-100 Wild Weasels had been: 42 Misty F-100s were shot down, nearly thirty percent losses. This included Day, who was shot down and captured in August 1967; he was joined by three others in the next few years, and eight men were killed on Misty operations. Losses were so high that a Misty tour of duty was reduced to 60 missions rather than the standard 100. Once a Misty finished a tour of duty, they returned to a “safer” unit flying close air support missions. The threat level increased around Mu Gia and Ban Karai Passes until even the Mistys could no longer operate there and were replaced by F-4 Wolf FACs. The program ended in May 1970 and the surviving F-100Fs withdrawn from Vietnam.

 

Like all F-100Fs, they were allocated to Air National Guard units by 1972, and withdrawn completely by 1978, though foreign operated F-100Fs were flown until 1988, and a handful continued in civilian hands as aggressor and target-towing aircraft, operated by the Tracor Corporation, until 1998. 339 F-100Fs were built and a quarter were lost to enemy action and accidents; eleven are known to survive, with four aircraft still flyable.

 

These are two of those flyable (at least in theory) aircraft: F-100Fs N416FS and N419FS, formerly 56-3916 and 56-3971. Both seem to have nearly identical histories: they were delivered to the Royal Danish Air Force in the early 1960s, serving with either 727 or 730 Eskadrille at Skrydstrup. After the Super Sabre was retired from RDAF service, the two aircraft were bought by Tracor Flight Systems of Mojave, California in 1982; they were used as testbeds, chase aircraft, and target-towing aircraft. They were possibly the last regularly flying F-100s in service by the time they were retired in 2001. Both were subsequently acquired by Big Sky Warbirds of Bozeman, Montana, and flown there in 2003, where they remain today.

 

Getting this picture was the culmination of almost a decade of trying! Google Earth showed the aircraft parked on a taxiway of Bozeman International Airport, but I never seemed to be in a position to get there with a camera. It also looked like the aircraft were inaccessible in any case. I took a chance in September 2021, and on my way to Yellowstone, stopped by the airport. Bozeman is (as of this writing) undergoing some expansion, and the taxiway was closed. I spotted the two F-100s parked across the way instead, and finally managed to get a picture.

 

It's not the greatest angle or picture in the world, but it does show N416FS and N419FS. The former is important to my family: a good friend, Dale Fiala, flew N416FS for Tracor, and Dad built him a model, shown here: www.flickr.com/photos/31469080@N07/17912208780/in/photoli...

Done