RIVERSIDE, Calif. – March Field Air Museum is proud to announce the ninth installment of “Up-Close Aircraft Days” on Saturday, September 8, 2018, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. As part of this new interpretive program, a different aircraft is featured each month with the next focused on the supersonic F-105D Thunderchief. On the second Saturday of each month throughout the year, Museum guests will have the opportunity for a close-up look – sometimes climbing stairs to get a close-up view into the cargo bay or cockpit, other times even climbing aboard.
For the upcoming “Up-Close Aircraft Day” focused on the F-105D Thunderchief, guests will see an aircraft that played significant roles in the Vietnam War, and set records for the payloads that a single-engine aircraft could carry. On this day, visitors to March Field Air Museum will get an up-close view of the Museum’s Thunderchief, peering into the cockpit at close range
When the F-105 Thunderchief entered service in the late 1950s, it was the largest single-seat, single-engine combat aircraft in history, weighing approximately 50,000 pounds. It could exceed the speed of sound at sea level, and reach Mach 2 at high altitudes while carrying up to 14,000 lbs. of bombs and missiles. Armed with missiles and a rotary cannon, the Thunderchief’s design was tailored to high-speed, low-altitude penetration carrying a single nuclear weapon internally.
The U.S. Air Force gradually changed the F-105’s mission from nuclear interdiction to conventional bombing. Upgrades in the early 1960s increased the aircraft’s capacity from four to 16 conventional 750 lb. bombs, and added the equipment to launch air-to-ground missiles. In June 1961, an F-105D delivered 15,430 lbs. of conventional bombs during a USAF test—at the time a record for a single-engine aircraft, with a payload three times heavier than American four-engine heavy bombers of World War II such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, though aerial refueling was required for long missions.
In spite of a troubled early service life, the F-105 became the dominant attack aircraft early in the Vietnam War and flew over 20,000 sorties. The Thunderchief could carry more than twice the bomb load farther and faster than the F-100 Super Sabre, which was used mostly in South Vietnam. The F-105 Thunderchief was later replaced as a strike aircraft over North Vietnam by both the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the swing-wing General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. The March Field Air Museum’s F-105D Thunderchief, serial number 62-4383, served with the Pacific Air Force, Tactical Air Command and the Air Force Reserve before being retired in January 1984.
The Museum’s website features extensive information on each aircraft in its collection of more than 80 total, for those wishing to learn more. Knowledgeable museum docents, dressed in period uniforms whenever possible, will be on hand to assist visitors, provide information and answer questions. The March Field Air Museum website will list upcoming “Up-Close Aircraft Days” and the featured aircraft each month.
“This new ‘Up-Close Aircraft Days’ program allows March Field Air Museum to showcase the incredible aviation heritage of the U.S. Air Force and military, and especially Riverside’s own March Field,” said Executive Director Paul Hammond. “Today known as March Air Reserve Base, this architectural gem of a military installation in 2018 is commemorating its presence in our community for 100 years. March Field is the West Coast’s oldest continuously operated military airfield, and a birthplace of the modern Air Force that our nation relies upon today.”
Each “Up-Close Aircraft Days” opportunity will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the scheduled date (Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and is included with regular Museum admission: $10 for guests ages 12 years and older; $5 for children ages 5 to 11 years; and free for ages 4 and younger. In case of inclement weather, other aircraft may be substituted. March Field Air Museum is a top-rated TripAdvisor attraction located alongside Interstate Highway 215 at Van Buren Boulevard, just south of downtown Riverside and adjacent to March Air Reserve Base.