BUF'S BUDDY, F-105-F/G 62-4422
This aircraft was sent to Aberdeen Proving grounds along with numerous other F-105's, most of which were veterans of the Vietnam war. They were to be used as target material. What a waste of a fine warrior! We here at the Aviation Cadet Museum, Inc. learned of this destruction of old warbirds in 2002 and set about to save what we could. We spent the next several years bogged down with paperwork. Finally in December of 2004 we took delivery of one F-100-F, and the cockpit section of 62-4422 which had been used as a test target for an AIM-9 missle. The rear end was destroyed. When I saw this, my mind exploded with possiblities! It would make a great simulator, or perhaps a mobile display. In April of 2005 we received the rest of our aircraft from Aberdeen, the complete F-105-F/G 63-8306. Both 105's were in terrible condition. There was a great deal of corrosion, bird nests, rats' nest, dead snakes, etc. All of this fun stuff cost $52,000 to move to our site on Silver Wings Field in Eureka Springs, AR.
I started to remove the nose gear from #422 back in early '05 and we started replacing the many, many camlocs that were rusted beyond use. For just one person this was a near impossible job. In October of '05 a friend named Frank Andrews brought his fifth-wheel trailer to Silver Wings and spent two weeks here. During that time he and I managed to make and install about 11 panels on #306. Frank was NCOIC of the sheetmetal shop at Little Rock AFB. Boy, did I learn a lot about sheet metal work. In January of '06 a man by the name of "Butch" Waller was out looking at the aircraft. When I went up to him he said that he was wishing that there was an F-105 somewhere in the area as he had been the NCOIC at the paint shop at McConnell and had painted many of them during the Vietman war. He couldn't believe there was one so close to where he lives. He also served as an aircraft painter in Vietnam. He told me he would paint all of our birds at no charge! What a guy. Since that time Frank has been back for another two weeks of donated labor and Butch and his grandson Brian, are here most every day working on what ever needs to be done, even though he makes his living as a painter. We would not be near as far in our restorations without these two great NCO's! The cadet corps owes these men more than we can ever repay.
The first picture is how #422 looked when we received it. The rest is as it looks today (June 2006). It had its first mission last Friday June 16th by being in the Vietnam Veterans Homecoming parade in Branson, MO. It was a great hit. The most used descriptive word was: "Awesome"! We have about $12,000 in it so far. There is still a number of things that need to be added in the way of special effects; smoke, lighting, different sound system, etc. You can see the inside of this bird under "Thank God We Saved The Thud and The Hun" on our homepage. As you can see it is a living memorial to all the flight crews and ground personnel that served in our F-105 units.
What a mess! You need to look at the photos of the inside.
Yes, this is the same aircraft. The sign in front of the "Weasel" says: "In Commemoration of the brave flight crews, and the dedicated ground support personnel who, past and present, serve in the eternal fight for freedom."
The left side, with the catwalk for entrance to the cockpits.
The cut-off end where we did find a live almost 4' long copperhead!
The names of those KIA, MIA or killed in an accident. The second line reads: "Valiant Warriors to a man, forever more in God's loving hand."
The Branson Vietnam Veterans Homecoming parade, June 16, 2006.