Warbird Information Exchange

One of the guys I work with dropped by one day and saw me checking out some pictures of F4's that had been posted here on WIX. He told me he had some good pictures that he had taken at Da Nang in 1972 that he would share with me. Here are those pictures. He is in the first picture standing in front of the 421st TFS "Black Widows" sign.


Black Widows


Waiting for arming


Weapons ready


Loaded up in the hanger


Fully loaded


Ready and waiting


Tank killer


Taxi out


Takeoff 1


Takeoff 2


Takeoff 3


Takeoff 4


Working on the radar 1


Working on the radar 2


Mig Killer

Hey, gr8 stuff! I love those 421st-style shark mouths.

At my last "real" job, my boss was Col. J. D. Pewitt, the DO then Vice Commander of the Wing at that time. We spent many long hours in his office shooting the bull about his time over there. One of his innovations in response to the Easter offensives by the North Vietnamese was "Chico", an F-4E sporting two gun pods and USN Rockeyes - heh heh, Chico did "good work".

Here a two shots from his albums:


Only five pilots flew F-4E-37-MC 68-0339 in her Chico the Gunfighter loadout. Here 366 TFW Commander Col. George W. Rutter stops off at the Da Nang Arm/Dearm area prior to a Chico mission. (Pewitt)




F-4E 68-0339 on the 421 TFS line at Da Nang decked out in all her Chico glory with 20 mm gun pods and Mk. 20 Rockeye II cluster bombs. The Chico missions were over and above normal frags, and 339 pulled her share of daily strike missions with her Phantom sisters before changing into her Chico guise for afternoon seek and destroy sorties. The pilot in flight gear is Lt Col Al LaGrou, the 366 TFW Stan/Eval check pilot. (Pewitt)




Some artist put out a print featuring "Chico" as well:



Wade

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Hey there .. Excellent stuff !!! Thank's VERY much for sharing and posting them here ... I have a good friend who was a WSO in the 421st in 72/73 ..

The last 3 pic's by the way are at " Takhli " .. ( note the 135's and the Vark in the back ground ) ...

Cheers

RJ

Cool pics!

My Dad was an MP with the Gunfighters, '68-69.

Wade,

I wondered about that pic that he sent me with the two gun pods on the wing that he labled "tank killer"

Heh heh - tanks, boats, bridges, personnel, VC laundries (I told Col. Pewitt that he should have painted a T-Shirt on the side for that one), ammo stores; you name it.

One of the five pilots who we've made contact with who flew Chico sorties told me he "aimed" by using the "condensation" stream from the pods + the nose cannon. If one wing pod ran out before the other, he'd know because he'd get a hellacious yaw for a second.

At full-rate, IIRC, the gun pods had the equivilent of 4,000 lbs of reverse thrust each. I suggested that they should have mounted them backwards, putting a sight on the center mirror so they could shoot (and scoot) rapidly as they pulled off -- technical considerations notwithstanding, if I had served back then I think I would have been handed a rifle and helmet, based on how Col. Pewitt looked at me when I said that.

Your "tank killer" shot is definitely 339. There was only one F-4E (339) that was wired for the Chico loadout. That's been verified by numerous sources. She flew normal fragged sorties during the day, and Col. Pewitt normally took her out after she was reconfigured as in your photos and mine. Notice the USN Rockeyes - acquired from the Marines at Da Nang. "Good coverage", quoth one of Chico's pilots to me.

This is an excellent example of "They never did that!" (Oh, yeah?) Ah, after my painting/print came out in 1999, I had people tell me to my face that such a thing was not possible, and I was told a pack of lies -- heh heh, FIVE major magazine articles later, and strangely the naysayers have been sorta quiet.

More info here:
http://wademeyersart.tripod.com/id20.html

Thx for adding to the "Chico" collection! Since my painting, we've had folks coming out of the woodwork to add to the story - with info and photos.

Wade

PS: My internet handle "Chicoartist" came from me establishing an Internet email account about the time my "Chico" print came out ... I wanted galleries to remember who I was (and my first print), so I became "Chicoartist" ... short for "Chico's artist". Of course, you can guess how many collectors have emailed me asking "Are you in Chico [Calif], can I come by your studio?" Suuuurrre!

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the revetments / storage hangars are of particular interest, most nam ground shots are devoid of these structures.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I was just talking to Carl, the friend that gave me the photos and he said he doesn't remember the F4 with the gun pods being called "Chico". He still remembered the tail number and said that his houch-mate was the crew chief on that bird. His name was Russ Chapman. He also said they also put a gun pod on the centerline hard point at times as well.

There may be some confusion here. "Chico" was the plane's official callsign while operating in it's "special" role in the late afternoons/evenings after flying her regular daily strike missions - the name wasn't "nose art" applied to the side of the plane. That being said, Col. Pewitt and those involved always called the jet "Chico" when referring to 339.



A gentleman by the name of Kent L. Malcolm wrote a letter to FLIGHT JOURNAL magazine after "our" Chico article appeared (well-known author and friend of ours Warren Thompson wrote that piece), and said he was the crew chief and shared many details of the "unique" Chico loads from the perspective of a crew chief. Col. Pewitt remembered Malcolm. Russ Chapman may have been an assistant CC, or a CC before/after Kent Malcolm. If Russ he said he worked on 339 as "Chico", or more specifically, 339 in the Chico role, I'm sure he did.



In the Chico role, 339 never flew with three gun pods. Why would they do that when the internal cannon (20 mm) was already there? In her Chico role, 339 always mounted a 600-gallon tank on the center station. But yes, before the internal cannoned E-model, the 366th indeed mounted centerline 20mm pods, thus their nickname, The Gunfighters.

I've heard from folks over the years who knew of a FOUR pod-equipped C or D-model Phantom that operated only a few times with the Gunfighters. The jet was such a pig that they abandoned the practice.

Fun stuff!

Wade

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Perhaps I missed it, but whatever became of 339?

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Good question! We believe she survived the war. For sure she moved with the Wing to Takhli soon after her "Chico" gig.

Many F-4s of 339s serial group went to "foreign" air forces after Vietnam and later ... everytime somebody posts here, there, . . . anywhere a "former" USAF E-model, I automatically check the tail serial. Luckily, many later operators usually still carried the USAF serial on the tail.

Anybody?

Wade

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Here is what http://www.5053Phantoms.com has:

http://www.5053phantoms.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=search&type=full&search=68-0339

Click on the picture and they give you info on each. One of the pictures states that 339 was still with the USAF up to the Mid '80s

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

I've said it before ... the Internet is a miracle. Thanks for that.

I see she went to Osan. Sister ship 68-338 was a MiG killer on 31 May 72. I see that the site shows pics of 338 with two victory stars ... my records show only one kill for 338.

Maybe one star is for the front seater on the 31 May victory, and one for the back seater - ?

Wade

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AMARC does not show a disposition of any kind for 68-0339. Huh?

Maybe she's still out there!

f-4 list:

http://www.amarcexperience.com/AMARCDB. ... 3&Action=2

regards,

t~[/list]

That's one thing that was confusing us ... a friend at the AF Museum is a Phreak, and he had no record of 339 post-VN. The site/pix cited above by Shay are the first I've seen of her after the war (thanks again, Shay!).

Past that, maybe she's being employed in Afganistan!

Wade

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