A group comprising 15 Medal of Honor recipients and 120 former POWs have partnered with The Collings Foundation to return an F-105 to airworthy status, making it part of the foundation’s Vietnam Memorial Flight, according to an April 27 release. Retired Col. Leo Thorsness, both an MOH recipient and former Vietnam War POW, said, “It is one thing to see ‘my’ aircraft mounted on a pole or gathering dust in a museum, quite another to see it roar down the runway and take to the sky.” The group has to obtain Congressional authorization, and, per the release, Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) has taken the matter up with the House Armed Services Committee. Former AFA Chairman of the Board Gene Smith, a POW and F-105 pilot, said, “Getting an F-105 back into the skies means a great deal to me—we gave a lot to this country.” (For Thorsness background, read Full Day and Valor: Wild, Wild Weasel from Air Force Magazine archives.) (Also see The Collings Foundation Web site)
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
