This 1960s era industrial film, made by Republic Aviation, profiles the work being done at the time in biomedical engineering. Featuring the F-105 aircraft, the film shows Republic’s work studying human factors and lays out the rationale behind this type of research. The Paul Moore Research Center at Republic Aviation is shown at the 1:49 mark, with dynamic biomedical monitoring using the latest telemetry systems. The F-105 test article is seen being tested, and monitoring through remote radio signals. At 3:10, a pilot is shown being fitted with sensors. These sensors connect to instrumentation seen at the 4:30 mark, including sophisticated graphing machines likely created by IBM. Computer systems of the mainframe type are seen at the 4:50 mark, with telemetered data being examined by engineers.
The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company, the company was responsible for the design and production of many important military aircraft, including its most famous products: World War II’s P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, the F-84 Thunderjet and F-105 Thunderchief jet fighters, as well as the A-10 Thunderbolt II close-support aircraft.
In 1951, Alexander Kartveli began to design a replacement for the F-84 Thunderjet. The new aircraft would be a single-engine fighter, but larger than any single-engine fighter ever designed for the Air Force. By the time the mock-up was completed in October 1953, the aircraft had grown so large that a more powerful engine was needed; the Pratt & Whitney J75 was finally selected. On June 28, 1954, the Air Force placed an order for 15 of the new F-105A Thunderchief. The aircraft weighed 50,000 lb (23,000 kg), but could carry up to 14,000 lb (6,400 kg) of bombs and missiles, and could fly at Mach 1 at sea level and Mach 2 at altitude. Although it had only one engine, the F-105 could carry a larger bomb load than a four-engine World War II bomber, and travel a greater distance at much higher speed. The F-105 would become the primary ground attack aircraft of the Vietnam War, flying over 20,000 missions until replaced by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in November 1970. Of the 833 F-105s produced, 397 were lost during the Vietnam War. Seventeen were shot down by North Vietnamese MiGs, while most of the rest were lost to ground fire. The F-105 was Republic Aviation’s last independent design.
A two seat version, the F-105G, known as “Wild Weasel”, was later developed to replace the “Wild Weasel” version of the F-100. The first F-105G flew on January 15, 1966, and deliveries began arriving in Southeast Asia in June 1966. This version continued operating in theater long after the ground attack versions had been withdrawn and was still in service at the end of the war.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
