What if? Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; 121st FS, 113th FW, (Dist. o.) Columbia ANG, 1972

[dizzyfugu]

Hallo liebe Liebenden - rund ums Thema selbstgemachte Decals tauchte sie schon auf, und nachdem alles fertig ist darf das Werk nun auch in die Modell-Galerie: die Republic F-109C "Thunderdart", das letzte Design dieses amerikanischen Herstellers, bevor es den Bach runterging... Wer will kann raten, was da drin verbaut ist - ist natürlich ein Kitbashing. 


Some background:
The F-109 started life as a privately funded light fighter program by Republic under the handle AP-95 in the mid-1950s, aiming at export markets which were about to replace their 1st generation jet fighters like the F-86 or F-84 and air forces which could not afford or simply want the heavy supersonic fighters under development at that time. In the USA, it was also aimed at the replacement of these Korean War era types in the Air National Guards.


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The AP-95 was inspired by both Lockheed's CL-246 (the later F-104 Starfighter) and Northrop's N-156 Light Fighter concept (which eventually developed into the highly successful F-5 fighter family, aiming at the same niches. In size and performance the aircraft fell more or less in between these two design – it was heavier and larger than Northrop’s project, and a less radical alternative to the CL-246. Republic's design team started the development in 1955 and relied heavily on the huge F-105 fighter bomber that had been under development at the time, but the AP-95 was to be a pure interceptor. The basic idea was "to build a relatively small and highly aerodynamic fighter around the same engine that drives the F-100, but focusing on high performance and low cost of maintenance, as well as good field performance."


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Actually, the AP-95, called "Thunderdart",was revealed to USAF officials for the first time as a full-sized mock-up in early 1957, and it looked much like a scaled-down F-105. It combined a slender, area-ruled fuselage with highly swept wings and a conventional, low tail.

The nose offered space for a relatively large radar dish. The air intakes were placed in the wing roots, with Ferri-style, forward-swept leading edges that had also been used on the F-105 and other Republic designs like the AP-75 interceptor.
From the F-105 the landing gear concept had been borrowed, too. The long main legs retracted inwards into the wings, leaving only the outer wings free for ordnance loads, but allowed much space in the fuselage for fuel and avionics. The aircraft was to be powered by a Pratt & Whitney J57-P-21 turbojet, with a dry thrust of 10,200 lbf (45 kN) and 16,000 lbf (71 kN) with afterburner.


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The basic armament of the AP-95 was an internal 20 mm (.79 in) M61 Vulcan Gatling gun, which had a rate of fire of 6,000 rounds per minute. The cannon, mounted in the lower part of the port fuselage, was fed by a 725-round drum behind the pilot's seat. Additionally, the AP-95 was able to carry up to four AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs under its wings. Total external payload was 6.000 lb (2.727 kg) on five hardpoints, a centerline pylon under the fuselage was "wet" in order to take a single drop tank. Alternatively, iron bombs or napalm tanks could be carried in a secondary ground support role.

The AP-95 was an attractive design but faced a strong competition, if not opposition. Among USAF officials it was not popular, because it was - despite its basically good performance and low development risks - regarded as an inferior aircraft. It did not reach Mach 2 (what the F-104 promised, despite many other weaknesses), and adding a complex radar system (which would have allowed longer range AAMs like the AIM-7 Sparrow) with an additional operator would further reduce performance.
The aircraft shared a "bad image" fate with the later F-5, which became nevertheless very popular in oversea markets due to its simplicity, versatility and efficacy. On the other side, Europe was already in Lockheed's strong grip, as the F-104G had been selected as NATO's standard fighter bomber - under dubious circumstances, though, but it successfully blocked the market.


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Anyway, the AP-95 was nevertheless a capable aircraft which was more cost-effective than the thirsty and short-legged F-104, or the larger F-102 and F-106 which formed the air defense backbone at that era. While the US Air Force did not want another type in its arsenal, it was decided to buy and build the aircraft as a state-of-the-art replacement for the ageing ANG Sabres and Thunderstreaks, with the prospect of delivery of the type to NATO partners all over the world, too.

The original design was quickly approved and the AP-95 prototype made its maiden flight on October 10th, 1960, only equipped with a basic AN/ASG-14T ranging radar. After completing trials and further development with two further YF-109 pre-production aircraft, the Thunderdart was officially introduced as F-109A in March 1962 to the USAF. These production aircraft now featured an AN/APQ-83 radar for night and all-weather interceptions. Additionally, one of the YF-109 was modified in late 1962 to carry a second crew member under a lengthened canopy and with reduced internal fuel - it was planned as a F-109B trainer, but did not find interest since the T-38 already offered supersonic performance at much lower cost, and the Thunderdart's range suffered considerably. The F-109B remained a one-off.


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


In 1964 the F-109A was also introduced to the US ANG forces and attained some interest from other countries, including Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, South Korea and Japan. Most of these foreign countries settled for the Starfighter in the 60ies, and the door for the F-109 was closing: As a result of winning the International Fighter Aircraft competition in 1970, a program aimed at providing effective low cost fighters to American allies, Northrop introduced the second-generation F-5E Tiger II in 1972. This upgrade included more powerful engines, higher fuel capacity, greater wing area and improved leading edge extensions for better turn rate, optional air to air refueling, and improved avionics including air-to-air radar. It became a great success and made the F-109 obsolete, which lacked further development potential and was too limited to its interceptor role to be a versatile option for smaller air forces.

From 1962 until 1965, a total of 145 F-109As were built. Compared with the 1.400 Tiger II versions until 1987 only a very small number, and further orders from the USA did not materialize, even though the Thunderdart showed good flight characteristics.


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


As a final attempt to improve the Thunderdart's potential, 80 F-109A aircraft were modernized from 1969 on, all of them ANG aircraft. These machines received a more powerful J57-P-20 engine, rated at 18.040lbf (8.200kN) thrust at full afterburner – which finally allowed to break the Mach 2 barrier.
On the avionics side, a new AN/APQ-124 radar was fitted – which still did not allow the guidance of medium range missiles, though, the AIM-9 remained the Thunderdart’s primary weapon. Further enhancements included a more modern firing system and an AAS-15 infrared sensor. These updated aircraft received the designation F-109C, and the MLU phase lasted until 1972. Externally these modified aircraft could easily be identified by the bigger radome and the added IR sensor pod under the nose.


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Republic F-109C "Thunderdart"; BuNo 62-28502 of 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Wing; (District of) Columbia Air National Guard; Andrews Army Air Field, summer 1972 (Whif/Kit-bashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


No F-109 was ever used in combat, despite the raging Vietnam War. The original F-109As remained with the USAF, but these were only used for training purposes or as instructional airframes on the ground. These F-109As were quickly phased out during the 70ies, the last one in September 1977. The modernized F-109C soldiered on with several ANG forces until 1985, being replaced by F-4 and F-16 as interceptors and multi-role combat aircraft.


Republic F-109A "Thunderdart" by Franclab, on Flickr
(This wonderful illustration was done in less than 24h by fellow user Franclab from flickr.com - many thanks for this "present"!  :cheers:)


F-109A general characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 56 ft 9 ¼ in (17.02 m)
Wingspan: 25 ft 7 in (7.81 m)
Height: 15 ft 9 ¼ in (4.82 m)
Wing area: 277 ft² (25.75 m²)
Empty weight: 14.000 lb (6.350 kg)
Loaded weight: 20.640 lb (9.365 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 29.027 lb (13.170 kg)

Powerplant
1× Pratt & Whitney J57-P-21 turbojet with 10.200 lbf (45 kN) dry thrust and 16.000 lbf (71 kN) with afterburner:

Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 1.86 (1.225 mph, 1.975 km/h) at 36,000 ft (11.000 m)
Combat radius: 450 mi (730 km)
Ferry range: 1.735 mi (2.795 km) with external fuel
Service ceiling: 58.000 ft (17.700 m)
Rate of climb: 31.950 ft/min (162.3 m/s)

Armament
1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan gatling cannon with 725 RPG
5 hardpoints for 6.000 lb of ordnance (2.727 kg); typically 2× or 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder under the wings, plus an optional drop tank under the fuselage.


Was u.a. verbaut wurde:
● Rumpf einer 1:72 Academy MiG-21F, incl. Cockpithaube
● Radom einer 1:72 Hasegawa F-4E
● Flügel, Pylone und Hauptfahrwerk einer 1:100 Tamiya F-105
● Stabilisatoren unterm Heck einer 1:72 Revell F-16, gekürzt
● Räder einer 1:72 Hobby Boss F-86F
● Seitenleitwerk einer 1:100 Il-28 von Tamiya
● Höhenruder einer 1:72 Matchbox A-7E, verringrte Spannweite
● Vorderrad einer 1:72 Italeri A-4M
● Düse einer 1:72 Matchbox F-104G
● Der Nachbrenner innen ist ein Treibrad eines 1:72 ESCI M1A1 Abrams 
● Cockpit und Armaturenbrett stammen aus einem 1:72 Heller Alpha Jet
● Sitz und Pilot sind aus einem Matchbox-Bausatz, aber keine Ahnung mehr, von was