The Other CF-105 (CF-105 Thunderchief) 2.0

This is a what-if mod of the stock F-105D Thunderchief, with Sundowner's new high-resolution skins for the Royal Canadian Air Force/Canadian Armed Forces Air Command.

Backstory

During the late 1950s, Canada agreed to take on a nuclear strike role in NATO. The aircraft that took on this role would replace the Canadair Sabre. The RCAF considered several designs including the Grumman F11F Tiger, the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, the Northrop N-156F, and the Republic F-105 Thunderchief.

The F-105 variant offered to the RCAF was an F-105D equipped with an Orenda Iroquois engine. Two prototypes were constructed in 1959, using engines that had been constructed for the cancelled Avro Arrow. The marriage of Iroquois to F-105 was not a happy one. The Iroquois was an excellent engine when used operated at high altitude and high speed, the operating environment of an interceptor. When operated at transonic and supersonic speeds at low level, the engine proved unreliable. A catastrophic turbine failure at 400 ft and Mach 0.95 resulted in a fatal crash. This, combined with the escalating cost of developing the Iroquois forced the Government to cancel the Iroquois and opt for a standard F-105D. Canadian content was kept by having Pratt and Whitney Canada built the J75 engines under licence.

With the Cold War heating up fast, the RCAF received its Thunderchiefs quickly. Five RCAF squadrons were equipped including 421, 422, 427, 439. and 441 Squadrons. For nuclear strike, their standard loadout was a Mark 28 nuclear bomb, two or four Sidewinders, and two drop tanks. The Thuds could also carry out conventional strike missions using a variety of bombs, missiles, and rockets.

In 1965, the RCAF deployed 427 Squadron to RAAF Ubon in Thailand to operate beside the F-105s of 2 Squadron RAAF. Between 1965 and 1972, the Canadian and Australian Thunderchiefs bombed thousands of targets across North Vietnam.

Upon their withdrawal from Vietnam, the CF-105 Thunderchiefs returned to Europe. The Trudeau Government removed their nuclear strike mission, leaving them as conventional strike aircraft only. For this reason, all the CF-105s were painted dark green, and given the new "symmetrical" marking scheme. The aircraft were refurbished after Vietnam to give them another ten years of life, and recently retired Thuds from USAF stocks replenished Canadian losses.

The Thuds remained in Canadian Service until 1984, when they were replaced by the CF-18. The CF-105G Wild Weasel continued until 1987.

Skins

• RCAF Natural Metal - Initial skin, natural metal with RCAF Markings.
• RCAF SEA Camo - Introduced in 1966 for Canadian Thuds deployed to Vietnam. Standard RCAF markings.
• CAF Natural Metal - Used in Europe & Canada after 1968. CAF marking scheme.
• CAF SEA - Used in Vietnam after 1968, and introduced in Europe during depot maintenance. CAF marking scheme.
• CAF Green - Dark Green scheme used in Europe after 1973. Symmetrical marking scheme. Remained until retirement.
  

The F-105D has only the RCAF skins. All skins are offered for the F-105D_66

Installation

Copy the contents of ModFolder into your mod folder. Merge/overwrite when prompted.

Notes

This mod contains a Squadronlist.ini file. If you do not wish to alter your own, then you should add the following into your squadronlist.ini:

[squadron569]
Name=421CAF
DisplayName=No. 421 Squadron
Nation=Canada

[squadron570]
Name=422CAF
DisplayName=No. 422 Squadron
Nation=Canada

[squadron571]
Name=427CAF
DisplayName=No. 427 Squadron
Nation=Canada

[squadron574]
Name=439CAF
DisplayName=No. 439 Squadron
Nation=Canada

[squadron575]
Name=441CAF
DisplayName=No. 441 Squadron
Nation=Canada

Should these numbers not correspond with those in your squadronlist.ini, then change the numbers on the file, and the filenames of the SQN decals accordingly.

In order to get the correct roundel and Canadian flag, you can change the active date for Canada in your nations.ini from 1968 to 1965. This means that in the menus, you will see "Canadian Armed Forces" three years early, but in the sim, you will get the present Canadian flag and the stylised maple leaf roundel used today.

To access nuclear weapons for Canada, I recommend making nation specific version of the various US nuclear weapons (e.g. Mk43_Canada), rather than making them exportable.

To make your own F-105 skins, use Sundowner's templates: http://combatace.com/files/file/14427-hi-res-tw-f-105d-templates/

No apologies for being cheeky with the designation CF-105.

Credits

TK: Stock F-105D, TW series
Sundowner: Hi-Res F-105 templates and skins