Republic F-105 Thunderchief

Republic F-105D Thunderchief

This aircraft was a workhorse in Southeast Asia.  It was the principle component of "Rolling Thunder."  It was capable of  mach 2.  It could carry for bomb weight than a B-17, WW II era bomber. 

You cannot see it well in the shot but the F-105 had the Area Rule applied to its construction.  The rule came about on the F-102, Delta Dagger.  When first constructed, the Delta Dagger could not achieve mach 1.  It had the power and the All Moving horizontal control surface but failed to break the sound barrier.

Research showed there was another factor which needed to be addressed in its construction.  It was the Area Rule.  Also known as the Transonic Area Rule it dictates that the area of the fuselage must be reduced at the wing roots so as to reduce drag at transonic and supersonic speeds.

As a result, the F-105 is slightly wasp waist-ed.  The reduced cross section the the fuselage occurs where the wings are attached.  I think this design element will be more visible in tomorrow's images of the Wild Weasel variant, the F-105G.

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