Guam-Ohakea Record Flight

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30368, 18 February 1964, Page 11

Guam-Ohakea Record Flight

(N.Z. Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, Feb. 17. Six members of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa,, on Saturday set an unofficial operational nonstop distance record in their United States Air Force F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers.

The flight began at Anderson Air Force Base. Guam, at 9 a.m. on Saturday (New Zealand time) and, after two in-flight refuellings, terminated at Ohakea at 4.20 p.m. The distance is 3845 nautical miles, of approximately 4500 miles, in a little less than

seven hours and a half. Colonel George B. Simlar, commander of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, was the commander of the six-jet formation. Cruising at an altitude of 30,000 feet and at a ground speed of more than 620 miles an hour, the Thunderchiefs flew south from Guam to over New Guinea, where they descended to 20,000 feet for a rendezvous with the refuelling tankers based at Yokota, Japan. Using direction-finding equipment and radar, the F-105s engaged the tankers and within a few minutes were again soaring to 30,000 feet with full.fuel tanks.

The refuelling process was accomplished again approximately 100 miles east of Brisbane, and the flight proceeded from there to Ohakea. On hand to greet the arrival of the Thunderchiefs

was the commanding officer at Ohakea, Group Captain K. W. Trigance, other Royal New Zealand Air Force officers and representatives of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Air Force.