Some aviation writers consider the 1950s as the "glory days" of the US Air Force, and I have to agree. Seeing photos of these bare-metal jets were my favorite memories of aircraft of this era.

Is there anything as stunning as highly polished aluminum?! I'm always impressed & amazed when I see the restored B-29 "Doc" flying, with every square inch polished to a high shine. Even the "gloss gull gray" of the A-4s that I worked on looked nice when new. Modern aircraft understandably don't want to glint in the sun, but I can't help but miss the look of the past decades a bit.

Notice the ILS landing system guage just to the right of the control stick at 4:54. The guage says to "climb" or "dive" when making a landing. I love how they tried to make things simple back in the day. Also, notice that the photo has some classified "tape" covered over the fuel quantity gauge at the far right and again at the top just below the glare shield next to the radar/camera buttons.

The photos in this video are amazing. Really like the one F-100 and the F-86H in the hangar. Your team has done a fantastic job with this video.

Our Air National Guard flew the 100 Super Sabers. When on T/O, they'd hit the AB & it sounded like a Howizter going off. Pretty cool. You could actually feel the shock wave from them. The 105s are extremely loud and have that (I'm gonna rip your face off) look like the MIG-21s. Thanks for posting some cool aircraft.

In the USAF, I witnessed a Thunderbird blow off his Sabrejet;s wings in 1967 at our base. No injuries. The news article said "metal fatigue." Quite a fireball!

Still "Flightseeing " in 2024 ! Always great content

When I moved to Tulsa in April 1977, the Air National guard was still flying F-100s and soon switched over to SLUFs A-7s. Yes I am that old.

They're purdey! I'm building a Hun for the Max's Models Vietnam group build, but it won't look factory fresh. 😊

Beautiful pics, thanks. IMO, though, the Sabre was much better looking than the Super Sabre. Love that Grumman fighters were all "cats" and Republic fighters were all "Thunder____" Both designed and mostly built on LI, a couple of miles from where I am sitting right now. The land that the Republic factory was on is now a mall and parking lot. Airport is still there, I fly in and out of there sometimes in an LSA.

Both jets look fast just sitting on the tarmac. I have scale models of both jets displayed on my shelf.

👍Greetings Sir, If memory serves me correctly the F-105 that was a Thunderbird was involved in a mid-air refueling accident. The airplane was taking on fuel using the “hose & drogue” method when the hose broke about 10-12ft forward of the basket and the hose flew back and struck the fuselage behind the cockpit (these refueling hoses are very heavy). This is believed to have caused damage to internal structure which could not be seen when the airplane was inspected after flight. The 6 G pull up effectively split the fuselage in half. I have not heard the overweight landing story but sounds like that could have also been part of the problem. At least that’s the story I read. All the best, cheers.

I was patiently waiting for the terrific box art of the Aurora F-105 to appear accompanied by the line "You didn't think that I was going to do a video without a model box, did you?" Missed opportunity. Otherwise an excellent informative video with some great photos. Love those factory fresh airframes.

The 105D’s at Bitburg AB, Germany when I got there in 1962 were bare metal. But by 1964 they were all painted cano. It was truly a beautiful bird in its bare skin. All three squadron symbols were still on the tails, but reduced in size. 22nd , 23rd and 53rd Fighter Squadrons.

Factory fresh is my favorite colour.

Thank you very much for this episode Mike. I concur that a shiny bare metal aircraft looks better than anything else.

Fascinating. Not only wonderful aircraft but what great company names back when ! North American and Republic to mention just 2. Thanks Mike.

I always find it interesting how the 105 had a very low frontal radar cross section. So much so that they had to add a reflector to the nose wheel for ILS approaches.

I can't wait to log on, on Mondays, to see you weekly offerings. What a great way to start the week. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. I was an Air Force brat in the 50's and 60's and saw most of the airplanes on the flightline, in bare metal with very colorful squadron markings. The most impressive were the original SAC B-52s with anti-flash white undersides and KC-135s both with arctic orange bands too. By the time I was in the USAF in the 70's, the "lizard paint", covered all of those beauties. They looked sinister but never quite as impressive as they were with all of the shining metal surfaces.

Shiney bare metal aircraft and shiney chrome on cars of this era are a great combination!

The Super Sabre is so beautiful from any angle in any paint scheme.

What a great video! I love the Century Series fighters. Doggone, to my old eyes, all those shots of "The Hun" are spec-bleeping-tacular. Thank you, yet again! WAIT! Where is the model box top? I remember my Monogram F-105, just after it first came out. That was in 1959 or so. This was back when it was still intended to be a hot, low, and fast delivery unit for a nuke in that rotary bomb bay. What a great airplane.

This is going to be an excellent series. I am subscribing. Truthfully I wish I could have seen what a F104 looked like freshly built on the tarmac. They must have looked like something from Star Wars or Buck Rogers. All polished aluminum, paint markings, and decals still glossy and unscratched, leading edges like freshly honed razors. A T-tailed dart waiting to pierce the clouds like a needle. Yes, I know the machine was a bit of a death trap. No, I don't care. The plane was cool and Chuck Yeager flew one high enough to see stars coming out in the day. Edit: 7:28 Sweet Heaven! I think I'm in love.

I really love this channel, especially because I'm from a USAF/USA military family. My dad was USAF Medical Department of Orthopedics, my uncle (dad's brother) was US Army 1st Air Calvary, my brother USAF Security Forces, and my maternal grandfather was USAF Red Horse, (he even achieved the rank of Chief Master Sergeant and retired as senior NCO of USAF Red Horse Western Division.) Unfortunately, the only reason I did not serve was because of a broken back injury I received when I was a kid disqualified me from service. With all this personal history, particularly with the USAF, I have a high appreciation for military aviation. Just to add a few more contributing details to my USAF experience, I was born at Nellis AFB, NV, home of the USAF Thunderbirds (which were, at the time, and of course still are using F-16 Fighting Falcons,) I've been to Edwards AFB several times during my brother's stationing at the base. As well, during my childhood I've lived on Travis AFB, CA, Scott AFB, IL and even Incirlik AFB in Turkey. Now I live just outside of March ARB, CA, a base that has a lot of history itself, including being the base where the first P-38 Lightning took off from. As long as you're making these great videos, I'll keep supporting your channel in any way I am able to.

When I got to Mountain Home AFB Idaho in January of 1973 which was my first duty station (as a "Weapons Mechanic" who loaded bombs, missiles, nukes, etc etc) we had about 20 brand new factory fresh F-111F's parked on the ramp. We were getting 3 to 5 new planes a month from General Dynamics in Texas and by the time I left for Bitburg Germany to work on old greasy, grimy F-4E models (the ones with a multi barrelled 20mm Vulcan cannon nose gun) Phantoms just back from southeast Asia in June of 1974 there were 3 squadrons or about 90 aircraft which was all the F models they were going to be building. At that time there were "E" Models at Upper Heyford England and "D" models at Cannon AFB in New Mexico. The only SAC F-111's were the early "A" Models that were at Nellis then. And as far as being called "Aardvarks"?? I NEVER heard that term until these same aircraft were used by Reagan for that long distance bomb run on Libya during his term in office. But before that, these F-111's didn't have a name. They were just F-111's until somebody apparently heard the name Aardvark and thought the plane looked like the animal or was it the animal that looked like the plane???

Always loved the Century series of aircraft, awesome seeing some new and very cool looking photos of them

Mike, Thank you for this episode, it brought back a wonderful memory. My Dad worked on the assembly line at Republic Aviation from 1943 to 1969. In September of 1963 (I was 5 at the time) my Dad brought me to the factory. I will never forget the brand new F-105F being towed out of the final assembly hangar. You are right, there is something about that airplane when it is just bare metal. From that day forward I was absolutely nutty about airplanes. Thanks again!

It must've been such a joy to be one of the early jet pilots. Something about those older designs

Mike this is awesome. The Farmingdale pictures are great. I literally was just on the Southern State this morning. Keep up the great work. The delivery hangar is now part of the AirPower Museum.

Super perspective for these classic aircraft.

Enjoying these historical photos along with their origin stories!

It is nice to see the timeline and photos. They really are shiny birds without the camo paint. As a kid I remember often seeing the local Air Guard take off and landings from a fishing pond located just west of the MGM airport runway fence line. What were they...camo painted F-4's. So that paint scheme is quite normal in my mind.

Thanks Mike for another great episode from the heart, all the best from Australia for 2024!

As a member of the 388th Tac Fighter Wing, Koran RTAFB Thaland , I worked on the F and G model Thuds, good airplane.

My Dad was a member of the 188th Sq New Mexico Air National Guard that had the F-100 in Tuy Hoy South Vietnam one 4 National Guard Units deployed to Vietnam

Neat essay Mike - and some really great photographs, especially of the Thud in rare Thunderbird livery. Sorting through some 1960's slides taken by my late father, I found pics of the Thunderbirds in their subsequent (and neatly dressed) F-100's performing at the Alberta Air Show in July, 1966 - at, of all places, Red Deer, Alberta - (then) population 25,000.

One of the prototype YF-100s was displayed on a pedestal at Keesler AFB in Biloxi near the main gate, close to the beach for a number of years. I remember at one point it was painted gray as well as being in SEA camo. Eventually it got moved to Edwards where it was restored back to its prototype markings.

As always I enjoyed your vid. I to love the look of a factory fresh 50's jet. I have a F-100 RC model done in Thunderbird colors, but paint just doesn't look as good as the polished aluminum

Cool video, I just really like those 50’s Airforce Jets. They look so cool. No paint except, squadron markings

Gotta come clean here, Mike, I'm building a natural-metal finish model of the F-105 in 72nd scale right now. And I've got the F-100 on my list to do down the road. Very entertaining and informative video. Thanks again!

Wow you can really see how the prototype F-100 had so many rivets that they hadnt smoothed out compared to the production picture.

Awesome video!! thanks for finding and assembling all these photos - and for presenting them in their native state. Much like the aircraft rolling out in their Factory Fresh conditions.

I remember going on Air Force flight lines in the 60's. You could have forty planes in one squadron.

An excellent presentation, Mike! I have fond memories of taking a bus to Lindbergh Field and watching factory fresh F-106's blast off on their first flight. The Convair factory was just across Pacific Highway from the airport. The Sixes were painted in a chartreuse anti-corrosion livery with no national insignia.

Nice job Mike , anytime you get to see archive photos of these greatest generational era factories, is always interesting . And lots of ashtrays ! Ha ha : )

The 100 was one of the aircraft we taught at the maintenance school at Sheppard in Wichita Falls, TX.

The airshows growing up at Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Woodbridge and Bentwaters(crooked creek) awesome!

I learned something…cool. Didn’t know the the transition of the super saber’s and 105’s. Thanks

I never knew that the 105 served as a Thunderbird. Learn something new every day. Thank you.

First time I saw the Thunderbirds was either 1962 or 1963 flying the F-100's at Lunken Field, Cincinnati.

Another great video

"Factory Fresh" is a fantastic idea. IMHO, I think the earlier planes looked most impressive before the paint went on the body.

11:15 We had F-105s at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth Texas until at least 1983. Yeah, surprised me too.

1955 F-100C for sale, low hours, one old lady owner, only used for going to church and summer outings. In factory condition, like new. Guns never fired.

Angels and Thunderbirds performed tremendously in the F4 ("Believe it or not")

Of most interesting to me were the photos of prototype and production intakes. I've read that the 100 was bad for compressor stalling, and have always wondered the "whys" of the intake as it is. I wish Bob hoover was still around.

Happy New Year! Always a treat seeing your videos, many others use the same photos and clips over and over so to get a peek at the awesome collection you have is always wonderful. The inlet detail in the prototype hun, and the afterburner in the D model are details I'd never really fully appreciated until your pictures. I have a soft spot for the Thud and the Six, they just look right, even if they have vastly different capabilities and missions, or maybe I just like area ruling...something to bring up with the psychologist maybe lol. Looking forward to the new content and we'll still be here liking and commenting on your great videos.

Looking forward to these new videos.

I love any of your videos on art and graphic design, first and foremost. But, this new topic is fantastic too.

Beautiful images here!!! (and please, don't change the format too much, you have one of my favorite channels!)

Excellent! Loads of fantastic, not often seen, info here!

Thank you!

Outstanding video Mike......cheers from Florida, Paul

Another great one Mike!

Another great video Mike

Nicely done! I enjoyed the show. Hope the B-58 is on here.

Great video, Mike...👍

😅excellent work, Mike. Thank you.

@11:58 this Thunderbird aircraft was likely the slot position....ie Number 4. The soot on the vertical fin is from tight positioning behind and SLIGHTLY below Number 1.

Thanks!

Another great video. Thanks

Awesome as always!

Great video and topic as always.

Great video, Mike!

What a wonderful episode as always Mr. Machat! Very informative and delivered as only you can do! Hope you had a wonderful New Years, and looking forward to all the new episodes this year. As always God Bless you and your family. Thanks for everything you do! Take Care always Sir!!

That's interesting...i never knew the Thunderbirds 105 had a hard landing and repair....they should never had chosen that airframe to be a T Bird

I always thought the F-100 should have been named the "Super Sexy".

D for definitive

Yum yum!

I noticed on the picture of the F 100 on the ground that the exhaust nozzle was not in the idle position but more like full throttle prior to afterburner is that so that the artist can make the plane look like it’s flying when they crop out the background scene I’m asking you since you are an artist if that’s the reason thanks for the great videos by the way from a former Mcdonnell Douglas, Long, Beach employee

My dad flew Huns in the late 50s.

I crewed 91741 when she was in silver ! plus She bit ME when a dumb ass 2lt didn't know his left foot from right applying brakes from the CC and YES I got a 15 for calling him a STUPID ASS !!

My father told me a story about one of the first f105s flown having trouble landing cause it was too hot for the runway at farmingdale I wonder if he's getting confused w the incident you mentioned in 59 because that's the exact period he would have been there

The prototype F-100 Super Sabre should've been designated XF-100A NOT YF-100A as the Y prefix falsely indicates that it was a pre-production aircraft.

No F-105 F/G pics :( I need some WSO Love. How about a show dedicated to the WSO/RIO!

Great Job! I love both aircraft and I love the century series fighters! Quick question: What is that number by the nose FH-741? I know 741 is the tail number but in the fighters and some bombers from the 50's have this type of number and I always wondered what it stands for on the Century series fighters and some early 4th generation fighters, F-4 for example, Buzz number, etc. Cheers and Thanks!

Mike, am I right in thinking that the F-4 was a surprisingly sharp and powerful plane for a number of years. Possibly until the F-15 came out around’74or ‘75?

Was there ever a proposed F-100E?

Excellent! NOBODY has done a decent F-80 video yet. They're all 3 minutes of F-80 and the rest is T-33 footage. Hint hint.

@9:35 What airplane is that a picture of, hanging on the wall, just under the nose of the first 105D to be delivered to the Air Force?

Happy new year Mike and great video, just one thing, no box art, there are standards that have to be met, just joking, take care

hello Mike! theses planes are real shinny arent they? highlights all over exposed in front and the f-86 in the back ok. when its burned like that nothing much to photoshop there... would a yellow (or other color) filter on the take have helped?

So Mike, were these Century Series jets not Alclad-finished at the plant?

You’re saying the f100 went supersonic on first flight? Uh-uh

4:50 Does this plane has a wing config. error? The left slat is extended and the right one not.

This comment section is like an aviation themed retirement home

Model box top?

Was the south side of LAX considered Inglewood? Or was NAA headquartered in Inglewood? To me, the south side on Imperial is El Segundo, but I’m not sure if Imperial was the border between Inglewood and El Segundo before the airport became incorporated into Los Angeles.

Maybe I missed it but no boxart in this one?

The Southeast Asia camo was stone cold ugly on any aircraft.