The
date: March 12, 1967. The target: The large thermal power
plant at Viet Tri, on the Red River, a short distance to the
northwest of Hanoi. Heavily defended by 100-mm and 85-mm gun
positions, missile sites and the usual barrage of ground-fire
encountered on any mission "downtown", the task
of the leading flight was to hammer the guns and clear the
way for the closely following strike force to lay their bombs
squarely on the power plant. They would all have to contend
with the ever-present likelihood of MiG interception on the
way out.
Leading the 335th TFW F-105 Thunderchiefs
out of Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Colonel Jack Broughton
took the familiar route, approaching the target area flying
down Thud Ridge. As the high ground fell away he pushed flight
of four ships down to the deck and, "going like hell",
Broughton swung the leading Thuds southwest, just enough to
give those on the ground the impression they were headed somewhere
south of Viet Tri.
Not quite abreast of the target, Broughton
called the 'pop', and as the Thuds passed vertical they rolled
to inverted going over the top, completing a giant wifferdill,
attacking the guns from the opposite direction. Beneath them
the big gun pits were lined up, their gunners confused by
the maneuver, and before they could work out what was happening
the F-105 pilots emptied their loads of CBUs into the middle
of them.
Behind the Thuds came the strike force
and, with the air cleared of the usual flak barrage, unloaded
their bombs right onto the thermal power plant. The facility
was destroyed in one of the best-planned and executed raids
of the war. |
|
Overall print
size: 32 5/8" wide x 23 5/8" high.
Image size: 26 1/8" wide x 16"
high.
A limited edition by Robert Taylor recording
the vital role played by the F-105 Thunderchiefs in the raid
on the Thermal Power Plant at Viet Tri, March 12, 1967.
"…I led that mission as I wanted
to, ignoring all details of altitude, airspeed and heading
given to me by some administrator who knew nothing of Hanoi…
it made good flying sense. We flew a smooth mission, everybody
did good work…"
Colonel Jack Broughton
| Rolling
Thunder by Robert Taylor |
| 850 s/n prints w/FOUR
signatures. |
US $295 |
|
| Artist Proofs w/FOUR signatures. |
SOLD OUT |
Robert Taylor's carefully researched
painting shows Jack Broughton leading his four-ship flight
down Thud Ridge, at very low-level. Scorching along in afterburner
at just below the speed of sound, the heavily armed Thuds
are just a few minutes short of the target. This superbly
realistic image, by the world's leading aviation artist, dramatically
brings to life a specific and highly successful mission, while
conveying the electrifying danger each F-105 pilot faced when
flying the perilous missions to the heavily defended targets
in the region of Hanoi. |
