Starfighters "in action" in Vietnam
Da Nang AB (April 1965 till December 1965)
The following 27 different aircraft have been seen at Da Nang during the deployment and were operated by 479th TFW / 436th TFS.
56-883 (c/n 1171)
This Starfighter arrived from CCK AB, Taiwan (overhaul) at Da Nang in September 1965. On September 20th, 1965, it was shot down over Hainan-island, China by gunfire from a Chinese NAVY MIG19 flown by Navy pilot Gao Xiang. Pilot Capt. Phil E. Smith became prisoner of war in China and was held until 1973.
(After graduating from the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Phil was assigned to Da Nang AB in South Vietnam). On Sept. 20, 1965, while flying an armed escort combat mission over the Tonkin Gulf, his plane was shot down and Phil had to eject. He was captured by the Chinese Red Army and held as a prisoner of war in China for more than seven years until his release in March 1973. Smith was one of only two U.S. military aviators to be held in captivity by Communist China. Phil Smith wrote (Together with his wife Peggy Herz) about his time as a prisoner of war in his book, “Journey into Darkness.” He stated “I still regret my aircraft was damaged and lost at sea, but I am still grateful that I had the option to eject, I thoroughly enjoyed my military career and remain close to a lot of the men I had the pleasure to serve with. I was on a combat mission when my directional avionics and magnetic compass became inoperative. I knew I had to avoid Chinese airspace, so I ducked below some cloud cover to try and get a visual of my location. Just as I cleared the clouds, a Chinese MIG fired on me. Though my F-104 was damaged, with a missing wingtip and Sidewinder missile, I turned to fight. As the MIG lit his afterburners and disappeared into the clouds, my plane lost hydraulic power, and I knew I had to eject or crash into the sea. Amazingly, as I was going down, everything I learned in training came back to me, even though when you are in training, you think something like this will never happen to you. I recalled we were told to look up when our parachute opens to be sure it is fully deployed. I did, and it was. We were told not to just enjoy the ride down, but to look around for an escape route. I was over the water, so I knew my escape route would be to get to shore. Our survival seat had a small dingy that falls out on a 20-foot line when you eject that is fully inflated and lands just before you do. As I got closer to the water, looking for the dingy, I saw that I was going to land right in the middle of a Chinese fishing fleet of about 100 boats, so I realized I was going to be captured”.
Master Sergeant Doc Blanchard was maintenance Line Chief at Da Nang and responsible for the aircraft flown by Phil when he was shot down. He was very worried about the reason of the loss of the aircraft at that moment. "Was it bad maintenance or was he shot down?... "
Taxying at Da Nang Air Base...looks like the aircraft carries a travel pod, could be a delivery flight from or to CCK AB, Taiwan.
Interesting shot at Da Nang AB showing 56-883 (left) in bombing configuration (750 LB bombs) and on the right aircraft 57-914 configured as interceptor.
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Dramatic shot taken by gun camera of the Chinese Mig. It shows the direct hit on the F-104C 56-883. In the middle a photo showing the pilot who
shot down Phil Smith (Left) . On the right a Chinese publicity photo showing Phil just after being captured, when everything looked still friendly...
56-886 (c/n 1174)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang AB in 1965 and was one of a few aircraft which received a nickname painted on its fuselage. It was decorated with the name “FANNIE”.
Often published photo showing F-104C 56-886 with "Fannie" painted on the nose (see also beneath) at Da Nang AB, 1965 (photo: MSGT David W Menard)
56-890 (c/n 1178)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang AB in 1965. No specific information about this aircraft at Da Nang AB is available. At least it also got his inlets painted black lateron during the deployement.
56-892 (c/n 1180)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang from April till December 1965. On December 18th, 1965 it arrived back at George AFB.
F-104C 56-892 seen here at Da Nang Air Base being prepared for a bombing mission with tiptanks..
Again F-104C 56-892, now being prepared at DaNang for a MIGCAP mission with GAR-8 Sidewinders and underwing fueltanks.
56-898 (c/n 1186)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang AB in 1965. No specific information about this aircraft at Da Nang AB is available.
56-902 (c/n 1190)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang AB in 1965. In September 1965 it was seen receiving overhaul at CCK AB, Taiwan and finally it arrived back at George AFB, USA on December 18th, 1965.
F-104C 56-902 and also 56-886 (Fannie) both being prepared for a bombing mission at Da Nang AB. Note the yellow insignias and tips on the tiptanks.
Also interesting to see the black inlets and probe connection of 56-902 and the exchanged door ("CE" of FORCE is a bit out of line).
56-903 (c/n 1191)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang AB in 1965. In November 1965 it arrived for overhaul at CCK AB, Taiwan and finally it arrived back at George AFB, USA on December 18th, 1965.
56-908 (c/n 1196)
This Starfighter was seen at Da Nang AB in 1965 until July when it was lost while performing a Bombing / Strafe mission with two M117 (750#) bombs. It was hit by ground fire and while pulling out from the dive bomb pass, the left leading edge flap departed. There was a large gash in the left fuselage above the left wing, and the pilot experienced an oil-failure and landing-gear extension failure. It tried to make an emergency landing at Chu Lai Marine Air Base. During this "gear-up" landing the pilot, Cpt. Roy Blakeley, was sadly killed instantly upon landing while skidding off the runway into a sand-dune. It happened on July 22nd, 1965.
This often published USAF photo shows F-104C 56-908 from nearby with in the background other F-104Cs at Da Nang AB mid 1965.
56-911 (c/n 1199)
This Starfighter arrived according documents at Da Nang in September 1965. We believe it came from CCK AB (Taiwan) that day where it had received overhaul.
On September 20th, 1965 the aircraft was lost in an accident at Da Nang Air Base. It happened after a search & rescue operation to find their shot down colleague Phil Smith (F-104C 56-883).
The aircraft collided with the 2nd F104C 57-921 on the approach to Da Nang. The aircraft was piloted by Capt. Harvey Quackenbush (436TFS) while the other aircraft was piloted by and Capt. Dayle W. Carlson. The aircraft and pilots landed in Da Nang Bay approximately 6 miles north of Da Nang AB. Both aircraft had been launched on a RESCAP mission after Capt Phillip Smith had been shot down by a Chinese MiG-19 over Hainan Island. They took off at 1707 hours Local. The two aircraft remained in the search area for 45 minutes, refuelled from a C-130 tanker, then returned to the SAR area. The search was terminated at 1930 hours. Letdown to land at Da Nang AB was made through overcast and both aircraft flew minimum AB with speed brakes to burn down heavy fuel loads. They had been flying around the area for a long time and it had become dark when returning base. The lights were not operational (They didn't really need to be since their missions were day only) and were inbound for landing when one lost track of the other. A right turn was made at approx 10,000’ aligning with Runway 1 at Da Nang. The other pilot was requested to light his afterburner so that he could find the other during the dark circumstances. When this was done it was found that the other was in very close in front and slightly above. The afterburner lightning was done too late to avoid the collision. The aircraft became uncontrollable and both pilots safely ejected. Both pilots were rescued by naval patrol boat. Both aircraft crashed into the bay and were not recovered.
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