The Republic F-105 "Thunderchief" was a late 1950's era Bomber/Fighter/Recon platform that served during the early days of the Viet Nam debacle. Originally designed as a delivery vehicle for a nuclear bomb, the "Thud" as it is "affectionately" known, was relegated to conventional bomb delivery. At 35,000 pounds, its massive weight and stubby (35') wingspan, would make it a worthy lawn dart when suffering engine failure. Still it did its job until being replaced by the more capable and versatile F-4 Phantom. The F-105's nickname "Thud", has an interesting story. Neither "Lead Sled" nor "Ultra Hog" stuck, and certainly "Lieutenant-eater" didn't sick around for long, but then came along the very popular "Howdy Doody" show with one of its characters, the villainous and bumbling Chief Thunderthud of the Ooragnak tribe. His name fit the bill to perfection. For an aircraft officially name the Thunderchief, "Thunder Thud" was a sweet perversion with a great sound to fit an aircraft that left a trail of deadly "thuds" behind it. Equally fitting was the (cartoon) sound you might imagine as the overweight craft without power hit the ground. The Thud drivers used the name affectionately and proudly. I let the beast put its best face forward in this piece. I always liked the exotic "wasp waist" and stubby winged look....it just looked fast! On top of that, it easily fascinated me that apparently, if you had a powerful enough engine, you could get anything to fly! F-105 Thunderchief: Beautiful model by AliceFromLake, no longer available here on Renderosity, I'm glad I picked it up when it was available...fun to use. Pilot: Epici low poly enemy soldier Lwr01 available here on rendo with flight gear cobbled from Billy-t's Flight crew Model set up in poser; composed, lighting, some texture tweaks, and rendered in Vue6Infinite; postwork touch-ups in PS Cs3