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Thud Pilot is the personal account of a combat fighter pilot who flew the Air Force's premier fighter-bomber in the most dangerous skies over North Vietnam. In the first five years of the Vietnam War, the F-105 Thunderchief conducted 75 percent of the Air Force bombing missions over North Vietnam. Thud Pilot tells the story of the courageous men who flew the F-105 from its earliest combat deployment in 1964, and on through 1966, the year of its heaviest losses. The author's more significant missions, including his ejection and rescue over North Vietnam are described in detail and are accompanied by map drawings depicting the mission routes from take-off to refueling orbits, the target, and return. The book is full of several `firsts' in the expanding air war over North Vietnam, including `Operation Spring High,' the first counter Surface-to-Air-Missile (SAM) strike in the history of aerial warfare. The personal perspective from years of combat experience reveals just how the political mismanagement and inane Rules of Engagement made them as much the hunted as they were the hunters. Thud Pilot goes beyond the battle air space and shares the emotional impact on the families left behind.
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Victor Vizcarra
Col. (Ret.) Vic Vizcarra, a 24 year Air Force veteran, was commissioned through the ROTC program upon graduation from Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1960. A high ranking in his pilot training class allowed him to choose the F-100 from the list of available assignments. After completing F-100 training, he was assigned to the 31st TFW, 309th TFS at Homestead AFB, FL where he flew the "Hun" for 16 months. In 1963, he transitioned to the F-105 and served in Japan from where he participated in three deployments to Southeast Asia and flew 59 combat missions in the F-105D. During his third deployment, he was forced to eject from his disabled F-105D over North Vietnam and spent two hours on the ground evading capture before being rescued by a U.S. Navy helicopter. He later returned to fly 120 combat missions in the F-100D/F with the 35th TFW, 352nd TFS, at Phan Rang AB, Republic of Vietnam. In addition to the F-100 and F-105, Col. Vizcarra flew the F-5E and F-4E in follow-on assignments. Promoted to Colonel in 1981, he served as the 35th TFW Deputy Commander of Maintenance in his final assignment. Hun Pilot is the author's second publication and is a companion to his first book, Thud Pilot, which is due to be re-released in February 2018.
Top reviews from other countries
S. Haines
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, Vic gives details of a few of ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 26 December 2017
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An excellent book, Vic gives details of a few of his many missions as a Thud Pilot over 3 tours of Vietnam, so many interesting snippets, the hands tied behind their backs, by McNamara who overruled the Military, the bean counters who tried to be in control. The missions and the refueling Virgin, the real reason for Bulging eyes on the cover, the letters from the wife, which showed how they dealt with the war and their men away, the missions and the maps, the men who didnt come home or fell as pows, and the love for the Thud, an excellent book well worth buying.
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john bowe
5.0 out of 5 stars Thud Pilot
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 January 2019
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This was a very good read you felt as if you was in the plane yourself
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Robert I. Hedges
5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Account Of Early F-105 Combat
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 19 October 2018
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Vic Vizcarra had an amazing Air Force career flying aircraft like the F-100 and F-4, but here he focuses on the F-105, the legendary aircraft that did the bulk of the heavy lifting over North Vietnam. "Thud Pilot" is more than a simple combat memoir, as it also provides background for the politics behind the war (Vizcarra's loathing of Robert S. McNamara is particularly on point) and the family and interpersonal issues being a USAF fighter pilot brought to the table.
Vizcarra is a much better writer than he gives himself credit for, and I rank this among my favorite of all F-105 memoirs (right up there with "Thud Ridge", "Going Downtown", and "When Thunder Rolled"). He has an honest and straightforward style, but he is great at knowing what nuances to expand on and when: I particularly note the discussion of his ejection and rescue, and the subsequent interaction with Col. Jack Broughton (pp. 132-133). His ability to write about fear is among the very best in the genre: my only critique of the book was that I would have liked it to be longer!
I was very moved by the closing paragraphs of the book, and highly recommend you read "Thud Pilot" yourself. It's definitely one of the best combat memoirs to come from the war over Vietnam.
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William Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars The F-105 and the early war in the North - NOT ENOUGH, but ALL we were allowed...
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 18 June 2018
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This is a breathless reminder of the brave pilots that flew north - trying to stop North Viet Nam from swallowing their southern neighbor. Through the early part of the Viet Nam war, President LBJ and his minions REFUSED to go all out, and use the Strategic B-52 Bombers during a time when mass bombing of Hanoi, and ESPECIALLY HAIPHONG harbor could have stopped the war cold. It was up to the brave F-105 pilots to go in at top speed and do as much damage AS THEY WERE ALLOWED to do... The losses were STAGGERING, until the F-105 Wild Weasels were formed to take out the SA-2 Anti-Aircraft missiles. Vic was THERE in the early days... he saw the terrible leadership, and the bravery (and loss) of the pilots that did what they were ordered. MANY of the pilots never got home, and MANY were POWs for years - they all deserve our thanks....
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Tom Demerly
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Underrated, "Thud Pilot" Rises to the Top of the Vietnam War Era Air Combat Narratives and Beyond.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 15 June 2018
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Victor Vizcarra's "Thud Pilot" goes beyond being a valuable and animated narrative of flying the Republic F-105 Thunderchief in the early air war over Vietnam and provides a focused perspective on the evolution of U.S. air power doctrine. This marvelous and personal snapshot evolved from Vizcarra's personal diary during the Vietnam War from 1964 through 1966, a period when the U.S. was just beginning to define its role in the conflict. Vizcarra is more of a writer and historian than he gives himself credit for. This is very much like a modern "All Quiet on the Western Front" in its reflection on the evolution and role of warfare in an evolving age of conflict. Vizcarra also interjects a refreshing and accessible innocence in his accounting that makes this book more accessible to readers who may not necessarily pick up a combat flying narrative. My singular note of shortcoming is I just wish Victor Vizcarra wrote more about his flying, his experiences and his life. He is very much a modern day Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in his reflections and introspections. This little book is an underrated classic and truly an important and animated read.
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THUD PILOT A PILOT’S ACCOUNT OF EARLY F-105 COMBAT IN VIETNAM
APR 14, 2018 3 MINUTES
Save for LaterSave Thud Pilot A Pilot’s Account Of Early F-105 Combat In Vietnam For Later
Source: Vic Vizcarra flew in F-105 Thunderchiefs, which conducted 75 per cent of bombing missions over North Vietnam
THUD PILOT IS WRITTEN BY VIC VIZCARRA, A RETIRED USAF COLONEL WHO FLEW 59 COMBAT MISSIONS IN THE F-105
Author: Victor Vizcarra Publisher: Fonthill Media Price: £16.99 Released: Out now
The Vietnam War arguably defined the post-1945 era for many people. It has remained lodged in the popular imagination as a conflict of bedraggled American infantrymen fighting in humid conditions, the unseen but deadly Viet Cong and the constant deafening rotor blades of UH-1 Iroquois ‘Huey’ helicopters.
Nevertheless, the skies over Vietnam also roared with the sound of larger aircraft such as B-52 Stratofortresses that conducted huge bombing raids against the north of the country. Despite the overpowering appearance of the B-52, it was actually the significantly smaller F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber that conducted 75 per cent of bombing missions over North Vietnam. The men who flew the F-105 were known as ‘Thud’ pilots, but their story has been surprisingly underwritten until recently.
Thud Pilot is written by Vic Vizcarra, a retired USAF colonel who flew 59 combat missions in the F-105 between 1964-66. 1966 was the year of the F-105s’ heaviest losses, and Vizcarra himself was forced to eject over enemy territory during that time. Vizcarra got the idea for his book while attending an air show: “I was invited to attend the ‘Legends and Heroes’ tent at the fourth largest air show in the United States called ‘Wings over Houston’. They like you to share some memorabilia and I was going to sell some prints, but my son saw that most people were selling autobiographies or books. He said, ‘Dad, the idea of selling prints isn’t good enough, you need to write a book for this event.’ I had written a memoir for my family in 1998 about my war experience, so I used that as the basis of the book.”
It is providential that Vizcarra’s son persuaded his father to write a book because his account is a unique guide to F-105 combat over Vietnam. The book culminates in Vizcarra’s ejection, but before then there are numerous accounts that vividly describe the danger of his missions. There are thrilling anecdotes of high velocities, dangerous runs on targets and anti-aircraft gunfire. Vizcarra also took part in the first counter-airstrike against surface-to-air missiles in the history of aerial warfare, and his memory of that event is a valuable resource for this military milestone.
Thud Pilot is also blessed with a large number of personal photographs and accessible map drawings that depict mission routes from take-offs, refuelling orbits, targets and returns. These touches add an extra dimension to the book and give a sense of the scale of the missions that Vizcarra and his colleagues had to undertake.
Vizcarra’s work is primarily personal, and he doesn’t just describe his combat missions but also airbase life and even meeting Hollywood stars Bob Hope and Jill St. John. He is a generous author who gives much credit to the colleagues and family who experienced the war with him. In this regard, Thud Pilot is an immediately likeable work that portrays a modest but skilled airman who was pushed to the limits of aerial endurance, but who never lost his professionalism or humanity.
Related Interests
Bell Uh 1 Iroquois
Warfare
Military Aviation
Military
Military Science
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