Allied Forces Training to Fly US Aircraft - Vietnam War

[River Patrol]

It's known that we trained Vietnamese pilots, both in Vietnam and in the states, to fly fighters and fighter-bombers like the F-105 and others......I'm just wondering if we ever trained Thai pilots to fly the U2/SR71 we had stationed in their country?

 

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[thefallenbuddha]

I`ve always thought the only pilots trained to fly the SR71 were US personnel.

 

As for other aircraft, my understanding is any US equipment supplied to another country by the US was accompanied by training both incountry and in the US (for select individuals). I have a few groupings from VNAF pilots in the US, and their fellow classmates at US stateside bases were from a variety of US allied countries, i.e. West Germany, Iran, Turkey, and so forth.

[atb]

I don't think SR-71's were based in Thailand. I know for sure they were on Okinawa. Anyone know?

[JBFloyd]

SR-71s were not based in Thailand. They flew from Okinawa for coverage of Southeast Asia.

[River Patrol]

OK...yea I wasn't sure about the SR71........the U2s were there in Thailand. I doubt we would have trained Thai pilots for these U2 missions but stranger things have happened. Thanks for the input.

[Lee Ragan]

I never heard of the US training South Vietnamese to fly the F-105 either, None of my references indicate that there were ever any VNAF F-105 units.

[River Patrol]

I never heard of the US training South Vietnamese to fly the F-105 either, None of my references indicate that there were ever any VNAF F-105 units.

 

This did happen. SVN pilots were trained at Williams AFB 1966-1968. While there may have been no VNAF units that used this aircraft, the pilots were still trained to fly them.....maybe as a package deal for future purchases of the aircraft that never came to fruition.

[Lee Ragan]

Thanks for the info River Patrol. Ya see guys, you can learn something new on this forum just about any day!

[River Patrol]

So this is the reason for my question: This patch is Thai made and the plane looks like a U2 (of course it could be anything, but that's what I see when I stare at it)

[Randy]

 

This did happen. SVN pilots were trained at Williams AFB 1966-1968. While there may have been no VNAF units that used this aircraft, the pilots were still trained to fly them.....maybe as a package deal for future purchases of the aircraft that never came to fruition.

I think you might be referring to the F-5 Freedom Fighter, not the F-105 Thunderchief. The F-5 training was at Williams AFB, and the RVN AF did in fact receive F-5As and fly them up to the end of the war. The F-105 was not flown by any foreign AF, and all F-105 training was done at Nellis and McConnell AFBs, not Williams. Hope this helps.

 

Randy