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Early Access - M61 Cannon

🕑 Added 2020-08-28 15:22:13 +0000 UTC

Comments

Bill Lemmond

You're welcome, Bis. I just spent about 2 hours, searching online, with Google and Dogpile, trying to find any photos. I have some photos, of him with other pilots, on the ground, back in the early 1960s. I found a few old newsletters, and one pretty good history summary for the Virginia Air National Guard, with over a dozen photos, of aircraft from the 40s through the 90s: scribd.com/document/58723177/Air-National-Guard-Virginia-History

Richard Goldblatt

I was with the 3rd Battalion 67th Air Defense Artillery of the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized). For most of my tour I was at Giebelstadt Army Airfield about 20 kilometers south of Wuerzburg on Highway B19. In my last year the battalion moved to Kitzingen. I really enjoyed being in the Franconia region of Bavaria and saw a lot of the countryside on weekend volksmarches.

Military Aviation History

Thanks for sharing, Richard. Where abouts were you based in Bavaria?

Military Aviation History

Thanks Bill! Do you have any pictures of your dad with a F-105 or other planes? Would be happy to feature those in a video on the respective aircraft, if you allow it.

Richard Goldblatt

The US Army adapted the M61 20mm cannon as the "Vulcan" for a ground-based, short range air defense role by mounting it on modified armored personnel carriers and towed carriages. I led a platoon of four self-propelled Vulcans in northern Bavaria in the late 70's. It was an impressive weapon to fire, but am glad I never had to do so in combat. The Soviet Mi-24 "Hind" attack helicopters we would have had to go up against were supposedly well-protected from hits by 20mm rounds.

Bill Lemmond

Hi, Bis, I loved this video. The mix of your footage and the archival video was very nice. The experience of watching the quick-release fasteners being opened, while you introduced the video, was a Zen experience. :) The Republic Aircraft F-105 Thunderchief (or more colloquially for its glide profile, the "Thud") was the last aircraft my Dad flew, and its standard gun armament was a 20 mm Gatling, so this was family history, for me. Thanks.