First F-105s at Spangdahlem AFB, 1960s, by Tom DeWoody
From MemoryArchive
Who: Tom DeWoody What: Arriving at Spang When: January 1961-1964 Where: Spangdahlem AFB, West Germany
I was a "Gun Plumber" in the 49th Weapons Shop from January 61 to January 64. When Col. Grumbles brought 041 in as the 49th's first F-105, there was quite a crowd waiting for him on the Hangar 1 ramp. But first we had to disarm the explosives in the external fuel tank pylons. We had our best people standing by at the end of the runway (I remember one of them was Eugene Wall, a really squared-away troop), ready to unscrew the explosive cartridges from their breeches.
But something must have gone wrong -- this simple job is taking much too long -- people are craning their necks to see what is happening down there! Dignitaries begin looking at their watches, but still the airplane is at the end of the runway with several weapons mechanics gathered around. Finally, we see them putting streamered safety pins in the pylons, and 041 taxis in to a rousing welcome.
When I get close, I can see that all the left-hand cartridges in the twin port breeches are still installed! That was why the safety pins were installed, but normally no airplane was allowed on the ramp with any cartridges in the pylon eject breeches. What was the problem?
Turns out the Republic MTD (Mobile Training Det) instructor had forgotten to tell us weapons types one thing -- unlike earlier aircraft which used the same explosive carts in their wing pylons, all the left side cartridge breeches in the Thud pylons were left-hand thread. So Wall and crew were out there trying ever larger wrenches in ever more futile attempts to loosen the stubborn cartridges, and all the time making them tighter instead of looser!
When Grumbles got tired of waiting, he told them to just put the damn pins in it and take care of it later. When one of the Republic types heard of the problem, he let us in on the secret, and the cartridges came right out.
BTW, Col. Grumble's previous mount was an F-100, buzz number 222 (Triple Deuce). I recently saw a picture of that airplane taken some years previous to its tour at Spangdahlum -- it was identified in the book as the personal airplane of a wing commander at a base in France. So Grumbles was not the first commander to claim 222 as his own.
A couple of years ago, I drove through Eden, Texas, on the way to San Antonio. I stopped and asked around to see if anybody remembered the Grumbles family or the Kordel-Eden connection. No luck. I hope to go back on a weekday and do some more research at the local library, etc., to see what I can dig up.
Co-opted from Personal Recollections and War Stories
