Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series, HA2510, F-105D Thunderchief 59-1822, "The Polish Glider" 44th TFS/355th TFW Takhli, Thailand, 1970.
Republic F-105D s/n
59-1822 was assigned to the 44th TFS 355th TFW with the tail code RE. The
44th TFS was referred to as “Yankee Air Pirates” by their enemy.
This aircraft
was flown by Major Don Kutyna of Polish decent so he named 59-1822 “The Polish Glider” and he was given the nickname
“Yankee Air Polack”.
Major Kutyna flew 120 combat
missions over Vietnam. Later Kutyna became Commander of the Air Force Space
Command at Peterson AFB, Colorado from 1987 – 1990. From 1990 until 1992
he was Commander in Chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command
and the United States Space Command.
In 1992 after 35 years in the
military he retired as a General. 59-1882 was retired to the Polish
Aviation Museum in Cracow, Poland awaiting restoration.
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