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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