F-105 Thunderchief serial number 62-4416 was manufactured by Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, New York, entered U.S. Air Force service on 27 November 1963, and served with multiple tactical fighter, combat crew training, fighter weapons, and tactical fighter units at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Eglin Air Force Base, Nellis Air Force Base, Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Kadena Air Base, Osan Air Base, Kwanju Air Base, Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, George Air Force Base, Shaw Air Force Base, and Karup Air Base before being converted to an F-105G in 1969, dropped from inventory for museum status in 1980, and transferred in 1998 to Joe Davies Heritage Airpark. Nicknamed "Thud," the F-105 Thunderchief was built by Republic Aircraft Corporation from 1957 to 1965 in A, B, and D single-seat versions and F and G two-seat versions, with 833 produced for the U.S. Air Force. It was designed as a land-based, all-weather, long-range strike fighter-bomber capable of close air support, air defense suppression in the Wild Weasel role, and supersonic delivery of a nuclear weapon. For the F-105D model, maximum speed was 1,372 miles per hour, service ceiling was 48,500 feet, range was 1,917 miles with unlimited range through aerial refueling, and armament included the AIM-9 Sidewinder, AGM-12 Bullpup, AGM 45 Shrike, M61A1 Vulcan 20 millimeter cannon, and a variety of air-to-ground bombs and unguided rockets. It had a pilot crew, measured 64 feet 5.3 inches long with a 34 feet 11 inches wingspan and height of 19 feet 8 inches, had a maximum takeoff weight of 52,838 pounds, and was powered by a Pratt and Whitney J75-P-19W turbojet engine with afterburner and water injection producing 26,500 pounds of thrust. The aircraft was the first supersonic fighter-bomber for the U.S. Air Force, the largest single-seat, single-engine combat aircraft ever built, set several altitude and speed records, and was operated by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Flight Demonstration Team.