Misawa Air Base (
三沢飛行場, Misawa Hikōjō?) (IATA: MSJ, ICAO: RJSM) is a United States air base located on the northeastern shores of Honshū, in the city of Misawa in Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku Region of Japan. The base is home to 5,200 US military personnel, as well as 350 US civilian employees and
900 Japanese national employees. Misawa is the only combined, joint service installation in the western Pacific. It houses all four US military services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) as well as the Japan Air Self Defense Force. Misawa also has scheduled civilian flights operated by Japan Air
lines to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Osaka International Airport (Itami) and New Chitose Airport, making it one of the few joint civilian-military airports in the U.S. defense grid. The Misawa Passive Radio Frequency space surveillance site is used for tracking satellites using the signal
s they transmit. It also provides coverage of geosynchronous satellites using the Deep Space Tracking System (DSTS). It is one of the largest ECHELON ground stations.The American occupation of Misawa began in September 1945. Later, Army engineers restored the base for future use by the United States
Army Air Forces. During the Korean War and Vietnam War Misawa supported fighter missions. The base was the launching point for clandestine surveillance overflights into China and the USSR during the 1950s. Misawa's fighters departed in 1972. In 1983 it was a major deployment site for rescue and re
covery operations, following the downing of Korean Air Flight 007. On July 4, 1985, fighters returned to Misawa.The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. As t
he first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first of a series of US fighters capable of supersonic speed in level flight. The F-100 was designed originally as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 air superiority fighter.Adapted as a fighter bomber, the F-100 wou
ld be supplanted by the Mach 2 class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the Air Force's primary close air support jet until replaced by the more efficient subsonic A-7 Corsair II The F-100 also served in several NATO air forces
and with other US allies. In its later life, it was often referred to as "the Hun," a shortened version of "one hundred."The F-100A officially entered USAF service on 27 September 1954 with 479th Fighter Wing at George AFB. By 10 November 1954, the F-100As suffered six major accidents due to flight
instability, structural failures, and hydraulic system failures, prompting the Air Force to ground the entire fleet until February 1955. The 479th finally became operational in September 1955. Due to ongoing problems, the Air Force began phasing out the F-100A in 1958, with the last aircraft leavin
g active duty in 1961. By that time, 47 aircraft were lost in major accident.Escalating tension due to construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 forced the USAF to recall the F-100As into active service in early 1962. The aircraft was finally retired in 1970. The TAC request for a fighter-bomb
er was addressed with the F-100C which flew in March 1954 and entered service on 14 July 1955 with 450th Fighter Wing, Foster AFB. Operational testing in 1955 revealed that the F-100C was at best an interim solution, sharing all the vices of the F-100A. The uprated J57-P-21 engine boosted performanc
e but continued to suffer from compressor stalls. On a positive note, the F-100C was considered an excellent platform for nuclear toss bombing because of its high top speed. The inertia coupling problem was more or less addressed with installation of a yaw damper in the 146th F-100C, later retrofitt
ed to earlier aircraft. A pitch damper was added starting with the 301st F-100C, at a cost of US$10,000 per aircraft.# Crew: 1 # Length: 50 ft (15.2 m) # Wingspan: 38 ft 9 in (11.81 m) # Height: 16 ft 2¾ in (4.95 m) # Wing area: 400 ft² (37 m²) # Empty weight: 21,000 lb (9,500 kg) # Loaded weight
: 28,847 lb (13,085 kg) # Max takeoff weight: 34,832 lb (15,800 kg) # Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney J57-P-21/21A turbojet
# Maximum speed: 750 kn (864 mph, 1,390 km/h)
# Range: 1,733 NM (1,995 mi, 3,210 km)
# Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
# Rate of climb: 22,400 ft/min (114 m/s)
# Wing loading: 72.1 lb/ft
² (352 kg/m²) # Thrust/weight: 0.55

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