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59-543: Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base ( IATA : TKH , ICAO : VTPI ) is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility in central Thailand, approximately 144 miles (240 km) northwest of Bangkok in Takhli District , Nakhon Sawan Province . Takhli is the home of the Royal Thai Air Force Wing 4, 3d Air Division. Squadrons assigned are: Takhli RTAFB was established in the 1950s. In the late 1950s,

118-741: A dogfighter, the aircraft was successful in downing at least 27.5 confirmed North Vietnamese MiGs in aerial combat. On 10 March 1967 Air Force Captain Max C. Brestel, flying from Takhli, became the only F-105 pilot to shoot down two MiGs during the Vietnam War. On 10 March 1967 355th TFW F-105s took part in the first attacks on the Thái Nguyên ironworks, Captain Merlyn H. Dethlefsen won the Medal of Honor for actions including destroying two SAM sites during

177-493: A few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

236-620: A headquarters in South Vietnam caused a shift whereby the Seventh Air Force was ostensibly subordinate to Thirteenth Air Force for administrative matters (and therefore referred to as Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force ). The commander, Seventh Air Force, played a dual role as MACV's deputy for air operations. In July 1962, the 6011th Air Base Squadron was organized, the first "host" unit at Takhli RTAFB. The first USAF personnel began arriving at Takhli RTAFB on 10 February 1961 when

295-841: A mission from Takhli. His back-seater, Captain Kevin A. Gilroy was awarded the Air Force Cross for this mission. 4 355th TFW F-105s were shot down in attacks on the ironworks on 10 and 11 March. On 19 April 1967, Major Leo K. Thorsness earned the Congressional Medal of Honor on another F-105 mission from Takhli. Thorsness destroyed one SAM site with a missile, bombed another, shot down a MiG, damaged another, and repeatedly chased or lured other MiGs away from an ongoing rescue mission for his wingman, who had been shot down by AAA fire. Thorsness' back-seater, Captain Harold E. Johnson,

354-486: A mission which was carried out by a number of different aircraft types over the years. The first at Takhli were F-100 Super Sabres, which like all Wild Weasels had the job of baiting SAM sites to fire at them. Then all they had to do was evade the missile and lead an attack on the radar facility that guided the SAMs. Sometimes they, or the strike aircraft with them, would fire a radar-seeking AGM-45 Shrike missile which followed

413-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

472-591: A rotating basis. F-100 Super Sabre squadrons deployed to Takhli were: In November 1965 the last rotating F-100 squadron departed Takhli, to be replaced by the F-105D Thunderchief. In May 1964 Takhli became a forward deployment base for rotational F-105 Thunderchief squadrons. The 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron was deployed to Takhli from Yokota AB, between May 1964 – June 1964 and between 26 August–28 October 1965. The 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron , deployed to Takhli between 26 June–26 August 1965 from

531-641: A third launch site. In order to support the buildup of US airpower in Southeast Asia as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in early August 1964, 8 KB-50Js of Detachment 1, 421st Air Refueling Squadron , was deployed at Takhli from Yokota AB, Japan. The 421st stayed at Takhli until 15 January 1965 when it was inactivated. The aerial refueling mission was taken over by a detachment of the 4252d Strategic Wing from Misawa Air Base with KC-135s replacing

590-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

649-586: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

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708-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

767-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

826-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

885-523: The 27th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) from Cannon AFB, New Mexico began deploying F-100D Super Sabres to the base to attack the Pathet Lao who were overrunning most of northwestern Laos. At Takhli, base support for the rotating Tactical Air Command (TAC) F-100 squadrons was provided by the 6011th ABS. In an organizational change, the 331st Air Base Squadron replaced the 6011th ABS at Takhli in July 1963 as

944-503: The 355th Tactical Fighter Wing made a permanent change of station from McConnell AFB to Takhli without personnel or equipment as the host unit at the base. The provisional 6235th TFW was inactivated and the equipment and personnel at Takhli were absorbed into the new wing structure. Previously, all of the 355th's squadrons at McConnell had been deployed to various bases in Southeast Asia, two of which were reassigned to Takhli (357th, 354th TFS) and brought back under its control. Squadrons of

1003-405: The 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron . On 8 September 1965 3 more EB-66Cs were deployed to Takhli from Shaw Air Force Base South Carolina . On 21 October 5 EB-66Cs of the 25th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron formerly at Chambley-Bussieres Air Base , France arrived at Takhli. In late November 1965, the 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron moved to Takhli taking over from the 9th TRS which

1062-469: The Air Force Cross after he refused to leave his comrade until other escort aircraft could be vectored in to give the wounded pilot assistance in reaching his home base safely. In January 1970, the 355th TFW received its 2nd Presidential Unit Citation for actions from 11–12 August 1967 and 24–28 October 1967. In July, the 355th TFW received its record 3rd Presidential Unit Citation for actions from 12 April 1968 through 30 April 1969. During this time frame,

1121-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1180-685: The Philippines . Thailand-based aircraft flew missions mostly into Laos until the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which expanded the air war into North Vietnam . In 1962, the U.S. Military Assistance Group in South Vietnam was upgraded to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), a promotion which gave it authority to command combat troops. Shortly thereafter, the Military Assistance Command, Thailand (MACT)

1239-481: The list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and the use of two letters allowed only

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1298-513: The 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, which had been detached to Korat RTAFB from Okinawa, was also equipped with the F-105G and was temporarily reassigned to Takhli in June 1967. A third Wild Weasel squadron, the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron was assigned to Takhli from 10 October 1969 to 15 March 1971. The detachment from the 12th TFS returned to its main unit at Korat and the 44th TFS moved to Korat when

1357-451: The 355th were: The rotational TDY 334th TFS and 335th TFS squadrons transferred their aircraft to the newly assigned permanent squadrons at Takhli. Under Operation Rolling Thunder the 355th TFW participated in major strikes against North Vietnamese logistics. During this time, the wing flew 11,892 sorties, downed 2 MiGs, and damaged 8 more. Although the F-105 was not designed to be primarily

1416-522: The 4252d SW at Kadena AB , Okinawa . At years end, the tanker force numbered 5 at Takhli. In February 1968, the KC-135s were transferred to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base Taiwan . In early August Detachment 4, 36th Air Rescue Squadron equipped with HH-43Bs deployed to Korat on TDY from Osan Air Base , South Korea to provide base search and rescue. In November the Detachment returned to Osan AB and

1475-464: The 6441st TFW, at Yokota AB, Japan. Tactical Air Command began deploying F-105 squadrons in March 1965 as follows: On 2 March 1965 Takhli-based F-105s participated in the first airstrike of Operation Rolling Thunder . In May 1965 the 6441st TFW (Provisional) became the host unit at Takhli. On 8 May the 6235th Combat Support Group was organized at Takhli. On 8 July 1965 the 6235th Tactical Fighter Wing

1534-523: The IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn , is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as

1593-639: The KB-50s. In September 1965, increasing demands for aerial refueling in Southeast Asia led to the deployment of Strategic Air Command (SAC) KC-135 tankers to Takhli under the designation of King Cobra to supplement those at Don Muang RTAFB in refuelling the Thai-based fighters. In January 1967, the SAC 4258th Strategic Wing assumed full responsibility for the Takhli KC-135 tankers formerly belonging to

1652-455: The SAM site's radar beam right back down to the transmitting antenna. When these relatively early-technology missiles missed, as often happened, or when the aircraft ran out of missiles, Wild Weasels would attack SAM sites with bombs or their M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon. The F-105G was the designation given to Wild Weasel F-105Fs which were fitted with greatly improved avionics. The designation EF-105F

1711-485: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Temporary duty assignment Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1770-569: The US Navy to attack North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites. A specially equipped Navy A-4E Skyhawk accompanied a group of F-105s on an airstrike near Kép . The A-4 detected the Fan Song radar and then observed the launch of SA-2 SAMs nearby. The F-105s attacked the launch site, while the A-4 attacked the radar site, being shot down in the process. More Navy jets attacked both sites and

1829-531: The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used Takhli as operating base for CIA resupply of Tibetan freedom fighters. CIA-operated C-130A Hercules transports flew men and supplies over Indian airspace, with the consent of Prime Minister Nehru , for parachute drops into Communist Chinese -occupied Tibet . Political considerations with regards to Communist forces engaging in a civil war inside Laos and fears of

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1888-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

1947-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2006-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2065-585: The bridge and part of the highway. On 8 October 1967, F-105s from the 355th TFW attacked and destroyed, on the ground, 2 Mil Mi-6 and 4 Mil Mi-4 Soviet-built helicopters. On 24 October, the 355th led the first strike against the Phúc Yên Air Base north of Hanoi leaving it unserviceable. On 14 & 15 December the wing again attacked the Paul Doumer Bridge destroying 7 spans of the bridge. In November 1967, Gerald Gustafson received

2124-713: The civil war spreading into Thailand led the Thai government to allow the United States to covertly use five Thai bases beginning in 1961 for the air defense of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos . Under Thailand's "gentleman's agreement" with the United States, RTAF bases used by the USAF were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun bunkers. All USAF personnel were fully armed after 1965. The USAF airmen at Takhli were under

2183-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

2242-574: The command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) . Takhli was the location for TACAN station Channel 43 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions. The APO for Takhli was APO San Francisco, 96273 The initial squadrons and units deployed to Takhli were placed under the command and control of the Thirteenth Air Force , headquartered at Clark Air Base in

2301-737: The decision was made to consolidate the units of the Wild Weasel mission. As part of the electronic countermeasure (ECM) weaponry that the USAF employed against North Vietnamese air defenses, variants of the Douglas B-66 were adapted to serve in the electronic countermeasures role as radar jamming aircraft. All of the bombing equipment was removed and replaced by electronic jamming equipment and chaff dispensing pods were carried. They would join strike aircraft during their missions over North Vietnam to jam enemy radar installations. By June 1965 4 RB-66Bs and 4 EB-66Cs were based at Takhli as part of

2360-934: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

2419-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

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2478-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

2537-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

2596-467: The host unit at Takhli. The 331st ABS came under the command and control of 35th Tactical Group at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base , near Bangkok. The 27th TFW kept a rotational Temporary duty assignment (TDY) of three squadrons of F-100s in Takhli until November 1965 when F-105 Thunderchiefs began to arrive on a permanent basis. During February 1963, the rotational squadrons of F-100s from Cannon

2655-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

2714-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

2773-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

2832-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

2891-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

2950-515: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

3009-547: The wing dropped 32,000 tons of ordnance on 2,100 targets while flying 17,000 combat sorties. The first "Wild Weasel" aircraft came to Takhli in 1966. The Wild Weasel concept was originally proposed in 1965 as a method of countering the increasing North Vietnamese SAM threat, using volunteer crews. The mission of the Wild Weasels was to eliminate surface-to-air missile sites in North Vietnam. This nickname refers to

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3068-530: Was activated to join the 6441st TFW at Takhli. The F-105 was destined to become a major participant in the war in Vietnam, and the primary aircraft flown from Takhli during the Vietnam War. The permanent assignment of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing to Takhli in December 1965 ended the temporary squadron rotations from continental US bases. On 31 October 1965 Takhli-based F-105s conducted a joint operation with

3127-517: Was awarded the Air Force Cross for the mission. Less than two weeks after this mission, the two were shot down and became prisoners of war. In May 1967, the 355th TFW received its first Presidential Unit Citation for actions from 1 January 1966 to 10 October 1966. On 2 June 1967 355th TFW F-105s attacked a AAA site on the coast near Haiphong , during this attack the Soviet ship Turkestan

3186-606: Was damaged and the Soviets protested the attack. The deputy commander of the 355th TFW Colonel Jacksel M. Broughton destroyed the F-105 gun-camera film and was court-martialed but ultimately acquitted. On 11 August 1967, the 355th and 388th Tactical Fighter Wing conducted a raid on the Paul Doumer railroad and highway bridge in Hanoi. Thirty-six strike aircraft led by the 355th dropped 94 tons of bombs and destroyed one span of

3245-569: Was discontinued. During January 1966 the 42d Electronic Countermeasures Squadron arrived from flying RB-66C and WB-66s variants of the B-66 on photo reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in

3304-534: Was reduced to six aircraft, with the deployments from Cannon ending in March 1964 and the squadrons deploying instead to Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam. In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident 10 F-100s from the 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 405th Fighter Wing at Clark Air Base were deployed to Takhli. The first recorded combat loss was an F-100D (56–3085), shot down on 18 August 1964 over Laos. The Clark F-100s remained at Takhli until 20 August 1965 on

3363-594: Was replaced with HH-43Bs transferred from Bien Hoa Air Base , South Vietnam. In mid-1965 the rescue detachment was redesignated Detachment 2, 38th Air Rescue Squadron . In June 1965 a TDY unit of 2 C-130s from E Flight, 21st Troop Carrier Squadron began airlift operations from Takhli into Long Tieng , Laos in support of the CIA and the army of Major General Vang Pao . The demand for flights increased with daily flights into various locations in Laos by 1967. On 8 November 1965

3422-534: Was set up with a similar level of authority in order to aid Thailand in resisting communist aggression and subversion. The USAF component of the U.S. Pacific Command was PACAF. Seventh Air Force , another Numbered Air Force of PACAF was headquartered at Tan Son Nhut Air Base , South Vietnam, although the Seventh controlled many units based in Thailand. Thai sensitivities about units based in Thailand reporting to

3481-448: Was temporarily applied to these aircraft, but their designation was eventually changed to F-105G. The first F-105Gs went to the 357th TFS at Tahkli RTAFB during the second half of 1967. The electronic warfare officer (EWO) in an F-105G ran all the new electronic equipment for locating SAM or anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) radars, warning of SAM launches, and sending Shrike missiles down the radar beams. The 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron of

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