The 318th vs. 498th Compass Rose “Northstar” Tail Flash Saga [by Ernie White (Updated by Pat McGee)]
There has been a lot of talk over the years about the 318th FIS Compass Rose aka Northstar tail flash and whether it was ever also on 498th jets after moving to McChord. Initially many believed that during the time the 498th was co-located with the 318th FIS at McChord they had no tail flash. As such, any F-106 found with either an early version or later version of the 318th style tail flash, was in fact a 318th jet. This does not seem to be the case. During the transition from Geiger Field to McChord AFB, the 498th swapped out their "1957" model F-106 jets with the 456th FIS, gaining a majority of "1959" models. This was accomplished to ensure the 325th FW, the host wing at McChord AFB, had a more common fleet to assist in maintenance, training, and etc. After things "settled" down following the move, the fleet was, once again, (slightly) reshuffled with the 318th and 498th, swapping tails [aircraft] between the squadrons with a majority of the ex 456 FIS fleet being assigned to the 498 FIS. With this transition, some of the jets with the 318th Compass Rose tail flash ended up serving with the 498th, and some of the "new" Sixes served with the 318th. I would consider the tail flash one that was approved for both F-106 units as a Wing tail flash, although haven't seen the design used for the 325th’s T-33's. During this time, the 325 FW ‘shield’ was applied to the left side of the aircraft (replacing the 318ths Green Dragon emblem on their jets). I would consider this another indication that the Compass Rose was truly a Wing tail flash during this era. From what I understand, no squadron insignias were applied to any McChord jets, except for the Sixes from the 318th that participated in William Tell. They were the only F-106's that wore squadron emblems during that period.
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*Osan Korea 1968 318 FIS
34 photos
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560464 Crash
1964 Capt Huss
51 photos
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590144 Crash
1978 Capt Miller
14 photos
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Patch 318th Patch
- 3118 visits
, Rating: 4.30
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560457 590110
- 3613 visits
, Rating: 4.30
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Gene Johnson T-33
- 2051 visits
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3536 visits
, Rating: 4.30
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Gene Johnson T-33
- 2130 visits
, Rating: 4.30
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Patch 318th Patch Centential
- 2818 visits
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Patch 318th Patch Sub Det 1
- 2894 visits
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Patch 318th Patch T-33 Sub
- 2665 visits
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Patch 318th Patch Sub
- 2616 visits
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560457 590110
- 2498 visits
, Rating: 4.30
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3421 visits
, Rating: 3.88
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Flight Line of 318th Sixes
- 2283 visits
, Rating: 4.30
![Flight Line of 318th Sixes](_data/i/upload/2011/11/14/20111114161812-f4a5f15e-cu_s9999x225.jpg "Flight Line of 318th Sixes (2283 visits, rating score 4.30)
318th FIS Flightline, McChord AFB. Wa.-"Echo" ramp.all a/c assigned.circa 1975 . photo ...")
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3300 visits
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560457 580776 590058 590108 590110
- 3120 visits
, Rating: 4.51
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560457 580776 590058 590108 590110
- 2814 visits
, Rating: 4.30
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Engine Shop 318th FIS
- 1547 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2613 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2635 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2622 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine and Crate
- 2010 visits
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5-Ship Formation Mt Rainer
- 2398 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2707 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 3012 visits
, Rating: 2.63
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5-Ship Formation Mt Rainer
- 2319 visits
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Over Mt Rainier
- 1968 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3318 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 3244 visits
, Rating: 2.63
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2953 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2877 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3183 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2842 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 4455 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3388 visits
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560457
- 2426 visits
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560459
- 2741 visits
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560459 Painting
- 2338 visits
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570243 Openhouse '82
- 2523 visits
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Flight Line
- 2096 visits
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590058
- 2056 visits
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560466 590141 590057
- 2282 visits
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580776 Centenial Bird
- 2879 visits
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3149 visits
, Rating: 1.86
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590059
- 2475 visits
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580767
- 2301 visits
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590058
- 2210 visits
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590058 AB Blow-Out 1977
- 3444 visits
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590058 AB Blow-Out 1977
- 3389 visits
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Det-1 318th FIS Castle AFB
- 2091 visits
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Det-1 318th FIS Castle AFB
- 2650 visits
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318 Det 1 Castle AFB Alert Close-Out 580783
- 3349 visits
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590054 Mid-Air No-Nose
- 6480 visits
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590054 Mid-Air No-Nose
- 6773 visits
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590143 318th No-star
- 2036 visits
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590152 318th No-star Tail
- 2466 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3745 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2980 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3522 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2949 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2987 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3335 visits
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Bulletin Cover
- 2285 visits
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590059 by Don Ward
- 2866 visits
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Maj Peterson's Crash by Don Ward
- 1861 visits
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590059 by Don Ward
- 2266 visits
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560464 Takeoff (1)
- 2692 visits
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560464 Takeoff (3)
- 2481 visits
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560464 Takeoff (2)
- 2576 visits
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560464 Takeoff (4)
- 2357 visits
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560464 Takeoff (5)
- 2287 visits
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590054
- 2441 visits
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560464 Takeoff (0)
- 2056 visits
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560457
- 3196 visits
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590057
- 2537 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7288 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7332 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7482 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 9030 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7091 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7119 visits
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560457 Load Team (2)
- 5220 visits
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