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
- 3103 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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560457 590110
- 3605 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Gene Johnson T-33
- 2045 visits
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3513 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Gene Johnson T-33
- 2122 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Patch 318th Patch Centential
- 2794 visits
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Patch 318th Patch Sub Det 1
- 2873 visits
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Patch 318th Patch T-33 Sub
- 2650 visits
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Patch 318th Patch Sub
- 2598 visits
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560457 590110
- 2490 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3398 visits
, Rating: 3.89
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Flight Line of 318th Sixes
- 2276 visits
, Rating: 4.31
![Flight Line of 318th Sixes](_data/i/upload/2011/11/14/20111114161812-f4a5f15e-cu_s9999x225.jpg "Flight Line of 318th Sixes (2276 visits, rating score 4.31)
318th FIS Flightline, McChord AFB. Wa.-"Echo" ramp.all a/c assigned.circa 1975 . photo ...")
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3277 visits
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560457 580776 590058 590108 590110
- 3110 visits
, Rating: 4.51
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560457 580776 590058 590108 590110
- 2809 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Engine Shop 318th FIS
- 1538 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2602 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2621 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2600 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine and Crate
- 2003 visits
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5-Ship Formation Mt Rainer
- 2390 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2686 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2997 visits
, Rating: 2.64
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5-Ship Formation Mt Rainer
- 2308 visits
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Over Mt Rainier
- 1962 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3308 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 3223 visits
, Rating: 2.64
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2941 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2856 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3164 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2818 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 4405 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3367 visits
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560457
- 2419 visits
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560459
- 2730 visits
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560459 Painting
- 2331 visits
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570243 Openhouse '82
- 2515 visits
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Flight Line
- 2092 visits
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590058
- 2052 visits
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560466 590141 590057
- 2272 visits
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580776 Centenial Bird
- 2851 visits
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3134 visits
, Rating: 1.86
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590059
- 2467 visits
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580767
- 2294 visits
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590058
- 2203 visits
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590058 AB Blow-Out 1977
- 3423 visits
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590058 AB Blow-Out 1977
- 3372 visits
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Det-1 318th FIS Castle AFB
- 2083 visits
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Det-1 318th FIS Castle AFB
- 2637 visits
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318 Det 1 Castle AFB Alert Close-Out 580783
- 3332 visits
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590054 Mid-Air No-Nose
- 6405 visits
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590054 Mid-Air No-Nose
- 6695 visits
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590143 318th No-star
- 2032 visits
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590152 318th No-star Tail
- 2461 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3728 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2963 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3498 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2930 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2963 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3317 visits
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Bulletin Cover
- 2281 visits
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590059 by Don Ward
- 2848 visits
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Maj Peterson's Crash by Don Ward
- 1855 visits
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590059 by Don Ward
- 2254 visits
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560464 Takeoff (1)
- 2687 visits
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560464 Takeoff (3)
- 2477 visits
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560464 Takeoff (2)
- 2568 visits
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560464 Takeoff (4)
- 2351 visits
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560464 Takeoff (5)
- 2280 visits
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590054
- 2431 visits
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560464 Takeoff (0)
- 2051 visits
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560457
- 3185 visits
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590057
- 2528 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7211 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7247 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7408 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 8946 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7010 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7034 visits
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560457 Load Team (2)
- 5169 visits
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