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
- 3100 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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560457 590110
- 3603 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Gene Johnson T-33
- 2043 visits
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3508 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Gene Johnson T-33
- 2121 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Patch 318th Patch Centential
- 2785 visits
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Patch 318th Patch Sub Det 1
- 2869 visits
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Patch 318th Patch T-33 Sub
- 2642 visits
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Patch 318th Patch Sub
- 2595 visits
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560457 590110
- 2487 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3394 visits
, Rating: 3.89
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Flight Line of 318th Sixes
- 2274 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 (2274 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
- 3271 visits
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560457 580776 590058 590108 590110
- 3108 visits
, Rating: 4.51
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560457 580776 590058 590108 590110
- 2807 visits
, Rating: 4.31
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Engine Shop 318th FIS
- 1536 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2597 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2616 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2596 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine and Crate
- 2001 visits
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5-Ship Formation Mt Rainer
- 2387 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2680 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 2991 visits
, Rating: 2.64
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5-Ship Formation Mt Rainer
- 2306 visits
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Over Mt Rainier
- 1961 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3301 visits
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J75 Turbojet Engine
- 3217 visits
, Rating: 2.64
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2936 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2850 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3161 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 2813 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 4392 visits
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590004 WT74 Demo
- 3361 visits
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560457
- 2417 visits
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560459
- 2724 visits
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560459 Painting
- 2324 visits
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570243 Openhouse '82
- 2513 visits
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Flight Line
- 2090 visits
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590058
- 2048 visits
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560466 590141 590057
- 2270 visits
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580776 Centenial Bird
- 2842 visits
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580776 Centennial Bird
- 3131 visits
, Rating: 1.86
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590059
- 2465 visits
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580767
- 2292 visits
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590058
- 2202 visits
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590058 AB Blow-Out 1977
- 3417 visits
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590058 AB Blow-Out 1977
- 3368 visits
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Det-1 318th FIS Castle AFB
- 2082 visits
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Det-1 318th FIS Castle AFB
- 2635 visits
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318 Det 1 Castle AFB Alert Close-Out 580783
- 3329 visits
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590054 Mid-Air No-Nose
- 6379 visits
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590054 Mid-Air No-Nose
- 6673 visits
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590143 318th No-star
- 2030 visits
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590152 318th No-star Tail
- 2459 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3724 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2959 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3490 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2926 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 2957 visits
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590144 Crash 1978
- 3313 visits
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Bulletin Cover
- 2280 visits
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590059 by Don Ward
- 2844 visits
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Maj Peterson's Crash by Don Ward
- 1853 visits
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590059 by Don Ward
- 2251 visits
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560464 Takeoff (1)
- 2682 visits
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560464 Takeoff (3)
- 2473 visits
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560464 Takeoff (2)
- 2564 visits
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560464 Takeoff (4)
- 2349 visits
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560464 Takeoff (5)
- 2277 visits
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590054
- 2429 visits
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560464 Takeoff (0)
- 2047 visits
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560457
- 3178 visits
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590057
- 2526 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7197 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7228 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7397 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 8928 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 6995 visits
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Osan AB 318 FIS 1968
- 7019 visits
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560457 Load Team (2)
- 5160 visits
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