A Find

A pencil rendering of an F-101
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Bob- Nice. Air Defense version F-101B she looks like.

 

We have an F-101B Voodoo in our "Wings Over the Rockies" museum a few blocks from here.

It is a very large aircraft.


Beautiful, Bob.

 

Thanks,I did this for an aircraft supply company years ago. I put Malmstrom AB in the background...sort of.

 

Bob- Seems like at one time SAC owned some 101Bs before they all went to ADC. May have had something to do with the nuclear warheads on the Genies.

 

Nice drawing..... The F-101 in that configuration is a good looking fighter. It seems like most of them on static display are RF-101 configuration with the funny looking nose.

 

I wished I owned a plane, so that I could pay massive money for a personalized rendering of it Your work rock.

 

I dig it. Question. Would it actually takeoff at that angle? In other words does the drawing depict what it looks like in the real world?

 

It may be possible..
There's a story of a Hustler pilot, on a dare, attempted to match the takeoff pitch and climb of a Phantom, which in the process, popped a few rivets and slightly bent the wings. But he did it. I realize these are different birds than the Voodoo, but possible.

 

I have seen RF-101's in action and that take off angle is normal for one on after burner. It is a honkin' big and powerful bird. I also saw one come apart at one of the Abottsford air shows when a flight of two made a high speed pass and pulled into a steep climb. One started to do several rolls and on the third one it broke up. Both crewmen got out with burns and appeared in the show the next year. An ex-F-101 pilot told me that more than one or two rolls is a no-no because the airplane looses directional control and starts to yaw.

 

Bob- Yup, roll-yaw coupling. Really scary when it happens. Bangs your head around. The F-101A held the world speed record for a short period in 1957 at 1207.6 mph. Soon broken by the F-104 and then the F-106. Twin J-57s provided plenty of thrust.

The RF-101C saw wide service in VietNam before being replaced by the RF-4C.

 

Very nice rendering. Was my favorite fighter when I was a kid. Saw them perform many times at Abbotsford. Believe Canada stopped flying them in 83 or 84. There is one on display at the entrance to my local airport (Abbotsford) and also one outside the Legion in Sidney, BC.

It was a very controversial plane in Canada. One we killed our home grown Avro Arrow to adopt these. Second they where equipped with AIR-21 nuclear rockets. Many in Canada where against having nuclear weapons in Canada. These two things brought down the Diefenbaker government.

Found a picture of the one on display here.
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I also remembering seeing the CF-101s out of Comox at a couple of Abbotsford shows in the '79-'80 timeframe, the only time I can recall seeing Voodoos perform. I'm glad to see that they have one on display there.

The first time I can remember seeing, and being impressed by, F-101s was in the final moments of the movie "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming"!

 

My first experience was also with the Comox bunch at the very first "large" Abottsford show in 1966. They came out of the Frazier River valley unannounced at maybe 150 feet and near Mach 1 . When they reached the north perimeter of the field, they hit the AB and scared the daylights out of the unexpected . That was actually a physical pummeling by sound and pressure...and great fun.

 

Bob- At least the Thunderbirds did not try the F-101. They did try the F-105 and that did not last long.

 

I would think that each of the airplanes that you mentioned would be unsuitable for air show work. The F-105 was too highly bred to do ballet work. I have always thought of it as a huge cal. 50 bullet. The F-101 , a 20mm shell. Both deadly at what they were designed for but that wasn't airshow display teams. Hit and run specialists don't do well on the dance floor.

 

Always thought it was a good looking airplane.

Col Jack Broughton wrote about them in one of his books and he was not very complimentary. According to him they were plagued with electrical problems. He told one story of flying the pattern with his wingman when the wingman quit responding on the radio. He looked over to see the wingmans canopy was gone, it had blown spontaneously and he said problems of that nature had become pretty common.

His books are great reading.


Great drawing Bob.

 

Good thing it didn't eject him spontaneously too....

 

My father busted Broughton on a P-51 checkride once. He did not hit his prime until the jets came out.

 

Don't forget this F-104 you did. I wish I still had it.
One of my favorites.
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Read that Broughton was most proud of being certified in everything from a P-47 Jug to the F-106.
P-51 must be in there somewhere.

 

Dad said some guys never mastered the torque on the piston engine fighters and had a hard time with formation flying. Funny that one who did ended up as Thunderbird lead. No torque in a jet fighter.

 

I have seen this syndrome in a lot of tail dragger pilots over the years, especially flying things like the PT-22, PT-13, and even a Cub. I'm thankful that I got trained by some nasty experienced WW2 guys who also knew how to instruct and I soon realized the importance of the rudder pedals and keeping the target centered at the end of the runway during take off. Rudder exercise stalls and spins were almost a daily occurrence. I flew with some guys who were always a day behind with their rudder inputs and chased the airplane all over the place...scary. My flight in Mike's 'Worry Bird" in 1992 was a real revelation of the power and "torque" in the P-51 when full throttle is applied. I was surprised at the quick response to in-flight power changes and imagined that a sharp fighter pilot could use it to good advantage. I also noticed immediate full right rudder on Corsair's in films of carrier take offs during the war. So, it's a little bit important. Ya' think?

 

I recall an oilfield story (circa 1984) by a retired Lt. From Houston who had 450 hrs in P-51 and was an instructor. Teaching take off and missed landings was his biggest challenge. He said he kept preaching the dangers when he was sent to a Central American country that purchased 20(?) P-51s.

He said shortly after he left, nearly half of them where destroyed on take offs.

 

A friend of yours and mine told me when learning the 51 he had drilled into him the mantra " when the right foot quits going forward, the left hand quits going forward".