F106

[Gman]

I've been reading and researching this Fighter, and many of the early F 100's series of USAF aircraft.

I came upon this video on AirBoyd's channel, and found it a brief but very interesting story about the "Cornfield Bomber" incident.  Funny old world, anything is truly possible.

[Rich46yo]

Well in '78 I did a TDY to Balikesir air base in Turkey and saw, I believe, some of the last operational F-102s in the world flying around. I dont believe the Delta Daggers were much different then the 106s. That air base was ringed by radar controlled quad-0.50 cal guns and tho the equipment was old the Turks would take it real personal if you took pictures of anything so I never did. It was only a few years after Cypress and they were pissed at everyone.

Great story. Imagine the odds of the plane landing itself but you have to wonder of the configuration/design didnt play a large part in it.

[Oldman731]

I suspect Puma might have some insight on 106s.

- oldman

[Bodhi]

Pretty amazing story!

[Mister Fork]

PUMA!  Where are u!

[Ratsy]

Thanks for sharing that.  Who'da thunk it?  Beale AFB has a U2-C model on a stick that made a pilot-less landing back in the early 60's.  Of course, that was only what I was told.   

I flew RC here in Texas with a retired F102 and F106 driver for a number of years.  I believe he retired in Texas because of all the years he spent in Alaskan Air Command - many PCS's and TDY's.  Even with the technology improvements in the 70's I think anybody who flew all-weather intercepts in Alaska during that era has serious brass manly bits.

 

[icepac]

[Ratsy]

Ummmm....ahhhhh...no.  Doesn't look familiar at all.  Jim was shorter than that.   

 

[Puma44]

The cornfield bomber story was a frequent story of discussion when loss of control came up.  As the story goes the pilot got into a bad situation, couldn't regain control, and ejected.  It was determined that the force of the ejection seat rocket motor was enough to break the AOA, recover from the out of control situation, and descend to a landing in a snow covered cornfield.  As the story goes, a passing farmer saw the six laying in the field and went to help the pilot.  As he approached the jet, it was obvious there was no pilot and the engine was still running.  When fire department guys arrived, one of them walked up to the jet, reached in the cockpit and stop cocked the throttle.

As far as difference between the "Deuce" and the Six", there were a lot.  Even though they look somewhat similar, they were completely different jets with the same air defense mission.  The Six started out as an upgrade of the Deuce.  As the planning progressed, it was deemed necessary to redesignate the new jet.  The six had a much improved fire control system, engine, and airframe.  The Six was designed for future growth in engine and weapons.  The fuselage had approximately three inches (if memory serves me correctly) of unused space around the engine in anticipation of a future engine upgrade.  Rumor had it that there were wiring bundles out to the wing drop tank stations that could be used for future missle upgrades.   The AIR-2A Genie (the nuke) was a primary weapon for use against Russian bomber formations coming across the North Pole.

The Six was a dream to fly, very slick airframe, and would accelerate very quickly.  All the Six bases had alert detachments.  Ours at Minot was Davis Monthan at Tucson.  The six cruised comfortable at .93-.95 Mach or 540 kts TAS in the mid 40,000 foot altitudes. A typical trip from Minot to DM would start with a full AB climb to 39,000 feet, set cruise power, burn out the external tanks, and climb to mid to high 40s and arrive at DN about and hour and forty five minutes later.  We had an unofficial squadron competition going for the quickest return time form DN to Minot. The rules were simple.  Declare an attempt on the record so the ops folks at DM would call the takeoff time to Minot ops, and go for it. Of course it started with a burner climb to cruise altitude and judicious use of winds aloft.  One of our squadron ops officers held the record when I PCSed out.  He set the record by lighting the burner over Rapid City and cruising supersonic the last leg into Minot.  If I remember correctly, his time was 1+37. 







My jet, "oh 26" at DM a couple of years ago.



The morning brief.  Yours truly far right side.

[Ratsy]

Thanks for all that, Puma!

 

[Puma44]

Sure thing, anytime! 

[Gman]

Fantastic stuff Puma, ty for posting all that.

I was wondering about the nuclear armament. Here in Canada we once went that route with the Bomarc SAM nuclear missile, and a2a nuclear armament has always fascinated me.  What kind of range would a typical Genie or various other warheads have so far as a lethal radius?  I'm sure the exact figures are still classified (guessing here), and there is very little in the way of pictures and videos of tests, I've seen them all I think now.  Most info says a lethal radius of 300 meters, but that seems pretty small to me.  This video was impressive, the shockwave on the ground - wow.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VZ7FQHTaR4

This is one thing that I've wondered about in terms of the Western nations dependance on low observability tech in future fighters - what if our potential adversaries have systems which give a "good enough" location for targeting low yield bursting nuclear anti aircraft missiles, either SAMs or A2A missiles?  Countries like China can be a little strange when it comes to such ideas, and I could easily see such a government convincing themselves that hitting tactical fighters and bombers with nuclear weapons is a completely different thing that hitting ground or sea based targets, sort of talking themselves into the theory that the west wouldn't retaliate with ballistic/cruise/B61 types of attacks as a response. 

A much easier way for them to solve the low observable problem, instead of trying to hit targets with a rifle bullet, just shoot a huge 8 gauge shotgun at them instead sort of idea.

[Oldman731]

Countries like China can be a little strange when it comes to such ideas, and I could easily see such a government convincing themselves that hitting tactical fighters and bombers with nuclear weapons is a completely different thing that hitting ground or sea based targets, sort of talking themselves into the theory that the west wouldn't retaliate with ballistic/cruise/B61 types of attacks as a response. 

EMP.

I think it will be the same sort of deterrent that poison gas was in WWII.

- oldman

[Puma44]

Gman, I don't recall the exact lethal radius but, the EMP and blast were the lethal aspects of the Genie.  The Six's fire control system calculated a safe escape distance for the pilot by setting a timer in the Genie prior to launch.  That was dependent on aircraft performance and altitude.  At high altitude, the range was longer due to thinner air.  Down low it was shorter because of denser atmosphere.  Six pilots had escape maneuvers based on altitude.  Up high we would roll inverted, pull through an aggressive split S, and when 180 out, light the burner and beat feet away from the impending blast.  At low altitude, we would do an aggressive 135 pull away from the launch vector, light max AB, and get as far away as possible before the blast.

Every year, each Six had to live fire an inert Genie and acquire a lethal "hit" at a Firebee drone to maintain nuclear surety qualification.  During my time in the jet, I live fired three Genies.  It was an unguided rocket that the pilot aimed via a radar lock and fire control system guidance.  When launched, the Genie rapidly accelerated to Mach 3 above the Six's speed.  We always tried to have a launch speed of at least Mach 1.5.  It was quite the thrill to fire a Genie.  When it lit off, seeing the actual rocket was pretty much impossible because of the massive acceleration.  All I ever saw was a thin contrail with a puff on the end when the firing sequence detonated the self destruct charge.  One time, I flew chase on another Six pilot for his launch.  There was a fleeting time the Genie was visible and then gone!

[artik]

Why 106 it has "double" stick handle?