F-102 rescue video

Found this F-102 fire department training video on youtube. Thought everyone would enjoy seeing this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWQNZNEKsl0

Quaint Rescue Gear in that video but those were the days. Elsewhere I have mentioned being buzzed by two Hawaiian ANG F-102As (presumably from Hickam AFB although there may have been a suitable airfield on the BIG Island south). Anyway orbiting with a shallow bank angle HMAS Melbourne in an A4G at highest altitude waiting for the arrestor gear to be fixed these two F-102As roared by very close, upsetting my carefully calibrated fuel saving endurance setup. Whatever. Must have transgressed the Hawaiian ADIZ but I did not know that and my radar lookouts were out to lunch I reckon.

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger Flight Manual
https://www.filefactory.com/file/2gk94t ... Manual.pdf (46Mbs)
OR
http://docdro.id/xha5wGS

Convair F-102A Flight Training Manual 1956

http://www.filefactory.com/file/qtejuhf ... Manual.pdf (43Mb)

USAF Flight Manual, TO 1F-102A-1, for the Convair F-102A & TF-102A aircraft. 01 Oct 1974

http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/20 ... agger.html

https://www.docdroid.com/pXcPXB5/convai ... manual-pdf (77Mb)

Salute!

Thanks for the memories. Being my first fighter it is important to me at a gut level.

One thing on the pattern depicted is the very large speed change during flare to touchdown from approach. That delta was tricky at the end game due to the loss of lift as you slowed - no buffet, no burble, just sink rate. Although the F-101B had an AoA thing, it was to show how close you were to pitch up. The Deuce and Six could have used one for approach and turn performance. We were just getting the F-4, and USAF kept the Navy AoA indexers for approach/landing. A few years later the SLUF we adopted and improved from the Navy did the same.

Gums recalls....

Salute!

Thanks for the memories. Being my first fighter it is important to me at a gut level.

One thing on the pattern depicted is the very large speed change during flare to touchdown from approach. That delta was tricky at the end game due to the loss of lift as you slowed - no buffet, no burble, just sink rate. Although the F-101B had an AoA thing, it was to show how close you were to pitch up. The Deuce and Six could have used one for approach and turn performance. We were just getting the F-4, and USAF kept the Navy AoA indexers for approach/landing. A few years later the SLUF we adopted and improved from the Navy did the same.

Gums recalls....

Hi Gums!

I wasn't aware (or I didn't remember) that you flew the F-102. I do remember you saying that you did fly the F-101.
As such I would like to ask you the following questions which always puzzled my mind for a long time which are:
- How did the F-101 compared to the F-102 (or vice versa) in terms of performance, namely agility?
- And also how both aircraft compare in terms of avionics and sensors (Radar and such)?
I also remember to have read that the F-102 was a letdown and somehow a failure in Vietnam (with two of them being shot down by enemy Migs). As such, do you think that the F-101 would have done any better in this scenario (Vietnam) or not?

Salute!

NP ricnunes man, way back somebody posted a graphic of my planes (excluding the Luscombe and Aeronica Champ and Taylorcraft I learned to fly in). So I attach.

In the 60's, everyone that went to ADC from pilot training and even from TAC fighters had to go thru" Deuce school" at Perrin AFB, then to an operational unit - Deuce, Six, Voodoo or even the Northrop Scorpion the Guard was still flying. So we went all the way to an operational tactical checkride and declared qualified interceptor pilots.

- The F-101B was a rocket, but didn't turn worth a hoot. Figure 2 gees at 300 knots CAS and one more gee for every 50 knots!!! Whereas the Viper could pull 9 gees at 350 knots CAS. The Deuce could pull the max structural limit at about 300, but for only a few seconds, as it bed off speed at an insane rate. Hence, my comment about an AoA gauge. On the plus side, the VooDoo climbed and accelerated as good as the Viper.

- The Deuce rolled very well, even when turning hard, but don't do that in the VooDoo unless flying st ahead, then it rolled better - like the A-4 or T-38. So you rolled and pulled and not pull while rolling. Both Deuce and Six did not accelerate like the VooDoo or Viper - that delta had its good and bad points, although the Deuce was grossly underpowered.

- The Deuce losses are not real familiar to me ( guess I should review), but the thing was like the the VooDoo if going against a bomber tgt or a head on pass versus a turning fight. The missile launch logic took time, and when we tried the same missile ( AIM-4D) on the F-4 versus turn and burn we had poor results. Ditto for the Sparrow until early 70's, and the Aim-9 was the missile of choice for most of the guys I know, including Cunningham. Ritchie being the exception.

- The late Deuces had some of the same avionics functions as the F-101B's of 65-66 except for some radar capabilities: so IRSTS that could operate on its own and be coupled to the radar, "super search" that scanned a small area if you went "half-action" on the hand control of the radar. The VooDoo and Six radar had a hydraulically tuned maggie and the enemy saw it as noise when we went to the highest tune rate. We were not supposed to use that during times when Soviet satellites were overhead. The VooDoo and Six radar also used internal "lobing" to track and move the antenna - used phase difference from slots in the waveguide, but the Deuce radar had a mechanically rotating cone to emit and recieve. So enemy EWO could spoof your tracking due to seeing the scan frequency.

Gums sends...

Gums planes

Hi Gums!
Awesome and informative post/reply there, as usual!

One of the parts of your post that "WOWed" me the most was this:

- The F-101B was a rocket, but didn't turn worth a hoot. Figure 2 gees at 300 knots CAS and one more gee for every 50 knots!!! Whereas the Viper could pull 9 gees at 350 knots CAS. The Deuce could pull the max structural limit at about 300, but for only a few seconds, as it bed off speed at an insane rate. Hence, my comment about an AoA gauge. On the plus side, the VooDoo climbed and accelerated as good as the Viper.

I didn't have a clue that the F-101B Voodoo was such a bad "turner" (3Gs at 350 knots, very underwhelming indeed) but as opposed it had an awesome/impressive acceleration (Just as good as the F-16! WoW, I never thought of that ).
For some reason I thought more or less the opposite - that it would turn a tad better but at the same time it wouldn't be that good in terms of acceleration. Thanks for the info Gums

Just quickly these three URLs are for da F-101 VOODOO as shown. The TURN CAPABILITY graph is the same in both PDFs because the data is from test flights in 1960. Left mouse click on graphic for zoom then click again for more.

Now attached is a one page PDF with the two graphs from 1963 & 1980 showing (with PDF text) that they are the same.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/1i80qqr ... Manual.pdf [1963] Turn Capability Graph 80Mb

https://www.docdroid.com/wOLn3lV/mcdonn ... manual-pdf [1969] No Performance Data 26Mb

http://www.filefactory.com/file/1lcz6jp ... ter%29.pdf [1980] Turn Capability Graph 54Mb

This more recent thread mentions THE VUDU so here it is - book has a chapter on Vietnam amongst many other 323 pages.

Voodoo Warriors: The Story of the McDonnell Voodoo Fast-Jets
09 Mar 2022 Aviation Archive

"A wonderful book written by Group Captain Nigel Walpole on the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo aircraft. Takes aircraft from conception thru operational use and has many color profiles. Dated 2007"

Source: http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/20 ... nnell.html

PDF Download: https://www.docdroid.com/DVb5Tlm/voodoo ... t-jets-pdf (51Mb)