The Ultra Fast Interceptor that Became an Unseen Flying Predator

[@TheJaymon1962]

I love the 102 and 106. They were what aircraft looked like when i was a kid.

[@burtknighten4438]

Gorgeous planes

[@josemoreno3334]

I saw a F-106 take off from George AFB back in 1980. I was told it was last one that was based there. Great looking plane.

[@HighlanderNorth1]

Planes looked like the one flown by W and Orville Wright when I was a kid. By the time I was 25, I was shooting down Manfred Von Richthofen with my Sopwith Camel. That's right, it was me.... I was the one who shot down the Red Baron! Wanna fight about it? 😁

[@JohnSmith-de2mz]

My Dad flew the 102 at Thule Greenland in the 60's. He also flew the 106 at Andrews and George AFB. The 106 was his favorite plane, he loved it. He flew everything from CG-4A gliders to F-82 Twin Mustangs, F-86, 101's and F-4's in Vietnam but the 6 was his favorite.

[@adriaanboogaard8571]

Sounds like your Dad had an amazing life in the sky. You're lucky you got to be around someone like that. Especially because you could say ya my dad flew that.

[@lancerevell5979]

I was an avionics tech on F-106s (among other types) at Tyndall AFB, Fl. The pilots loved the "Six". For us techs and mechanics, it could be a bit of a maintenance nightmare, as everything was so integrated, we'd sometimes waste of a lot of time trying to decide whose problem it really was. But it's still my favorite jet aircraft. Over the decades I've built many scale models, in various squadron markings, and the exact markings of three planes I actually worked on. 😎👍 At this time, late 1970s, the earlier F-102 was being used as a target drone, modified by Sperry-Rand.

[@aviatorflighttraining]

I would love to hear your dad’s story! Wow! What a resume!

[@JohnSmith-de2mz]

@@aviatorflighttraining Thank you, he died in 2009, was a great guy, I wish I had been a better son

[@JohnSmith-de2mz]

@@adriaanboogaard8571 Thank you sir, he died in 2009. Never complained, always said he enjoyed his time in the military

[@rael5469]

I never knew the F-102 had such a good career. For some reason I thought it was short lived and replaced by the F-106. I once saw a flight demo of an F-106 at the Chicago Air and Water show and all the people on the beach stood up and cheered for the F-106. The only other time I've seen an air show crowd react that strongly to a flight demo was for the F-14 Tomcat.

[@triggerpointtechnology]

Actually I believe you are correct. The F102 was a flawed design.

[@cordellej]

his videos have alot of crap copied from Wikipedia and not vetted before he spits it out

[@crankychris2]

@@triggerpointtechnology The 50's were a steep learning curve. The F102 and F100 [super sabre] both topped out at mach 1.25, 5 years later the F104 and F106 could go mach 2.3. 70 years later the F35 tops out at mach 1.6. The era of the 'century fighters' was over.

[@wdgreen51]

I worked on both the F-102 and F-106 during my 12 yrs in the Florida Air National Guard. It is sad to see a documentary film like this showing the F-106 where the F-102 is being described. This film has many such mistakes in it. Too bad they were not better informed about the easy to spot differences so as to be accurate with the visuals. I must admit that the F-106 was a more attractive and sleek aircraft. I worked on and repaired the radar systems in both aircraft.

[@robertgantry2118]

I never would have noticed had I not seen your comment. I was an auto mechanic for quite a few years before going to work in the oil fields. I cringe at times watching Hollywood movies where they show some stupid stuff on a car or on a rig.

[@christophershook6683]

Àqq

[@izyb6608]

first time on Dark Skies?

[@losonsrenoster]

These planes are as old as I am, but they look a lot better..

[@lancerevell5979]

F-102s in combat, as per Wiki: "The F-102 and TF-102 were exported overseas to both Turkey and Greece. The Turkish F-102s saw combat missions during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. There have been claims of air combat between Greek F-5s and Turkish F-102s above the Aegean Sea during the Turkish invasion. A Greek internet website editor, Demetrius Stergiou, claims that the Greek F-5s had shot down two Turkish F-102s, while the Turkish side has claimed that their F-102s had shot down two Greek F-5s;[73] however, both Greece and Turkey still officially deny any aircraft losses."

[@ibiltit]

As a kid I grew up not far from George Air Force base. I remember when the F102’s arrived. That year at the air show at George the 102 was the star of the show. Airmen walked through the crowd of spectators with boxes of 2” long plastic models of the 102 and would throw them into the air which sent us scrambling to pick them up off the tarmac. I ended up with quite a few. I thought the 102 was the coolest plane ever until the F104 showed up. This video brought back good memories.

[@jswain2351]

My uncle flew 66’s in Nam. I’ve always followed AF planes. The Delta’s were some of my favorites. Convair built great planes.

[@carolscott6644]

I worked on the F102 armament system '64/65. The missile rails operated pneumatically. In the winter time, often the electrical selector valves would freeze up so we had to put the plane in a warm hanger to get the system to operate. Not exactly an "all weather fighter interceptor".....Al Scott

[@someoneelse9271]

That’s weird because aircraft pneumatic sources usually come from bleed air from the engine. Apparently the location of the bleed needed to be a bit hotter.

[@johnharris6655]

On Amazon Prime video they are showing the Old Steve Canyon show. It starts with a flyby of an F-102.

[@andersnilsson7917]

Designed from the start to be equipped only with missiles.... This thinking which was so common in the early days cost so much in the end. And to add insult to injury the early missiles were not that good.

[@gofoats]

Never bring just missiles to a dogfight.

[@cvhinson1]

@@andersnilsson7917 yeah, but at least they were expensive. Planes designed by generals who dont have to fly them are meant for one thing: to provide lavish income to the generals once they retire and go to work for the aircraft company.

[@crankychris2]

The F102 evolved into the F106. it was going to be the F102B, but the new engine, wings, structural mods, avionics and weapons made it more like a new aircraft. I like their names, "Dagger and Dart". The F106 Delta Dart became involved in a bizarre incident known as 'the cornfield bomber'. Lt Gary Foust while piloting his Dart in a dogfight simulation lost control and went into a stall spin. His airspeed dropped to zero, his engine lost power, he deployed his drag chute which wrapped around his tail. Out of options, he punched out. Much to his amazement, the jet pulled out, and glided down and gently landed on its belly, suffering only minor damage, the engine continued to run until the fuel was exhausted in a wheatfield in Montana. Gary was soon reunited with his Dart and they flew training missions until both retired at Eglin AF base in Florida. The restored Dart now rests in an AF museum in Dayton OH, where Gary often posed for pictures next to his plane telling his story. He thought that his nickname was inappropriate, since it wasn't a cornfield and the Dart certainly wasn't a bomber. The entire event was documented by the other 2 pilots, and is known as 58-0787 in military speak. Gary and his wingman flew directly at each other passing each other both going mach 1.9 on full afterburners and climbing vertically. Thats when Gary Lost it. He lost 16,000 feet of altitude before he ejected, trying to save his plane. It was the main event in Montana on Feb 2, 1970. He's immortal now, after living a full life.

[@edwardpate6128]

If those horrible AIM-4 missiles had been replaced by AIM-7 Sparrows and/or AIM-9 Sidewinders the aircraft's effectiveness would have increased markedly.

[@patrickgriffitt6551]

During the early '70s the Air Force tried to adapt the F-4D Phantom to utilize the AIM-4 Falcon. Not good. Two separate avionics systems. Westinghouse vs Hughes.

[@patrickgriffitt6551]

Bitburg AB

[@jacobmccandles1767]

I mean....early AIM-7s were a joke, too.

[@edwardpate6128]

@@jacobmccandles1767 Agreed, thank goodness for the Navy developed Sidewinder.

[@RetroSkier]

My dad was stationed at Keflavik in 67 and 68. The Darts would sometimes flyover the base over mach 1 with the boom rattling the apartment windows which we thought was so cool. I was only 9 at the time when my buddies and I would roam out in the tundra just beyond the airstrip and lie on our backs and watch the jets takeoff. The MPs would try to chase us away, but with so many hiding places, we were tough to find. I remember a Russian Bomber had been intercepted and landed at the airbase. Great Memories and love watching the Steve Canyon reruns on TUBI TV !

[@drmarkintexas-400]

🎖️🏆🙏😎 Thank you for sharing this

[@larryentwistle8506]

That led to the F 106

[@zh84]

One of which became the infamous "Cornfield Bomber".

[@rosswalkman9652]

More like the wheat field fighter

[@KGV1374]

The F-102 & F-106 always remind me of the ill-fated CF-105 Arrow.

[@PMC47]

A majority of freshly out of work Canadian aerospace engineers went south when Diefenbaker (jackass) shut the arrow project down.

[@JackNiles-hc8yz]

@@PMC47 That's true, but they didn't have anything to do with designing either the Deuce or the Six.

[@abitofapickle6255]

Video suggestion: The F-105 Thunderchief

[@burtknighten4438]

I think there is one

[@cvhinson1]

@@abitofapickle6255 another fighter that couldnt get out of its own way, so they loaded it down with bombs, so the mig 17’s and 21’s could practice their top gun training. The contractors werent worried about losses, they just built more

[@prowlus]

“Wreacked havoc in vietnam”? It was so effective it completely failed as a bomber escort and was used its falcons as ground attack missiles

[@lancerevell5979]

They used their IR seekers to detect the NVA truck's hot motors at night, then attacked with the weapon door mounted FFAR rockets in strafing attacks.

[@elix901]

@@lancerevell5979sounds like they adapted and over came. So they still wreaked havoc.

[@johnmehlhopt6120]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

[@JimGeigerMusic]

The 102 was one of the most useless jets ever.

[@EasyRedComm]

Why is this the top comment?

[@vonmikeore]

Many of your pictures are of the F106 not F102

[@SnMilitia]

Only saw 2 F-106's and that was at the end of the presentation

[@triggerpointtechnology]

F102s were designed before the discovery of “area rule”. The F106 with its pinched waist was the next generation of that design incorporating “area rule”. Much faster, much less drag. A design criteria that has dominated aircraft design since its discovery by a British engineer.

[@williammoreno2378]

Used to hear and then see the 102's from AZ ANG taking off from the airport and come out of AB about 150' just as they flew over my old jr high school. It was pretty cool, more so at or just after sunset.

[@DarkHorseSki]

The area rule... that's what really made the Dart so great. Even modified, the Dagger never seemed to really utilize that rule well.

[@MaxKrumholz]

The R-3S (K13A, AA-2A 'Atoll') is a Soviet infrared homing air-to-air missile, it was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic". It is an improved version of the original R-3 missile, which was itself a reverse-engineered AIM-9B. USSR AS USUAL USE US COPY MISSLE

[@burtknighten4438]

Both are perfected German Wasserfal ata missle

[@ersoymehmetoglu5323]

war thunder wiki

[@mtacoustic1]

Two of my USAF commanders were former F-106 pilots. Also, I believe the F-106 was capable of Mach 2.5 or more

[@crankychris2]

Mach 2.3 at 43,000 feeet is the listed top speed.

[@Gronk79]

The 102s were also "co-stars" in the Movie "Fail Safe".

[@matthewshannon6946]

Great movie!!!

[@Gronk79]

@@matthewshannon6946 B-57s were the bombers & Larry Hagman (JR from "Dallas") was Buck, the President's Translator. "American Fighters to shoot down American Bombers?"

[@allen480]

@@Gronk79I think you meant B-58 Hustlers. The B-57 was the Canberra. Huge difference.

[@Gronk79]

@@allen480 Thanks!

[@bawbremy]

If you Really want to see the F-102 shine watch the movie Beyond the Time Barrier!

[@ronaryel6445]

Nice video. The Hughes Falcon missiles were not good. The infrared versions required the pilot to discharge a nitrogen bottle to cool the seeker first and then launch it, which meant the pilot had to stay on the target's rear aspect for several seconds. The missile, like all first-generation heat seekers, was only effective for rear-aspect shots, tracking engine exhaust. Nevertheless, China Lake Naval Weapons Center's Sidewinder missile was far more effective and reliable from the start.

[@Rotorhead1651]

Newly formed? By '68 the Air Force was 21 years old.

[@kinghotrod]

They were talking about 1948 in that portion of the video, when they asked for design proposals that led to F102.

[@elix901]

That’s still new in reference to military history.

[@joseveintegenario-nisu1928]

The Convair F-102 'Delta Dagger' was a direct Derivative of Alexander Lippisch DM-1/ L-13, studied at Langley and improved with apportations by A Lippisch himself. All Info available in NACA/ NASA Cranfield repository

[@shenmisheshou7002]

I show no instances where a US F-102 actually shot down an opponent but I was aware of some limited use of the F-102, though because it did not do any close air support, I never saw one in the entire time I was in the theater. My overall impression was that it was not well suited to the missions there and was used in places where aircraft more capable and suitable to the missions could be freed up. This is not meant as disrespectful to the aircraft of the crews, but simply to say that the role in Vietnam seemed to be more of a supporting actor, but every actor has its part.

[@Packless1]

...F-102 / -106 were used long after their military service for meteorologic research as 'storm-chasers' flying into the eye of the hurricane...!

[@JamesLaumand]

Beatful,fast,fast,strong,

[@SlowrideSteve]

You need to get your shit together, was it a 102 Dart or 106 Dagger?

[@lancerevell5979]

F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart.

[@SlowrideSteve]

@@lancerevell5979 I was making a point that they were making a mistake interchangeably using the names and numbers

[@burtknighten4438]

​@@SlowrideStevethere is limited stock footage of both Id imagine but get your point.

[@gofoats]

The most impressive part of the design was the internal weapons bay. Why we did not keep up with this until the F-22 is beyond me.

[@kevinmcdowell9074]

Ah yes, the Unseen Flying Predator fighter jet. Also known as "the Drake vampire plane"

[@philippebousquet6564]

Please do one with the handley Halifax

[@waynedavis7245]

I always thought the 102 was a really good looking plane . Built a couple of models of them when I was a kid.

[@petertyson4022]

Didn't know much about the this aircraft. 👽👍

[@thomastruong8382]

F102 was an intercepter, not widely used like the multi-purpose, multi-task F4 Phantom.

[@dennisvandermarkt8263]

Keep changing from dart to dagger about the same plane. 102 dart, 106 dagger

[@lancerevell5979]

The other way round - F-102 is Delta Dagger, F-106 is Delta Dart.

[@mrlodwick]

Those falcon missiles = awful.

[@lancerevell5979]

Actually they worked well on the F-102 and F-106, and the F-101 Voodoo. It was on the F-4 Phantom they failed due to it's incompatible fire control system.

[@cvhinson1]

They may have been unreliable, at least they were expensive

[@allen480]

@@cvhinson1 Ok Skippy what was the their per unit MSRP?

[@allen480]

mrlodwick They were engineered for low maneuverable long range bombers, not fast maneuverable fighters. Granted, a piss poor decision by old fat cigar chomping generals.

[@cvhinson1]

Ok, bud-weena: $1,184,000 (1956)

[@randywatson8347]

The years when fighter jets look more futuristic that how people dress and their cars.

[@jimbloom7568]

AIM 4 potent missiles is an oxymoron.

[@Surfzap63]

I'm afraid to ask, but what happened to Wiggins after her was shot down?

[@joeylawn36111]

Never understood the Missile-only concept in fighter jets. Say you have 4 air-to-air missiles. What happens when you encounter 5 enemy aircraft? Better have a wingman. This is why modern fighters have both A-A missiles _and_ a Cannon/Machine Gun....

[@lancerevell5979]

In the early 1970s, the F-106 was modified to carry an optional external belly mounted 20mm Vulcan gun pod. It's ammo box took the place of the nuclear-tipped unguided Genie rocket, retaining the four AIM-4 Falcon missiles. I worked avionics on two of the modified "Six Shooter" aircraft. They racked up a lot of Ryan Firebee and QF-102 target drone kills over the Gulf range. Never used in combat though. The operational Sixes rarely carried the gun pod in practice.

[@raymondclark1785]

Well it wasn't designed to be a fighter. It's an interceptor designed to fly out and shoot down a bomber , not get into a dog fight. Unfortunately the RAF used Labrador for low level training and the Vulcan did fly like a fighter 😞 We would sometimes run 6 F-102's against a Vulcan and we needed to catch them before they got into the vallies where one Vulcan flew under a helicopter

[@joeylawn36111]

@@raymondclark1785 Good point. You're right - Interceptors were the thing back in the day, until ICBM's made them obsolete. The Soviets had the MiG-25 that scared us (which led to the development of the F-15), but whilst it could fly Mach 3+, it was fast, but not maneuverable to be a dogfighter. I was only an interceptor also.

[@ristube3319]

0:37 Anyone else expecting Chakotay to say “Delta Flyer” instead of “Delta-wing?”

Extreme speeds of at least mach One

[@thomastruong8382]

I was an avid plane spotter growing up in the Vietnam War, I could see only once a pair of F102's taking the skies in Central Vietnam, near Danang. It was in the late 1960's. But A4 Skyhawks and F4 Phantoms were the most common sight. Until today I still am puzzled by the sight of 2 F4 Phantoms in the skies of South Central Vietnam in 1979, well after the communist takeover of Vietnam. Were they flying over from US Air Base in Thailand or were they spoil of war birds being tested by the communist victors? I frankly don't know, but they were flying at low altitude and at slow speed and there was no reaction from the ground. No media report on that unique event.

[@philgiglio7922]

13:08...that's an F106 Delat Dart; NOT an F102

[@yutakago1736]

F-102 is a failure because of the air-to-air missile are not effective. However, after using the missile, they discovered the missile is more effective as an air-to-ground missile.

[@jamesandrew6211]

I cut wings and stabs off of these aircraft for training, and a lot of those components were made out of magnesium vs what we use today

[@neilreynolds3858]

Typical AF thinking: Use a plane built as a high speed interceptor as a ground attack plane and keep them in action long after they were flying targets.

[@annehersey9895]

I guess the US focused so much on getting to the moon by the end of the 60’s we let the Soviets get ahead of us in plane development for awhile .

[@alexprost7505]

Supersonic campfire fighter))

Why are they still trying to sell F-102. Next they gonna start selling the F-104 again. The widowmaker

[@vernmeyerotto255]

AIM4s were only really effective against non-manuevering targets... like the B17 drones they were tested against. When employed by F4Cs against NVAF MiGs, they performed horribly between the long cool-down interval of the IR seeker heads, to the small amount of coolant carried that made them single use weapons. Col. Robin Olds famously ordered them off of his base in Thailand, and then effected a local field modification to reequip his F4s with AIM9s. As the 60s drew to a close, the F102s used up worthless stocks of AIM4s against campfires that were about the only target they could manage to hit. That is the real story behind their use... not some brilliant tactical move.

[@BlueFox284]

Didn't some F-4 pilot in Old's squadron almost shoot himself down with an AIM-4? Like he fired the Falcon and seconds into launch, it just detonated next to his aircraft and blew a huge chunk of the weapons pylon off.

[@vernmeyerotto255]

@BlueFox284 No, idea on that, but it wouldn't surprise me. I had a supervisor who worked F4 fire control on the flightline side at Da Nang. He told me there was a day that one of the alert aircraft had a 28 Vdc short to an AIM4 launcher rail. When aircraft power was applied, the missle went active, and launched. The only reason he wasn't dead (it was headed straight for him) was that a detonator probe hit a revetment wall and detonated the warhead 100 yards short of where he stood.

[@everypitchcounts4875]

XF-108 Rapier should have been built

[@pinetree9343]

My personal thoughts are the repurposing of fine aircraft as target drones is a waste of taxpayer dollars and resources. I wish the DOD would stop it

[@Classified-cj3uk]

Still not in warthunder

[@josephkelarjian232]

No Cannon?

[@justsomedude8118]

The deuce was an absolute disappointment, but the 6 fixed it. Always thought it was interesting the usaf didn't call it the 2B, the 2 was that bad.

[@k.ottophillips4303]

The entire squadron was moved to Thule, Greenland? Damn, who'd they piss off?

[@auro1986]

why you don't have delta winged aircraft where france has?

[@patrickgriffitt6551]

I'm sure you've noticed just how small Mirage fighters are.

[@alparker8661]

Don't shoot down Steve Canyon.

[@cvhinson1]

and to be fair to the enemy, the design limited the forward view of the pilot.

[@lancerevell5979]

The F-102 and F-106 were thoroughbreds, designed for one mission - intercepting incoming Soviet bombers. Not dogfighting. All-round visibility was not a priority back then. And sitting in the pilot seat, forward visibility was not bad. That black divider panel just sort of blurs out and is largely unnoticed. But, you have to actually sit in the cockpit to appreciate this. And during the intercept the pilot is busy looking at the radar screen, not rubbernecking. Even though not a dogfighter, the Six was later developed to carry an optional 20mm gun pod, the "Six Shooter". And it proved it could outmaneuver the F-4 Phantom II.

[@cvhinson1]

@@lancerevell5979 wasnt designed for ground attack either. Sucks not to have good visibility when attacking ground targets. Btw, never used against bombers. Suffered against fighters

[@insertnamehere6612]

Wondering why at times in this clip I'm shown aircraft with air intakes right alongisde the cockpit and at other times I'm shown aircraft with air intakes well aft of the cockpit ...

[@cardinalRG]

The F-102 Delta Dagger had intakes further forward, and the f-106 Delta Dart's were further aft.

[@markbuckingham3631]

Proof watch your videos since showing the 106 shows laziness in editing.

[@Trev0r98]

In no sense was the F-102 "Ultra Fast". With a top speed of 825 mph, or Mach 1.25, It was barely supersonic.

[@davejones67]

You said 326th then 327th

[@jamesragus1577]

Complimentary algorithm enhancement comment!😊

[@anthonytripp2251]

My cousin has one of these He lets me fly it sometimes

[@Trev0r98]

The F-102 was a turd. The F-106 was the superstar..

[@triggerpointtechnology]

Absolutely correct.

[@rascal28]

After the coup in America the aircraft on hand were thrown into the conflict we created

[@lancerevell5979]

What "coup"? Never happened here in the USA.

[@sirfrancis9619]

@@lancerevell5979 I assume the ref is Kennedy....

[@rascal28]

@@lancerevell5979 Wrong! the intel agencies have had complete control since 11-22-1963

[@burtknighten4438]

​@@rascal28truth

[@mauricio-wq5lu]

Wasn't George Bush junior also a pilot of one of these? The used his family's influence to stay home leaving other USAF pilots to carry his weight?

[@thearmourboy3254]

He flew one but when you look at the dates of his service by the time he got trained they had already pulled them out of Vietnam. He didn't start even basic bootcamp until 1968 and his pilot training didn't end until 1970. He was then moved to the Air National Guard but the 102's had been relegated to at home Guard duty by then. It may have been his family name that got him in that position but frankly it sounds more likely to me that he just stunk as a pilot lol.

[@lancerevell5979]

Dubya served his time, did his duty. Can't fault him for that. Many ran to Canada screaming for their mommy rather than serve honorably.

[@LeeBrown-b4l]

He flew F 106’s if I recall correctly. We had them at Griffiss in Rome NY. Alongside B52 and KC135

[@thearmourboy3254]

@@LeeBrown-b4l Every article I can find on it says the F102.

[@Charles-k9g5y]

@@lancerevell5979-- 30-40,000 draft dodgers went to Canada. About the same amount of Canadians joined USA military to serve in Vietnam.

[@okay.buddie]

what a hunk of junk...

[@cvhinson1]

Gulf of Tonkin lie.....

[@thomastruong8382]

JFK wanted to pull out, but they did not let him. Instead 'all the way... to hell with LBJ"

[@cvhinson1]

@@thomastruong8382 I recall an interview with a journalist in which he got busted for sending 10,000 troops to SEA. He justified it by calling them “advisors”. Thats alot of advisors….armed us army troops. Not to mention the CIA mucking around in the internal affairs of vietnam.

[@onlythaclonessir2525]

looks like 1919

[@gw10758]

You mean the Gulf Of Tonkin False Flag incident don't you?

[@bobgreene2892]

Not much of a narrative, and heavily embellished like a propaganda piece. Important questions went unanswered-- 1. Why did the F102's missiles fail? 2. Why didn't the pilot eject?

[@cvhinson1]

how do we get one of our missiles to the other side but not looking like it was intentional?....it may have sucked at its role but at least it costed the US taxpayer a fortune....Thanks, Air Force.

[@martinsulat697]

And this was America's ARROW???

[@lancerevell5979]

No, the later F-106 was more like the Arrow.

[@Meatball-du1hm]

I can envision angry AVRO execs waving their fists at the F-106 until they suddenly realize that their cancelled Arrow design is alive and well in Allied hands.😀

[@richardmorgan3974]

Hello fellow aviators - this vid is full of mistruths.

Wiki..........hahahahhahahaha