One-of-a-kind fighter plane? | Curator on the Loose!

You asked, we answered! We polled our viewers to see what aircraft you wanted our Senior Curator Matthew Burchette to cover on the show and the overwhelming response was the Century Series. The Century Series was a group of fighters from a variety of manufacturers who received successive designations from the Air Force, (F-100, F-101, etc.). We couldn’t do this alone, so Matthew and the team headed out to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio to check out the entire series…including an extremely rare look at the canceled F-107! Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3, coming soon!
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[@davidbaldwin1591]

Came 2 weeks after 9/11. Our guide was normally for children. Filled our heads with crazy stories, and I am so thankful.

[@constpegasus]

Love this curator for his warm personality.

[@sloppydog4831]

Look for his old videos on the Wings over the Rockies air museum. Now there is where Matt was really on the loose. He is very restrained right now. His older videos are a lot of fun!

[@Condorito380]

As a dude who lived near Buckley and now am up in the PNW, I'm contractually obligated to check it out

[@stasiekpiekarski]

Absolutely agree!

[@2down4up]

How is it that I just now found this amazing channel?! Subscribed!

[@museumofflight]

Welcome!

[@spacedmanspiff1543]

Doug is the man ! He entertained/educated my daughter for a bit when we visited....top nitch !

[@howardmaryon]

Always fun when you get two experts nerding out together

[@garyboyd3255]

The F-110 and F-111 really completed the series

[@caribman10]

True. Funny that the F-110 (F-4) and F-111 ended serving together.

[@VettemanLT5]

Not quite my friend All the Century Series were developed in the '50s. The -111 was a product of the '60s that's why it was never considered part of the series.

[@garyboyd3255]

@@VettemanLT5 split hairs much? The century was 100 and above.

[@VettemanLT5]

@@garyboyd3255 nope. What I said stands. That's why the -111 is never discussed when it comes to the Century series. It was developed in the next decade.

[@garyboyd3255]

@@VettemanLT5 because someone decided. Who was that? Silly argument

[@gregorygaskill5412]

The museum is amazing, the XB70 is worth the trip alone, spend a couple of days to absorb the history and innovation in motion.

[@neuterdude5932]

My friend and I just spent two days there, then on the way back home in Wisconsin, we made a stop at the EAA museum in Oshkosh Wisconsin.

[@MysticalDragon73]

By far one of, if not the best, air museum around. I got to go inside the B36. It was only for a minute but the chance to ne inside history was worth it.

[@JoshuaTootell]

I only had a few hours. Amazing

[@silviog.4211]

Now that's a cool video!

[@bobmann1583]

Thank you for this video in Dayton. When I was a kid my dad talked about us going to Dayton to the museum. He died in 2000 so we never made it. I've been wanting to go to complete the dream we had. Now I'm 65 and disabled. Living on a fixed income doesn't bode well for traveling. That and the fact I don't own a vehicle, or one that can transport my powerchair. With your videos I can at least see what dad and I wanted see together. Thanks again.

[@brucebrown4480]

I have had the great fortune to be able to walk among the displays at the museum while I was stationed there in the late 80s. It is such a unique experience to be able to touch them and look inside them from close up.

[@GunsmithSid]

My boss flew Voodoos. Good to see the stories he told have some life to them. He was shot at several times in his RF-101 and the missiles ran out of fuel before they could reach him. He also recalled a very tense day during the Cuban Missile Crisis being lined up on the runway with White Genies (not checkerboard trainers) ready for the order to takeoff. Can’t wait for part two!

[@rockyraab8290]

I grew up as a "Century" pilot wannabe. Ended up working some of the last F-100 airstrikes in Vietnam as a FAC. This will be a great series. BTW, the F-101 also had serious pitchup problems when the high elevon got blanketed by turbulence in high-G situations.

[@HankyInTheTanky]

I live 45 minutes away from NMUSAF, I love going, wife and I go a lot, also collect 1/72 diecast aircraft that now call the museum home. Looking forward to seeing the next episodes

[@bambistrackstoo6118]

Cool Curator!! like him a lot!!

[@richardschaller638]

Two of my most enjoyable museum visits were the Silver Hill NASM Storage and Restoration Facility and the San Diego Air Museum restoration shop. The people who restore these aircraft are real artists and pros. Interesting story the curator told at Silver Hill: they found a hot ejection seat while working on a restoration. Everything stopped to disarm it. Then they decided to check the other planes in the shop and found about half the seats were hot!

[@dalemartell8639]

Ironic when you come up to Canada, just about everyone has a CF101 Voodoo and a CF104 Starfighter.

[@9greatdanes981]

I used to have a client that was an engineer for that short lived program. He had to change careers after the phantom showed up. Took him home to fly it on my simulator when he was 86

[@My3nMy4]

Living in the Dayton area, we’re trying blessed to have this great Museum. My dad worked on the Voodoo’s J57 engines - Voodoo mechanics were called “Voodoo Medicine Men” just like F-4 mechs were called “Phantom Phixers”. Great video!

[@user-bl8bd3no3i]

😅. UBER WOW KOOL 😎

[@mkbuike7895]

Great video. It's astounding that only 7% is on display at the Museum of the Air Force. Himself and I were there in 2019 and felt that 2 days was rushing to see what was there!

[@museumofflight]

We were there for three days and it didn't feel like enough.

[@ChevTecGroup]

Most of it is on loan to other museums and places for display

[@maxcomis698]

He’s back!!!

[@brothergrimaldus3836]

Hey!!!! The Happy Hooligans!!! FS 119 here in Fargo!!! Good pic!

[@mikesmith-wk7vy]

to think that Kelly Johnson created the design for the f104 in like 1952 or something , he was just so brilliant in his designs . he would take an objective and develop something to just dominate in that role , the f104 would have dominated the Migs way better than the f4 did if they chose to use it like it was designed for. he even had a concept design for a updated next gen starfighter that he said would have dominated over fighter it lost to (the f15) as an air to air fighter but the airforce had already decided everything needs to be a bomber by then and didnt want a pure fighter

[@williammitchell4417]

Takes me back to when I got to hang out in the Pima museum. The Lockheed Starfighter... WOW!! The 107? My goodness!!

[@lesthiele4921]

Thanks for the tour of the Air Force museum, 3would like to visit one day, bext regards from Australia 👍👍👍👍

[@MysticalDragon73]

If you are an aviation enthusiast this is by far one of if not the best to go to.

[@jimfinlaw4537]

Great video. It should be noted that the Douglas X-3 Stelleto research plane was the aircraft that had unlocked the mysteries of inertial coupling, in which the data it gathered explains why several North American F-100 Super Sabre aircraft were lost. The Douglas X-3 Stelleto is actually the aircraft upon which the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was developed from.

[@museumofflight]

Thanks for adding more to the story!

[@ThatGuysProject]

man i love century series aircraft as well as early to mid cold war aircraft. I'd love to fly a crusader, corsair and delta dart and dagger. as well as a 104 and thud ofc

[@TeargasHorse]

I wanna give the 107 a hug for showing up.

[@Auggies1956]

The Thunder Bird demonstration team flew the F100 for a time. Our air gaurd here in Toledo lost one in a takeoff accident.

[@44hawk28]

That F- 101 you're standing in front of actually has a RAWS scope just above the radome. I recognized it because we had one on the tail of the F-111. You can actually identify from the temperature of the exhaust what kind of aircraft you're looking at way up ahead of you beyond being able to identify an aircraft. You can also identify what type of missiles might be being shot at you. But there's a saying in the military that Friendly Fire, isn't. So any missile coming at you is not friendly.

[@marioguerrero9527]

I want to see more of the canceled 107! Those intakes look really goofy but i bet it had some merit to get that far into development

[@museumofflight]

Stay tuned! It'll be back later in the miniseries!

[@Wannes_]

Then you'll have to head out to PIMA ;-)

[@MrDgwphotos]

RF-101's did a lot of the reconnaissance flights during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[@garypease7414]

Amazing! Just as I started watching this, a kc135 and 2 f35s flew over. I love our in the middle of nowhere utard, it's great to see our protectors while I'm watching a video about our historic protectors!

[@Airpaycheck]

I would love to visit these storage facilities. So much history there.

[@museumofflight]

We're happy to take you along for the ride. Stick around, because we head back to the F-107 in a future episode!

[@mevalemadre6223]

Ok. When I was growing up, I told my dad I was going to fly the F-104 Starfighter... the most gorgeous machine I ever saw... sculpted steel (aluminum) and sex appeal. My dad said it would be obsolete by time I grew up to fly it... little did we know it was already retired. That said, I see you have two unique (1 of 1) planes in view... The Lear Fan, and the Schweizer YO-3A Quiet Star spy plane of Vietnam vintage. I'd love to hear more about them.

[@museumofflight]

We'll add those two to the list. We are fortunate to have an unparalleled collection of Lear-related objects because the Lear family was close to the Museum and Moya Lear left her documents (which included most of Bill's documents too) to us when she passed away. We've digitized over 1,000 of those objects: digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/collections/show/1255

[@winglessviper]

Mig-29 tail behind you and a Dyess (DY) B-1 behind the 101.

[@johnosbourn4312]

Actually, the Genie is an unguided Air to Air Rocket, which was initially designated as the MB-1, until Sept. 1962, when it was redesignated as the AIR-2A Genie.

[@dancrooks3740]

Great presentations and explanations - very engaging. BZ

[@Wannes_]

Don't forget the F-110 aka F-4 Phantom ... and the F-111

[@bretheweb]

Sad in F-107 :(. Somewhere in the multi-verse a flight of B-70's are being escorted by F-107s. And it would look glorious.

[@museumofflight]

That would be pretty sick.

[@cab6273]

DON'T FORGET THE F-110!!!

[@av8tore71]

My dad worked at McDonald Douglas during the summer is in college when they were building the f101 voodoo in St Louis He ended up flying the RF-4 in Vietnam

[@captaintoyota3171]

To think they went from this in early 50s to F4, f14 etc by 60s. Crazy fast fighter craft developmemt

[@davetelling]

Huh... when I saw the title, I thought, "I'll bet they will be talking about the F-107". And, Bob's yer uncle!

[@Justanotherconsumer]

The Rapier is another one that I’d love to see more about. There isn’t much to see, sadly.

[@museumofflight]

Noted!

[@jwenting]

@@museumofflight if I remember correctly (it's been some 40 years and I no longer have the books) the XF-108 featured in one of the Buck Danny comics, with the protagonists being assigned to a flight test unit (why a US Navy crew would be assigned to a USAF test unit I don't know, but we're talking fiction after all).

[@Justanotherconsumer]

@@museumofflight the various Cold War WuWa and might have beens are always fun to talk about. Flying flapjack, the XP-79, and so on are sadly kinda limited in their museum displays. The online community talks a lot about the Nazi what-ifs of WW2, but there were some wacky American designs too that are worth talking about, wondering what they were smoking, and so on.

[@brucermarino]

Thanks for a great presentation from a wonderful museum. Two questions: 1. Did not later models of the F-86 have an all-moving tell plane before the F-100? 2. Was the genie's nuclear warhead designed not only to take out multiple targets but also to compensate for its primitive, essentially ballistic, "guidance" system? Thanks again for great work and kudos to the museum and staff!

[@VettemanLT5]

Your videos ROCK!!!

[@daystatesniper01]

I first saw the 106 flying from Tydal and thought i need one of these back in the UK ,,sent mail to the relevant people ,never even got a reply great

[@WildBillCox13]

Great collaboration.

[@museumofflight]

Yes! We're so grateful to our colleagues at the National Museum of the United States Air Force for working with us on this. They were exceptionally gracious hosts.

[@chsfrnc]

The Century Series also includes the F-110

[@Jonno2summit]

The Air Force museum has an excellent website with a virtual tour and 360 cockpits you can "sit" in and look around.

[@trob0914]

AWESOME VIDEO!Love the fact that only 7% of the museum’s A/C are on display, that definitely says something about the depth of the “Collection”! BTW, cool jacket Doug, is that available on the store’s website or is it specifically made for museum staff?

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

The wing fence is present to STOP air from moving spanwise. I think you'll find that the Wright flyer also had a stabilator. I'm pretty sure that was before the Hun.

[@MysticalDragon73]

He was accurate with what he said. Though he should have said one of the first production aircraft with a stabilator to be more accurate.

[@larrysouthern5098]

I had all of these models when I was just a young inosent boy.

[@NewtonInDaHouseYo]

Is that an ex-Iraqi Mig-25 in the background ?

[@utley]

i cant wait for DCS to produce the F-100 Super Sabre...will be a fun module Im betting.

[@brentdykgraaf184]

Hey...you are at Wright Paterson...have him show you the Roswell saucer.

[@JC-yt1pm]

Thats a room I would like to visit.

[@edwardgrabot798]

I don't know if this qualifies but everytime they talk about the century series, they always stop at the f-106. However, for a short period in the Air Force life of this jet the F-4 Phantom II, was known as the F-110 Spectre. I don't know if that actually ever made it on the paperwork of the U.S. Air Force. Maybe someone out there has a more detailed explanation of this.

[@jwenting]

The F-110 became the F-4C when the tri service designation system came in place. So yes, it made it into service, just under a different name.

[@1joshjosh1]

Curator eats a goose. Curator rides a moose. Curator takes a deuce. Curator plans a ruse. Curator rides a caboose. That's all I have for today. Am sorry attempt to be funny. Keep up the good work.

[@museumofflight]

Perfect.

[@bretthoffman2128]

Although Not produced, beyond mock up, will you be covering the F108 Rapier?

[@museumofflight]

Not in this miniseries. Should we add it to our list for future episodes?

[@bretthoffman2128]

@@museumofflight yes it would be very interesting. And a companion video of the XB 70, could be done. Your already at the museum

[@tolson57]

I think the best airplane the Air Force never bought was the F-20 Tigershark.

[@malusignatius]

Where does the F-111 sit in relation to the Century Series/'teen' series etc? I know it's not a fighter per se (then again, neither was the F-105), but it was a groundbreaking aircraft (First in service swing-wing production aircraft, pioneer low-altitude penetrator).

[@cnfuzz]

Always a close call wich broke the absolute speed record since the F4D-1 skyray did 1211 km/h in level flight in 1953

[@anotherdave5107]

Ignoring the F-111 makes them century snobs.

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

That Egyptian or Iraqi Foxbat is interesting too. By the way I fully understand why the airforce didn't buy the F-107, that plane looks ridiculous.

[@9999plato]

The bestaircraft the air farce never bought was the YF-23

[@awuma]

And that's at Wright-Patterson, too.

[@crankycow35098]

now im wondering where is the f-103? does it exist? or was there a prototype?

[@TheBudman52]

would like te see the A series, A6, A7, A5, A 4 etc..... please

[@flyswryan]

Where does the F-111 fit in this group?

[@Hypersonicmind]

F107. What happens to the engine induction at high angles of attack?

[@44hawk28]

Had it designation not been changed, it would have also included the f110 and the F-111. The f110 designation was changed from the f110 to the F4 but McNamara was indeed a moron when it came to being a Pencil Neck Geek. Luckily the people actually building the aircraft were better at understanding concepts than he was. I happened to be an F-111 beyonics technician who worked on the automated flight controls and instrumentation. I did have the opportunity to work on Daryl Grenamyers f-104 and actually found a problem he had that caused him to have to land at our air base. As well as some other aircraft, but after working on the f-104 and a few F4 is in the light, I did recognize the fact that a lot of the instrumentation that I had seen inside of the Century series jet aircraft, of course that was an F-1 10. The f-104, I did see a couple of F100. That same instrumentation was also in the F-111 but it had additional stuff just for the terrain-following radar. Along with the inertial nav and the tacan which had been added about that time. Which no longer is in operation at least not that anybody knows. The advantage to the F-111 was not only at speed at being able to get to a place to drop bombs, we drop bombs within ten feet of a Target within 10 seconds of when you wanted to hit it. And that was before the pave tack system of laser designation.

[@DCS_World_Japan]

The Century Series always confuddled me because there's so much overlap in mission sets among the 7 airframes. Why didn't the AF simply adopt two--one for A2G and one for A2A--then retire the other 5, thus saving on logistics and maintenance?

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

There are more than 2 missions, intercept, air superiority, point defense, CAS, strategic bombing, tactical bombing, Elint, airborne command & control, Electronic suppression, SEAD, Recce, fueling, and others. The buzzword at the time was "multi mission". What the air force really wanted (and still wants) was a magical sports car/dump truck that could do all the missions without compromise. The Century series was a time of throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick.

[@B61Mod12]

1:52 Is that engine painted on???

[@stephenjacks8196]

F-117 also

[@jonbutcher9805]

Was there a F103?

[@sinclap2]

Was that a MiG-25 tail I could see in the background on left?

[@museumofflight]

Maybehhhh ;) www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196331/mikoyan-gurevich-mig-25/

[@sinclap2]

Thanks 😊 I should’ve thought of looking it up. I can’t wait for the next part!

[@jwenting]

is that an Iraqi MiG-25 in the background? Sidenote: the Genie was classified as a rocket, not a missile, as it was unguided.

[@jackjones7504]

SPOTTED that myself defo Mig 25 tail fin..

[@My3nMy4]

It is - it was buried in the sand to hide it, and then when it was shipped over here, in the process the wings were lost.

[@oldthudman]

Ellington AFB (Houston) had some VooDoo's for several years......

[@jarroyolaw]

The Iraqi MiG25 in the background!!!!!!

[@johnleake708]

How does one get access to those facilities? Payment Permission?

[@museumofflight]

We can't speak for the museum in Dayton, but in our Museum and many others, all a person really needs to do is ask and have a genuine reason for wanting to access the objects. Museums exist to connect people with information, and at The Museum of Flight only a tiny fraction of our millions of objects are on display at any time. Just because they're not on display doesn't mean no one can see them, it just means they're in a filing cabinet or on a shelf or in preservation storage because we don't have room to put them in a case. Interested researchers who want to access The Museum of Flight's collection can do so here: www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits-and-Events/Collections-and-Research/Research-Center/

[@rafaelleon808]

Where can one get the hat you are wearing? Thanks in advance.

[@fw1421]

I thought the Museum of Flight had been sold and closed? What happened to the Ju-87 Stuka they were restoring?

[@museumofflight]

The Museum of Flight has been in continuous operation since 1965. You must be confusing us with another museum.

[@fw1421]

@@museumofflight are you still restoring the Stuka?

[@museumofflight]

@@fw1421 We do not have a Stuka in our collection. You're probably confusing us with another museum, likely the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum.

[@fw1421]

@@museumofflight Now that I think about it you’re right. Thanks for the correction!👍🏻

[@mikemontgomery2654]

Are we just NOT going to talk about the clearly seen, captured Iraqi Mig-25?

[@dukenukem8381]

hello

[@BeardedChieftain]

So not the F-111? Is it not a part of "The Century Series"?

[@stephenjacks8196]

F-111 is century too

[@robmorgan1214]

Atmospheric bursts of gini do not affect anything on the ground below. There's even a famous video of several officers standing under a test shot of one. Some of the guys did flinch. See ground zero population five (one colonel one short bird a couple of majors and a photographer).

[@brucenadeau2172]

they forget the f 110, and the f 111

[@viperdriver82]

What abou😊t the F-111 ?

[@billthecat129]

They are not accidents...they are crashes

[@reetville]

you state that F100 was pulled in 1979 Know for a fact at least one was still in service with USAFE 40th detachment 4 till at least 1985

[@reetville]

still got the T-shirts

[@guidor.4161]

So what about the F-111?

[@Justanotherconsumer]

The F-4 (aka F-110) could also be considered, but it was really the next step after the century series.

[@museumofflight]

Visiting Dayton was like being kids in a candy shop! We could have spent a year there making videos! To help us focus this miniseries, we decided to limit ourselves to the six aircraft generally agreed to be part of the Century Series...plus we couldn't resist the F-107 because it was sitting right there. Is there interest in an F-111 episode in the future?

[@jwenting]

@@museumofflight I've always liked the F-111, and the could-have-been-should-have-been long range interceptor versions of it.

[@mjdb78]

introduce yourself to a BARBAR

[@michaelnaisbitt7926]

Talk to the German airfare about these death traps

[@erietrain]

Why did they skip the F-103?

[@Justanotherconsumer]

They didn’t. The XF-103 Thunderwarrior was a project that never got built. Hybrid turbojet/ramjet propulsion, no forward visibility, it was an oddball of a proposal. Ridiculous expected performance, too, before they understood the “heat barrier” of high speed flight. On paper it had Mach 5 capability. Fast, missiles, radar, couldn’t turn at all. Typical 3rd Gen design on steroids.

[@museumofflight]

There are so many interesting planes to talk about! For this series, we decided to limit ourselves to aircraft in the inventory of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, which means we don't talk about some of the other projects that didn't get too far off the ground. Is there interest in an episode about cancelled prototypes?

[@sloppydog4831]

​@The Museum of Flight yes, that would be very interesting to see.

[@jwenting]

@@museumofflight And then of course there are the F-108, F-109, and F-110. First two never got built, last got redesignated F-4C when the tri-service numbering system was introduced (as it was the initial USAF version of the F-4 Phantom, at the time the F4H-1 under the old Navy system). So technically you could say the F-4 is indeed a century series fighter, but it's stretching the definition quite a bit.

[@ericawollmuth5055]

F-111, F117???

[@ShuRugal]

F-111 isn't Century?

[@GrigoriZhukov]

My wife is glad I don't have the cash. Because any warbird or cargo would be mission ready to standards.

[@cmdredstrakerofshado1159]

To bad you gave Short Shrift to the F101 in the video. It was largely due to the F101 Voodoo's low level high speed reconnaissance photos that proved that Soviet Union was installing and what type IRBM nuclear missiles in Cuba. Along with the F101 low level high speed photos tracking of the Soviet navy cargo ships coming and going delivering the Soviet missiles delivering to Cuba. And after the Cuban missile crisis was resolve it was low level high speed photos from the RF101 verifying the disassembly and loading of the IRBMs into Soviet cargo ships and Carrier based photo recon version of the F8, the RF-8G Crusader verified the IRCBs were returned to the Soviet Union. The U2 besides get another one shot down which almost caused Kennedy to go to war, the U2 photos resolution was too low to tell if the sites were fake dummy sites to create F.U.D. or real nuclear weapons that would be a clear danger to the US and it allies . It was the Low level high speed photos from the RF-101 Voodoos and RF-8 Crusader the provided the proof they were real Soviet IRBMs and real threat to the US.

[@johnfife3062]

Good info, but I'm not hanging with your hook -- deliver on your title.