Convair F-106

[Steve Pace]

Here's a 318th FIS F-106A with its replacement F-15A over Mt. Rainier, circa 1980.

 

[ChuckAnderson]

Here's a 318th FIS F-106A with its replacement F-15A over Mt. Rainier, circa 1980.

My Dad was in the 318th FIS from 1968 to 1975.

 

[Steve Pace]

Cool! Doing what?

 

[ChuckAnderson]

Cool! Doing what?

His AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code) was 32291
Fire & Weapons Control Superintendent

Chuck

 

[Steve Pace]

Then he must have dealt with the Falcon and Genie missile armaments and the Hughes MA-1 Fire Control System.

 

[ChuckAnderson]

Then he must have dealt with the Falcon and Genie missile armaments and the MA-1 Fire Control System.

Yes he did. Before F-106s, he worked on F-102s, and before that, F-89s.


Chuck

 

[Steve Pace]

That's really neat. Do you have any photos re 318th?

 

[ChuckAnderson]

That's really neat. Do you have any photos re 318th?

He might.
I just have to get over there and dig into the old photo albums.

Chuck

 

[Steve Pace]

Maybe I could feature him in an F-106 article in Flight Journal magazine.

 

[Steve Pace]

BTW: I see where you live - I live in east Tacoma.

 

[Steve Pace]

Happy 53rd Birthday to the best ever all weather interceptor - the F-106 Delta Dart. It's first flight was 53 years ago today. It wasn't just any first flight either - it charged to 1.9 Mach and lofted to 57,000 feet. Richard L. "Dick" Johnson was its lead-footed pilot.

 

[yasotay]

F-106 was and remains my all time favorite jet aircraft. I grew up wanting to fly them with a passion. I still have my model I built... many years ago.

 

[Steve Pace]

I'd love to see a 1:32 scale model of it with the M61 Vulcan cannon.

 

[Archibald]

Build a F-106 and a F-15 in 318 th colors. Btw, where does the (great!) blue star come from ?

 

[Steve Pace]

I believe it represents the North Star.

 

[Boxman]

I'd love to see a 1:32 scale model of it with the M61 Vulcan cannon.

Speaking of the F-106's gun, this film ("F-106 Six Shooter") was just posted by the San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on YouTube. It features some great footage of the M61/A1 installation and associated flight tests.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sD7cOpBgJQ

 

[OM]

...Outstanding catch there, Sir! Downloaded and stashed to my hard drive archive ;D

 

[fightingirish]

Speaking of the F-106's gun, this film ("F-106 Six Shooter") was just posted by the San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on YouTube. It features some great footage of the M61/A1 installation and associated flight tests.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sD7cOpBgJQ

Some pictures showing the integration of the M61/A1 to the F-106 were posted resently at the SDASM Flickr Archive.
Here a few appetizers:

https://flic.kr/p/2oP1JKQ

View: https://flic.kr/p/2oP1JKQ

https://flic.kr/p/2oP1Jvr

View: https://flic.kr/p/2oP1Jvr

https://flic.kr/p/2oP6Kjt

View: https://flic.kr/p/2oP6Kjt

 

[yahya]

I have a technical question. Does anyone know the nomenclature of the 20-channel ILS used on the F-106A, which had a custom cockpit control unit with a large grey knob?

 

[NMaude]

Is this the definitive F-106 thread?

 

[NMaude]

Not A Pond For Air-To-Ground has recently put out this video about the Convair F-106A Delta Dart:

The F-106 Delta Dart pushed the boundaries of 1950s aviation technology to produce a groundbreaking combination of avionic sophistication and aircraft performance. This video goes deep into the ADC's ultimate interceptor with particular focus on its avionics and weapon system.

To avoid disappointment, this video doesn't cover the F-106B or proposed advanced versions of the aircraft. Standalone videos coming in 2025 so please subscribe .

Sources:

Strangely, the Delta Dart isn't tremendously well covered in recent literature. Most books are therefore rather outdated. Fortunately, the utterly exceptional F-106 Delta Dart Association website is both free to access and packed full of content: https://www.f-106deltadart.com/https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...https://www.f-106deltadart.com/&v=T-8gN_1cHVY

Book-wise:

"F-106 In Detail And Scale" by Bert Kinzey is the usual mix of slightly hard to read commentary with amazing detail photos

"F-106 Delta Dart In Action" by Captain Don Carson and Lou Drendel is a nice balance of pictures and interesting commentary from those who flew the aircraft

"Convair F-106 Delta Dart" by William G Holder is a bit dated in style, but still a good read

 

[UpForce]

There hasn't been too much decent material about the F-106 on YouTube. This report from 1958 seems watchable.

View: https://youtu.be/x8eBK2m-4g8

 

[NMaude]

It makes me wonder why the F-106 wasn't a tailed-delta like the A-4 as that would've enabled it to have flaps lowering both its' landing and takeoff speeds for example.

 

[Sferrin]

It makes me wonder why the F-106 wasn't a tailed-delta like the A-4 as that would've enabled it to have flaps lowering both its' landing and takeoff speeds for example.

Same reason the Mirage III, IV, 2000, 4000, B-58, F-102, etc. wasn't.

 

[Volkodav]

Would a multi-role version of the F-106 have been a viable export option?

An earlier gun option, flexible weapons bay, clear view canopy and additional wing hard points with a different avionics package?

 

[yasotay]

How much longer could the F-106 have remained aloft if the weapon bay had become a fuel tank?

 

[NMaude]

I stumbled across this interesting Megaprojects video about the F-106:

 

[MadRat]

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7AllaJss8Iw


F-4 maintenance was less convenient than on F-106...

 

[Sferrin]

How much longer could the F-106 have remained aloft if the weapon bay had become a fuel tank?

Where would you have put the weapons?

 

[NMaude]

Where would you have put the weapons?

Either mounted on the F-106's wing-pylons and/or semi-recessed Ala AIM-7 Sparrow.

 

[yasotay]

Where would you have put the weapons?

It was an academic question really. Perhaps making it a long range high speed reonnaissance aircraft(?)

But! What if you replaced the later en placed gun pod with a targeting pod and replaced the (mostly) useless AIM-4 with LGB or later on GPS ordnance? A very fast fighter bomber?

 

[Sferrin]

It was an academic question really. Perhaps making it a long range high speed reonnaissance aircraft(?)

But! What if you replaced the later en placed gun pod with a targeting pod and replaced the (mostly) useless AIM-4 with LGB or later on GPS ordnance? A very fast fighter bomber?

Or. . .

 

[MadRat]

The F-106 airframe was built where it could have gone 100 years with relatively minor extended service life extensions. That is if all the F-106s hadn't become target drones. And honestly, the F-14 suffered a similar fate with it being killed off to make way for new industry programs. The F-106 could have done a lot of useful things with the weapons bay and pylons. The delta wing design is such a robust structure.

We have a stewardship problem in leadership, killing off well built programs. But kings of industry don't reward retired admirals and generals that fail to provide them new revenue streams. So you always see the sturdiest workhorse frames get abused and trashed, to ensure they are gone permanently. The B-52 is an anomaly because so many support programs attached to them they cannot afford to have them go away. The F-106 had few companies relying on it so it was politically expendable. Kind of a shame because it really could have soldiered on - even if nothing more than as a weaponized drone - for many decades.