The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is an American fighter aircraft from the second half of the 1950s. It was the first mass-produced fighter capable of exceeding 1,000 mph (1,609 km/h). Built in just under 900 units, this second type of the Century Series Fighters remained in service until the early 1980s.
History
In 1951, the United States Air Force issued a tender for a long-range fighter capable of accompanying the B-36 intercontinental bomber. McDonnell won the tender with an answer based on his XF-88 project, developed in the late 1940s but never brought to fruition. The future F-101 was however larger and its structure partly modified compared to the XF-88.
The XF-88 prototype
The first prototype made its maiden flight on September 29, 1954 and soon after reached its top speed of Mach 1.4. The mass production had been launched immediately, so that about thirty planes had been delivered in the first half of 1956. The tests carried out by the USAF revealed however many problems of youth and the production was interrupted a few months, the time to make several hundred modifications to aircraft already delivered. Finally, the first F-101A were delivered to operational units from May 1957. They were armed with 4 20 mm cannons and possibly an atomic bomb, but could not however carry conventional bombs. Indeed, following the reversals of the American General Staff, the F-101 was now intended to serve as a fighter-bomber, capable of both air-to-air missions and to drop the atomic bomb.
The F-101A not being well suited to its new low altitude attack mission, an F-101C version was developed in 1957, with a reinforced structure capable of withstanding 7.33G and some other minor improvements. However, only 47 units were built before the USAF finally gave up using Voodoo for attack. The rest of the production was transformed into as many RF-101Cs, an unarmed reconnaissance version which, however, remained capable of carrying an atomic bomb, and underwent some improvements to the photographic system during its career.
At the same time, following the delays encountered on the F-102 Delta Dagger program, the USAF ordered an F-101B all-weather interceptor version in 1954, as a standby solution. It was a two-seater aircraft (1 pilot and 1 weapon system operator), equipped with more powerful J57 engines with longer nozzles, a front modified to carry the firing system, and armed with 4 air-to-air missiles replacing cannons. The first flight took place on March 27, 1957 and deliveries began in January 1959. This version was accompanied by the F-101F version intended for training in the weapon system, but which retained all its combat capability. The F-101Bs underwent several modifications during their career, such as the ability to fire the AIR-2 Genie nuclear warhead air-to-air missile, the addition of an infrared detector and improvements to the firing system.
The F-101A and C and their reconnaissance derivatives remained in the front line until the mid-1960s and the last were withdrawn from reserve units in the late 1970s. transferred to the National Guard at the end of the 1960s and were definitively reformed at the beginning of the 1980s.
Export
After the abandonment of the CF-105 Arrow, Canada ordered 56 F-101B interceptors and 10 F-101F trainers, which were delivered between July 1961 and May 1962. These were second-hand aircraft taken from USAF units, initially armed only with "conventional" Falcon air-to-air missiles. From 1965, the Canadian Voodoos were also able to use AIR-2 Genie nuclear-tipped missiles, but these remained the property of the United States and were implemented under its control.
Between 1970-1972, the remaining CF-101s were returned to the United States and replaced by 66 others, still used, but overhauled and including the latest improvements made to the American examples. The CF-101B and CF-101F remained in service with the RCAF until the end of 1984. Two examples were nevertheless kept until April 1987, one of which was transformed into an EF-101B intended for electronic warfare.
In 1959, Taiwan bought 8 second-hand RF-101As, which it used for reconnaissance missions until the late 1970s. It seems that a few American RF-101Cs were also leased by Taiwan during the summer of 1962 .
Records
On November 27, 1957, four RF-101As set several United States crossing records, including a Los Angeles-New York round trip (distance 7,871 km) at an average speed of 1,161 km/h.
On December 12, 1957, an F-101A equipped with J57-P-55 engines intended for the F-101B version set a speed record by reaching 1,943 km/h1, the highest speed ever reached by an operational fighter.
Commitments
A reconnaissance RF-101C in Vietnam, this plane was shot down on March 7, 1966 by a surface-to-air missile.
US RF-101As and RF-101Cs flew several reconnaissance missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
The RF-101C was the only version of the Voodoo used by the United States during the Vietnam War, between 1961 and 1965. 39 aircraft were lost in Vietnam, 33 of which were in combat. Of these, 5 were shot down by SAM missiles during an attack on an airfield and one by a MiG-21.
Taiwan's RF-101As have been used for reconnaissance (even spy) missions over China. One of these planes was shot down on August 2, 1961 and another on December 18, 1964
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dates
commissioning date :1954
Date of withdrawal 1984 (Canada)
Nationalities
Constructor :USA
Users :USA US Navy Canada
Number built 883
Categories Fighter Bomber
Technical and Performance Data
Wingspan :12.09 m.
Length :20.54m.
Height :5.48 m
Maximum Weight :23,133 kg.
Max Altitude :17,800 m
Range :2,445 km
Maximum speed :1,770 km/h at 12,190 m altitude
Ascent Speed speed:15,000 m/min
Practical ceiling :15,850 m.
Motorisation (engines or reactors)
Engine Pratt &Whitney J57-P-55
Number 2
Type Turbojet engines with afterburner
Unit thrust 75.2 kN
Armaments :4 x 20 mm guns 3,050 kg war load