Convair F 106 Delta Dart Top Speed

Convair adult the fastest and most sophisticated fighter of the Cold War to protect the U.Due south. from Soviet bombers.

During the Cold War years, Convair's delta-wing F-106A was the fastest and nearly lethal all-atmospheric condition interceptor in the U.South. Air Force inventory. The F-106A, when lightly loaded, approached the magic ane-to-1 thrust-to-weight ratio—a characteristic coveted past fighter pilots everywhere. With a 24,500-pound-thrust afterburning Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 engine pushing an airframe only slightly heavier than the engine thrust output, this 1950s-era aeroplane had an impressive initial climb charge per unit of xxx,000 anxiety per minute and a zoom-climb distance above lxx,000 feet. Equally a result of the "thermal barrier" created by friction oestrus on the ship's skin and Plexiglas canopy, its airspeed was express to Mach 2.31 (1,525 mph).

The genesis of the fighter that ultimately became the F-106A, and later the F-106B trainer, began in 1949 as Project WS-201A. The concept chosen for a supersonic fighter-interceptor carrying air-to-air guided missiles, with an all-weather condition search and fire-control radar.

The Hughes Shipping Visitor was awarded the ammunition and electronics contract in October 1950. Hughes developed the MA-1 fire-control organization, designed to fire a nuclear-tipped Genie rocket and/or four Super Falcon radar-homing, infrared heat-seeking missiles. (In 1972 an internal Vulcan 20mm cannon package would supersede the Genie on some F-106As.)

The airframe evolution contract was originally presented to Convair, Lockheed and Republic. Convair'south proposal ultimately won the day, since it was closely related to the company'southward earlier efforts on the delta-wing XF-92A. The delta-wing blueprint had evolved from the work of Alexander Lippisch, who pioneered the concept in Germany during World War II. Based on the XF-92A experience, Convair'south management remained convinced that the delta-wing configuration was the best reply to bug encountered with supersonic flying.

The Air Force wanted the interceptor to be operational in 1954, just by Dec 1951 it became apparent that neither the engine nor the MA-ane fire-control organization would be ready by then. Meanwhile, Convair proceeded with evolution of an interim version designated the F-102A Delta Dagger. It barbarous short of the Air Force's required performance, however, and so Convair fabricated several changes to the airframe and engine. The new J75 turbojet replaced the original Pratt & Whitney J57. While the delta wing remained essentially unchanged on the first few test aircraft, the F-102A's fixed leading edge and wing argue were afterwards replaced with leading-border wing slots. The fuselage was stretched and streamlined using NASA's "Coke bottle" area-rule design, with the air intakes moved closer to the engine and well aft of the nose. For flights at very loftier Mach numbers, automatic variable inlet ramps moved fore and aft as airspeed changed to go along the inlet air flowing into the J75's compressor subsonic.

The resulting airplane, initially designated the F-102B, had been contradistinct to such a degree that in 1956 it was redesignated as a new type, the F-106A Delta Dart. Past Baronial 1958, 4 years afterwards than originally planned, the "ultimate interceptor" was consummate, entering service in May 1959. Its combat radius with internal fuel was 575 miles, and its range could exist extended to two,700 miles with external tanks. The plane'southward service ceiling was 57,000 feet. At 35,000 feet, the Delta Sprint was capable of interceptions at speeds up to Mach 2. On December 15, 1959, Major Joseph W. Rogers flew a stock F-106A to set the world's accented speed tape for unmarried-engine aircraft of i,525.695 mph.

Armament, housed in a ventral weapons bay, consisted of four Hughes AIM-4 Super Falcon air-to-air missiles, along with a single Douglas AIR-2A Genie air-to-air rocket with a 1.5-kiloton warhead. These were intended to be fired at enemy bomber formations.

The MA-i fire-control system was designed to work in conjunction with the Semi-Automatic Ground Environs (SAGE) continental air defense network. Later on takeoff, the MA-1 organization took control of the airplane (though the airplane pilot provided throttle inputs) and a SAGE basis controller guided the F-106 to the intercept, whereupon the airplane pilot would lock on the intruder and fire his weapons. The SAGE controller then returned the Delta Dart to the vicinity of the air base, where the airplane pilot again took command and landed.

Ultimately, the initial F-106A lodge was reduced from 1,000 aircraft to 277, plus 63 two-seat, dual-control F-106Bs, outfitting fourteen squadrons and a training unit. The reduced guild reflected the evolving Soviet threat, which had shifted from an emphasis on bombers to ballistic missiles. The final F-106A was delivered on July xxx, 1961.

In late 1961, the Air Force conducted Project High Speed, pitting the F-106A confronting the U.Southward. Navy'south McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. While the F-106A bested the F-4 in visual dogfighting, the Phantom'due south APQ-72 radar proved more reliable, with longer detection and lock-on ranges. That December the USAF announced that Tactical Air Command would larn the F-4, with the F-106A remaining in Air Defense Command'due south inventory.

In 1965 the Weber Shipping Corporation was tasked with designing a "nil-nada" ejection seat to replace the F-106'south unpopular and complicated conventional ejection seat. Weber delivered the first new seat in just 45 days, and information technology proved highly effective. Ejection with the Weber seat was a one-pace procedure: The airplane pilot merely raised the armrests, which jettisoned the awning and ignited the showtime phase of the two-stage rocket catapult. The booster rocket started the seat up the rails and then the second phase provided upward and forward thrust and so that both seat and airplane pilot cleared the ship'south tail. The new seat was subsequently retrofitted on the entire F-106 fleet.

During its long service life, the F-106A had the distinction of recording the lowest unmarried-engine aircraft accident record in USAF history. The Air Strength began replacing its Delta Darts with McDonnell F-15s in 1981, keeping many in service equally QF-106 target drones. The concluding F-106A was retired from the 119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New Jersey Air National Guard, in August 1988. Even so even today the Delta Dart could hold its ain in the fighter preparation and combat arena, and Major Rogers' speed record for a single-engine jet nevertheless stands. That'south quite an achievement for an airplane that showtime flew more than than sixty years ago.