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F106

B-52 Vs F-14

by Till Daisd April 20, 2023

“The F-14, however, flown by “nasal radiators,” kicked our ass. Most incredibly, the Tomcat got immediately on our ‘six’ despite coming at us head-on and having to turn 180 degrees for his initial approach, while the Air Force interceptors had arrived from behind, to begin with, a great advantage,” Jay Lacklen, former B-52 pilot

Jay Lacklen is a former B-52 pilot with 12,500 flying hours and the author of two books, Flying the Line: An Air Force Pilot’s Journey and Flying the Line: An Air Force Pilot’s Journey Volume Two: Military Airlift Command.

Dancing with Interceptors, 1975

One of the few times we got to maneuver forcefully at high altitudes was during intercepts by Air Defense Command interceptor fighters, which included the F-102 and F-106 from the USAF, and the F-14 from the U.S. Navy.

Later, in the C-5, I had intercepts run on me, without maneuvering, by NATO fighters that were usually F-16s or British Tornadoes as we flew across Europe. I enjoyed the American intercepts in the B-52 because we got to “dance” with the fighter boys. As the interceptor checked in on frequency, I would tell him we were ready and “had our dancing shoes on.”

Former BUFF driver tells the story of the most unusual dogfight: B-52 Vs F-14

As the intercept began, the EW would call the range and clock position of the fighter, such as “eight o’clock, ten miles,” so I would know where he was and when to maneuver. The F-102s and F-106s proved the easiest to shake. They would come smoking in on us at high speed, but below Mach 1, and line up directly behind us at our six o’clock position, which is the missile launch or cannon firing position.

I would push our speed up to three hundred knots or so to keep him at high speed as he approached. When the EW called his position about three miles at a high rate of closure, I would roll into forty-five degrees of bank, pull the throttles to idle, and raise the speed brakes. Then I would pull hard, putting the bomber into a tight decelerating turn. This would invariably cause the F-102 or F-106 to badly overshoot, since, with swept wings, designed for high speed, they had greatly degraded turning capability. The long B-52 wings and airbrake deployment allowed a far tighter turn than the F-100 series fighters could manage, and we invariably “lost” them with this maneuver.

F-14 Tomcat Vs F-15 Eagle: the pilots' perspective

The Navy F-14, however, flown by “nasal radiators,” kicked our ass. The Tomcat could sweep its wings forward to nearly seventy degrees from its swept-wing, high-speed configuration and match my best turn, which infuriated me. Most incredibly, the Tomcat, of the movie Top Gun and “Maverick” fame, got immediately on our “six” despite coming at us head-on and having to turn 180 degrees for his initial approach, while the Air Force interceptors had arrived from behind, to begin with a great advantage. As the F-14 swung behind us and approached, my EW, Buddy, called his position “six o’clock, three miles.” Going into my maneuver, I racked the B-52 into a steep turn, groaning at the g-forces I put on the plane.

The EW, however, made the maddening call, “Target six o’clock, one mile,” repeatedly from the time I broke into the turn until I rolled out, defeated. The Tomcat stayed in perfect formation with me one mile behind in perfect shooting position. At this point, had I been in a B-1 perhaps, I could have gone to the afterburner and left the F-14 far behind. The standard complaint about the F-14 was poor acceleration from low speed, as the wings were swept back for high speed from the extended position. The ratio of relatively low power to relatively high aircraft weight made acceleration an all-day thing in a dogfight. The added weight was necessary to provide beefed-up landing gear structures for punishing carrier landings, but it hampered acceleration from low speed.

B-52 Vs F-14: former BUFF driver tells the story of an unusual bomber V fighter dogfight

But for purposes of this combat exercise, the F-14 would have shot us down easily, had our gunner not shot him down first. If he used a missile from ten miles or so behind us, he’d have nailed us; if he had to come into cannon range, however, our fifty-caliber rear cannon might have nailed him first. This is another reason why we knew we would fly our nuke mission low level, so the fighters would have a difficult time even finding us against the ground clutter.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy

April 20, 2023 0 comment

History

The F-106 Delta Dart interceptor and the Air-2 Genie nuclear rocket

by Till Daisd March 18, 2023

written by Till Daisd

On the F-106, the Hughes MA-1 electronic guidance and fire control system was used, which also supported the Genie and Falcon missiles

The F-106 Delta Dart all-weather interceptor was developed by Convair from the company’s F-102 Delta Dagger. After extensive structural changes and a more powerful engine, it was called F-106. F-102B was the original designation.

The first F-106A flew on December 26, 1956, and the United States Air Force (USAF) began receiving them in July 1959. Production of the F-106A and F-106B ended in late 1960 after 277 F-106As and 63 F-106Bs were built.

The F-106 served as the Air Force’s premier interceptor for more than a decade, however, it was rarely referred to as the Delta Dart. Informally, the F-106 was dubbed “The Six.”

Interceptor aircraft had substantial strategic relevance in the 1960s due to evolving technology driving the dynamics of the Cold War at the time. Long-range bombers were highly feared. After the 1960s, aircraft built particularly for interceptor missions became scarce. The Delta Dart was America’s last dedicated interceptor while its Soviet counterpart was the Sukhoi Su-9.

It’s important to note that Delta Dart’s development did not go smoothly. The ejector seat failed, killing all 12 pilots attempting to eject. The F-106, on the other hand, was relatively inexpensive and had a strong reputation for performance, garnering its considerable appeal.

The mission of an interceptor is to respond to and contrast enemy aircraft incursions, primarily bombers. The F-106 was inspired by the Tupolev Tu-95, a long-range strategic bomber and Soviet counterpart to the B-52. The purpose of an interceptor aircraft is to catch and destroy larger, slower planes.

The F-106 used the Hughes MA-1 electronic guidance and fire control system to carry out this mission. After takeoff, the MA-1 may be given control of the plane to get it to the proper altitude and attack position. The Genie and Falcon missiles can then be launched, halting the attack run and returning the plane to its base. The pilot regained control for the landing.

Designed during the peak of the Cold War, the McDonnell Douglas AIR-2 Genie was an air-to-air rocket with no guidance system. It was equipped with a W25 nuclear warhead, a 200-pound compact fission bomb.

McDonnell Douglas Air-2A Genie Rocket on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

During the Cold War, the United States was surprised at how quickly the Soviet Union cloned not only the atomic bomb but also its delivery system. During the peak of the tensions, the precarious state of world affairs prompted an acute fear of a nuclear strike, driving both sides to seek ways to defend themselves.

As we said, interceptor planes existed to counter long-range strategic bombers, but the tactics of the time needed those bombers to fly in formation, often in large numbers. To avoid a nuclear assault, interceptors would have to shoot down every enemy plane, which was an unlikely scenario given the state of air-to-air armament capability at the time.

The AIR-2 was designed to take out an entire formation of planes at once. The rocket had a range of about six miles and was detonated by time delay rather than impact, so it didn’t even need to hit an enemy bomber to be successful; the nuclear warhead would do the work, and the time delay would give the interceptor pilot enough time to evacuate.

Over 3000 AIR-2 weapons were created by the US and shared with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). For the first time, an AIR-2 was detonated during Operation Plumbbob in 1957.

As the Cold War continued, interceptor aircraft and weapons like the AIR-2 lost a lot of their utility, and strategic bombers were eclipsed as the most hazardous means of delivering a strategic nuclear strike by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). So, in 1988, the AIR-2 was retired from service.

Throughout its service life, the F-106 was regularly updated, but in the early 1980s, it was phased out and replaced by the F-15 Eagle. Delta Darts, like their primary weapon, the AIR-2, were assigned to National Guard troops until they were phased out at the end of the decade. The F-106’s main battleground was Vietnam, although it never saw combat.

For the Pacer Six Program’s training, many old F-106s were converted into drones. NASA also purchased five F-106 fighter jets for research and testing targeted at improving fighter technology, as well as the Eclipse Program, which was the first to use aircraft to aid in spacecraft launch.

Source: U.S. Air Force; Photo by Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force

March 18, 2023 0 comment

History

The Lippisch P 13, the Nazi Mach 2.6 interceptor that led to the F-102 Delta Dagger and to the F-106 Delta Dart

by Till Daisd January 22, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The P 13’s construction started in May 1944, and although it used the P 12’s ramjet technology (which had been intended to carry weapons), its function was similar to that of the “arrows of death” that had been conceived in September 1943—it was a rammer.

Dr. Alexander Lippisch created the experimental Lippisch P 13 ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor plane for Nazi Germany in late 1944. The aircraft was never developed past the design stage despite wind tunnel tests demonstrating the design’s exceptional stability up to Mach 2.6 speed. At the end of the war, conventional fuel was in insufficient supply, thus powdered coal was to be used to power the ramjet.

Work on the P 13 began in May 1944 and, although it used the ramjet technology of the P 12 (which had been designed to carry weaponry), its role harked back to the ‘arrows of death’ conceived back in September 1943 — it was a rammer, as Dan Sharp explains in his book Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters 1939-1945.

Its design also differs from the P 12’s. The P 13’s ramjet intake was fully unobstructed, with air entering the intake nearly immediately entering the massive combustion chamber, in contrast to the P 12 where the pilot sat low in the fuselage with the air ducts feeding the ramjet coiled around his narrow cockpit. The cockpit was moved upward to create a sizable combined fin/cockpit sitting on top of the combustion chamber, which allowed for this.

The P 12 had tanks filled with liquid fuel for its ramjet, whereas the P 13 would have a wire mesh grate holding a substantial amount of slow-burning coal or other solid fuel. In July 1945, while being questioned by US Army officers, Lippisch gave the following justification for his decision to switch fuels: “He felt that at high velocities, solid fuels were more desirable than liquid fuels, the reason being that the solid fuel did not flow out into the velocity stream and, therefore, its burning took place at a predetermined place.

“For a solid fuel to be acceptable it must have good ‘gas producing qualities’, such as bituminous coal. The most intense heating among the solid fuels was provided by German normal pine wood ‘cooked’ in oil or paraffin in pieces 1 x 1 x 1cm.”

How the P 13 was supposed to be used during active operations is not mentioned in either of Lippisch’s 1976 publications. When the British questioned him about whether the P 13 had been intended to be a rammer, he responded: “The possibilities of using the P 13 as a ramming aircraft had been considered but Dr. Lippisch did not think that athodyd propulsion was very suitable for this purpose owing to the risk of pieces of the rammed aircraft entering the intake. This would be avoided with a rocket-propelled rammer.”

Here’s why the Lippisch P.13a Mach 2.6 experimental ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor designed by Luftwaffe during WWII is the weirdest aircraft ever conceived

However, the Luftwaffe’s undated P 13 Baubeschreibung or construction description of 1944, probably produced in October or early November, states: “The aircraft presented here is a jet with the task of a fighter. The propulsion is by a Lorin engine, not using liquid fuel (gasoline, gas oil, J2, etc.) but with solid fuels (coal). Studies have been carried out on two forms — bulky pieces in a real grate or secondly with pressed coal in plates and hollow cylindrical shapes. Either can be used.

`The engine used allows, for the time being, no self-launch. The launch itself must be carried out with (powder) rockets, a Madelung catapult, or similar. Due to tactical considerations, among other things, the speed difference between fighters and bombers, attack from behind is preferable, though the thought was given to the installation of brakes (brake parachute, retractable screens similar to dive brakes, etc.), and although ample room for weaponry is present, the task of ram fighter has been taken into account — so that the ramming attack will not lead to the loss of the aircraft, thanks to its shape and static structure.”

Transporting the little rammer plane would be simple: “When the outer wings are folded, transport of the entire aircraft on a small open car is possible on the Deutsche Reichsbahn.”

The fuselage section of the description gives the length of the aircraft as 6m, saying: “The wing attachment fittings (outer wing to wing center section) are formed so that the outer wings can be folded upwards. This is necessary for two reasons. The `up’ position allows access to the engine through the wing center section, and secondly for loading and offloading onto vehicles during transport.”

In other words, by folding up the wings, the ground crew may quickly refuel the aircraft by reaching in, removing the exhausted coal grate, and then sliding a new one in.

The P 13 would cut through Allied aircraft using existing technology: “The edge cap is constructed as a deflector to avoid rudder damage if possible during ramming. The entire wing leading edge is reinforced with a knife (similar to the Kutonase).”

The story of the Lippisch P 13, the Nazi Mach 2.6 interceptor designed to ram Allied bombers that led to the development of the F-102 Delta Dagger and the F-106 Delta Dart

The Kutonase was originally developed to cut the steel cables anchoring barrage balloons. A thin, flexible aerodynamic covering protected a hard steel blade that was installed all the way down an aircraft wing’s leading edge. This kept the Kutonase hidden and gave the wing that had it look normal.

It is assumed that the fin also contained an aircraft-slicing Kutonase along its length since it was designed exactly like the wing and built along similar lines. It had four fittings, two of which were on rockers to allow for wing surface expansion brought on by the ramjet’s intense heating, and was 2.28 meters high, the height of which was dictated by the necessity to give the pilot a good view.

When the inner side changed in length owing to heating, this was offset by a rocker at the point of connection between the center part of the aircraft and the outer wings.

The glazing was made to be easy to produce and distortion-free, and the cockpit itself was equipped with front and rear walls and is planned to be extremely spacious. For production reasons, the seat and joystick were to be mounted on the detachable cabin floor, and the front half of the fin was meant to be easily detachable to provide access to the equipment housed beneath it.

Given the need for a nose-up attitude, landing the P 13 would have been challenging. In order to achieve this, a design where a blade flips open that is rotatable around its front end was chosen. Only one end of the blade skid, which had several torsion springs, was linked to the fuselage; the other end was meant to make contact with the ground, allowing the aircraft to settle while the springs absorbed the impact.

The P 13 (later referred to by Lippisch as the P 13a and replaced by a new design using a circular rotating coal grate design, the P 13b) was only capable of producing the unpowered DM-1 test glider before the war came to an end. Following the war, Lippisch created and tested the XF-92 based on his concepts in collaboration with American aircraft designer Convair, which eventually led to the adoption of the F-102 Delta Dagger and its replacement, the F-106 Delta Dart.

Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters 1939-1945 is published by Mortons Books and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 22, 2023 0 comment

History

The F-106: a living legend

by Till Daisd October 25, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The F-106 Delta Dart was the last of the Century Series of fighter jets produced for the US Air Force. The F-106 was a Mach 2 interceptor aircraft that was designed to engage and destroy enemy bombers before they could reach their targets in the United States. While it was never used in combat, it remained an active part of the USAF until 1988.

The F-106 was the final evolution of the US Air Force’s Century Series, a series of aircraft developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s to replace aging fighter jets in service with the USAF. The Century Series was produced to allow for a commonality in training and maintenance and ease of development and upgrades over time.

It was designed to intercept and destroy enemy bombers that violated US airspace and it was meant to fly alongside the bombers and fire missiles at them and shoot down any enemy fighters trying to shoot down the bomber.

This aircraft had a top speed of Mach 2+ (2 times the speed of sound) and could reach altitudes up to 77,000 feet (23 miles).

The F-106 was used as a training aircraft for other aircraft. It was never used in combat. The F-106 served as a trainer for other aircraft and was never actually used to defend the United States of America, but it could have been if need be.

It was powered by two General Electric J79 turbojet engines, which had also been used on the F-4 Phantom II. The J79 engine was introduced in the 1950s and was an incredibly reliable and powerful engine that could produce up to 15,000 pounds of thrust.

The J57 turbojets used in the F-106 were so powerful that the aircraft could climb from sea level to 80,000 feet in less than three minutes. When fully loaded with fuel and weapons, it could reach a maximum speed of Mach 2.5 (1,650 mph) at higher altitudes.

The F-106 was designed to intercept and destroy enemy bombers deep within enemy airspace using its Mach 2 speed as an advantage over slower bombers. Its high speed made it an ideal platform for reconnaissance missions as well – this capability was demonstrated during the Cuban Missile Crisis when two RF-106Bs were sent on reconnaissance flights over Cuba to photograph Soviet missile sites (which were later dismantled).

It was a difficult aircraft to fly. Like most delta-wing aircraft, it required constant attention from the pilot. It had a very long nose and a small cockpit. When you flew this airplane, you were always close to the ground—so close that it seemed like you could touch it. If you didn’t keep up with your instruments and flying skills, this could be fatal.

According to pilots who flew the F-106, it was difficult to fly until you learned its “happy place” and then easy after that—but only if you kept up with your flying skills.

While the F-106 was a great fighter jet and served as an excellent interceptor and dogfighter, it never broke through Mach 1 in real life. That honor belongs to its more famous sibling, the F-4 Phantom II (which also achieved fame in Top Gun). The only way you’ll see an F-106 supersonically is if you watch Iron Eagle or Firefox (or maybe The Right Stuff).

The F-106 Delta Dart is a legendary aircraft. With capabilities that exceeded expectations and an “all-weather” ability to fly in any conditions, it is no wonder that the F-106 was nicknamed “The Six,” because of its designation as the sixth aircraft to join the USAF.

It has twin seats. The single seat configuration was unique among fighters of its day and allowed one pilot to perform all duties on board this aircraft.

Though the F-106 was never used in combat and was replaced by the F-15 Eagle, it paved the way for future USAF fighters. In fact, many of today’s fighter jets use either a version of the J79 engine or a more modern version of it as their powerplant. So, if you ever have the chance to see an F-106 fly—and there are still about a dozen left in airworthy condition—be sure to take it! You’re seeing an important chapter in aviation history and an airplane that deserves its place among living legends.

As one can see, the F-106 is still alive and well today. It holds a recognizably distinctive style that has not really been seen since the plane’s days of peak service. While the plane may be getting on in years, it has proven it will still fight just as well as ever before. Many are committed that the F-106 will stay out of retirement and will be used for years to come. While this question may seem simple, it is clear that there is much more to the story.

October 25, 2022 0 comment