This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 15

In 1948, the second XP-88A prototype, with the new afterburning Westinghouse J34 engines, began a detailed “689” inspection by USAF officials.  The afterburners were designed in-house by McDonnell engineers using an advanced iris exhaust nozzle.  Unusually for such designs at the time, the new afterburners proved quite reliable.

On the same date in 1958, six RF-101s detached to CASF Bravo departed Shaw AFB for Incirlik AB, Turkey, to monitor developments in Lebanon as the Middle East was awash in a series of bloody coups in the aftermath of the 1956 Suez Crisis, inspired by the Arab Nationalist movement of Egypt’s Gamal Nasser.  Fearing a communist-inspired rebellion, the situation in Lebanon turned out to be a sectarian rebellion against the Lebanese president.  The situation was defused after elections, but the new Lebanese government then began to align with the Arab Nationalists, along with a number of regional allies.  

In 1961, a program to modify the MG-13 fire control systems of all F-101B intercpetors to the final Block 120 standard began under Project Kitty Car, increasing the detection range, ability to defeat jamming, and overall reliability of the system.  Provision for the radar-guided GAR-1D was dropped, leaving only the heat-seeking GAR-2A Falcons and MB-1 Genies for armament.  

Photo Credit: The Col. Ray W. Schrecengost Archives