This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: July 1

In 1957, less than two months after entering service with Strategic Air Command, the 27^th Strategic Fighter Squadron was formally transferred to Tactical Air Command to become the 27^th Fighter-Bomber Wing, still based at Bergstrom AFB, TX.  During their brief stay with TAC, the VooDoos of the 27^th FBW would be sent to a number of critical “flashpoints” in response to potential Communist aggression during the waning years of the Eisenhower era.  

On the same date in 1967, Capt. Charles Winston III was downed by an SA-2 missile, despite carrying the AN/ALQ-51 jammer, which after several months was losing its effectiveness.  Capt. Winston was listed as MIA.  

In 1982, CF-101Bs of the Canadian Armed Forces begin Operation Cold Shaft with aircraft of 425 “Alouettes” Squadron deployed on 1-hour alert to deploy to forward bases to stand alert and perform combat air patrol missions to intercept Soviet Tu-95 long-range reconnaissance and targeting aircraft and escort them away from North American airspace.  With such intercepts taking place far from prying eyes and often at night, the encounters always had the potential to become very dangerous.

This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 30

In 1955, the first flight of the YRF-101A reconnaissance aircraft, taking place from Lambert Field, St. Louis.  The primary focus of testing was on general flying qualities.  As the Fairchild KA-1 and KA-2 cameras were not yet ready, the aircraft was delivered without them.  

On the same date in 1964, 414 “Black Knights” Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force at North Bay was disbanded and its CF-101B VooDoos distributed to the remaining three squadrons.  

Photo Credit: NMUSAF via Mark Nankivil.

This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 29

In 1950, the official “fly-off” between the McDonnell XF-88A VooDoo, the Lockheed XF-90, and the North American YF-93 began.   Evaluation continued through the first week of July.  

On the same date in 1965, RF-101C pilot Maj. Marvin Lindsey was hit over North Vietnam and apparently killed in action, but by 1973 had been listed by the US government as MIA.

Photo Credit: Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum

This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 28

In 1955, Phase II evaluation of the F-101A was completed.  Although the new “Type II” inlet ducts improved pressure recovery within the inlet duct, the F-101A would still encounter compressor stalls at high speed and altitude.  Range performance was 15% below predicted values, the afterburners would blow out at high altitude, and lateral control was not as desired.  Work on the engines to improve surge margin and alleviate compressor stalls, along with changes to increase cruise efficiency, were undertaken by Pratt & Whitney while McDonnell worked on further improvements to the inlet ducts to eliminate compressor stalls during maneuvering flight.

First Photo: Maj. Austin A. "Gus" Julian at the controls of the second F-101A, 53-2419, which had been held on the production line for installation of the new Type II inlet ducts.

Photo Credit: National Archives and Records Administration via Mark Nankivil.

Second Photo: The first two ships in formation over Edwards AFB.  The longer Type II inlet ducts on 53-2419, in the foreground, are redily noticeable compared to the smaller Type I ducts of the original aircraft.

Photo Credit: National Museum of the United States Air Force via Mark Nankivil.

This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 26

In 1956, an F-101A was tested with a weapon slated to replace the Model 96 store, the TX-28C, during the Dakota shot of Operation Redwing.  The blast exceeded predictions, damaging almost all of the aircraft participating in the test, including the F-101A.  Flying at an altitude of 26,000 feet, aluminum-painted surfaces were charred and honeycomb structures delaminated as they experienced a heat rise of up to 500° F.  The demonstrated reliability of the F-101A during Operation Redwing played into the decision to keep the VooDoo after all of the problems encountered to that point.

First photo: Fireball produced by the Dakota device.  With a predicted yield of 800 kilotons, the TX-28C weapon tested produced an actual yield of 1.1 megatons.

Second photo: F-101A pilot Capt. John Apple and a technician examining damage to the wing of his aircraft after return from the Dakota test mission.

This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 23

In 1953, the USAF began a brief evaluation of the hybrid XF-88B aircraft, just prior to it being turned over to NACA for research in advanced supersonic propeller designs.  

On the same date in 1955, Hughes was directed to modify the E-9 fire control system of the Northrop F-89H Scorpion to target and fire the nuclear-tipped MB-1 Ding Dong rockets as the new MG-12 system.  Essentially, this would serve as an experimental prototype for the MG-13 system destined for the F-101B.

Photo: The converted Ship No.1, now carrying an Allison XT38-A-5 turboprop

engine in addition to the pair of Westinghouse J34-WE-15 engines mounted when it won the penetration fighter competition in 1950.

Photo Credit: Art Davies, Jr. Collection, Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum

This Day in McDonnell Voodoo History: June 22

In 1950, after the crash of the second XF-88 prototype, the original ship, with new afterburning J34-WE-15 engines, was ferried to Edwards AFB to compete in the penetration fighter “fly-off” against the Lockheed XF-90 and the North American YF-93.  

On this date in 1954, the results of a study for a single-place interceptor to supplement the now badly-delayed Convair F-102B were presented.   Two single-seat F-101A derivatives, the rocket-armed IF-101A and J67-powered IF-101B with a combination of rockets and guided missiles were chosen over the Northrop F-89X and advanced North American IF-100B interceptor proposals.

Photo: Ship No.1 as it had been evaluated in the XF-88A configuration.  Here, it is being removed from storage in January 1952 as both XF-88 aircraft were to be prepared to resume flight testing.

Photo Credit: Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum