REV85-5853 F-101 "Voodoo"

 The F-101 Voodoo by McDonnell can easily be viewed as the predecessor to the now infamous F-4 Phantom. The Voodoo began life as a long range bomber escort or penetration fighter designated XF-88 for the USAF. The original design grew out of a requirement set by the Army Air Force in 1946. The initial prototype flew in 1948 but was fairly disappointing. McDonnell added afterburners to the engines which provided an additional 30% power increasing top speed and reducing the take off run and even though the new prototype did win out in a fly-off competition the program was cancelled in 1950.
In 1951 the USAF issued a new requirement for a bomber escort based on analysis of Korean War missions. McDonnell dusted off the XF-88 plans and upgraded the design with more power and a larger airframe. This time they had a real winner and the contract was locked down. At this point the F-101 Voodoo designation was applied to the project. By 1953 final design modifications had been completed and the initial order for 39 units had been placed without a single prototype of the improved design having been built. By the end of 1954 the F-101 was undergoing initial flights but with the Korean War ending the need for a bomber escort faded away. This left the fighter to fill the role of air defense interceptor and reconnaissance platform.
A variety of problems were found with the initial 39 units and well over 2300 modifications were made to the type before production resumed in 1956 with operational aircraft finally being delivered in 1957. These aircraft were so different from the initial production run that in truth they should have received a completely new designation however the USAF assigned them the designation F-101B. One distinctive feature of the B verses the A was a new engine that was fully eight feet longer than the original. To avoid a complete redesign of the airframe the afterburners were allowed to extend aft beyond the fuselage giving the type its distinctive profile. These new engines also allowed the aircraft to reach Mach 2.4 in full afterburner mode. Following current trends in military thinking of the time these aircraft did not carry and machine guns or cannons rather a small store of missiles.
The F-101B Voodoo remained in service with the USAF until 1969 when it began to be withdrawn from duty. By 1972 all units had been withdrawn from USAF service and transferred to the Air National Guard. The only Air Force besides the United States to use the Voodoo was Canada. By 1982 all F-101s had been removed from National Guard service as well. Over the twenty five years that the Voodoo was in operation nineteen different versions of the aircraft were manufactured. None other than the RF-101-C which was used as a reconnaissance aircraft during the Cuban Missile Crisis and during Vietnam. The RF-101-C performed over 35000 sorties over Vietnam and 44 aircraft were lost during that time. The RF-101C nick named “Long Bird” remained in USAF inventories until 1979. Today there are no operational F-101s left but twenty five units are preserved in various aircraft museums in the United States and Canada. 
 

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Aantal onderdelen; 108.
afmetingen ;

• Lang; 451 mm 
• Spanwijdte; 254 mm.