Daryl Hunt
Your Worst Nightmare
- Banned
- #1
Here is another fun one. The F-1XX fighters were born in the 50s and 60s. Most were designed for a specific job.
North American F-100 Super Saber (lead sled)
McDonnell F-101 Voodoo
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
Republic XF-103 Cancelled in Mockup
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
Republic F-105 Thunder Chief (thud)
Convair F-106 Delta Dart
North American F-107
North American XF-108 Rapier (cancelled due to the cancellation of the XB-70)
McDonnell F-110 Spectre
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
Lockheed F-112 Blackbird
I intentionally left off the F-117 as it's not a fighter at all. It's real designation should have either been an A or a B.
North American F-100 Super Saber (lead sled): This was really a Saber Jet on Steroids. Goes to show that if you put a big enough engine in anything it can go fast. The F-100 was the first production military aircraft to be able to sustain over Mach 1 in level flight. Followed closely by the Mig-19 Was it successful? Yes, in it's day, it was the bird to beat. But that didn't last very long.
McDonnell F-101 Voodoo: This fighter was a gem in it's day. In it's day, it was the fastest bird out there. It set a world speed record. It designed as a Long Range Bomber Escort but got it's mission changed by USAF to tactical nuclear bomber and recon. Even though it was from the early 50s, it stuck around as a Recon Bird as late as 1979.
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger: This is the first Delta Winged Supersonic Interceptor. It was designed in answer to the Russian TU-95 Bear Bomber. It also carried it's missiles internal. It went by the way when other fighters were introduced, mainly, the F-104 and F-4
Republic XF-103 Cancelled in Mockup: This was supposed to be a Mach 3 Bomber Interceptor. But in 1954, it ran into one huge problem. It's skin was made primarily of Titanium and the world was still trying to figure out how to weld that stuff.
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: This is the most controversial of the Century Series. It set numerous speed and time to climb records that stood for at least a decade. It was used by over 29 different nations. Outside of the Germans, this was a favored fighter interceptor for small European countries. It was the first to use the M-61 Gatling Gun that became a staple for fighter aircraft. It was used as an Interceptor, Fighter/Bomber and Ground Attack making the most versatile of all the Century Series. It did have teething problems like any other early aircraft but it was ironed out. The dependability ended up being attributed to Germany have poor training, inadequate flying times and poor ground support. Italy sent their people to Germany for training, experienced some of the same problems, switched to USAF training and got a world beater for the next 30 years. It went out of the Italian Service in 2004.
Republic F-105 Thunder Chief (thud): Originally designed as a Tactical Nuclear Bomber, it ended up being use as a convention Tactical Bomber. It beat out F-107 but they changed the use AFTER both were flown as demos. The original prints wanted a Fighter/Interceptor but it got changed for the flyoff to the Tactical Nuke Fighter Bomber. They thought that the F-105 could fly over Hanoi and not get intercepted because it was so fast. Bad thinking. If you flew that fast for that long you ran out of fuel. To give you an idea how successful the 105 was, over half of the flyers in the Hanoi Hilton were F-105 Pilots. It got so bad that they were running out of pilots. Part of that was making them fly the same course and altitude every time at subsonic speeds. The other part was, it was not being used for what it was good at or designed to do. This is not the fault of the 105.
Convair F-106 Delta Dart: Designed as an Interceptor. And that it was. The original engine was for the F-102 but Pratt was having trouble keeping up with the manufacture of that engine. So they made the 102 a bit bigger and used the J-75 which is a larger engine and even more power. It was an all Weather/Day/Night Interceptor. And you talk about fast. This puppy could move. It set the record at 1544 mph. It's weapons were held internally to keep it clean. It didn't have a gun or any external mounts and only carried air to air missiles.
North American F-107: Here is a tragic story. The last of the Saber Line. It met and exceeded all the Specification but lost out to the F-105 because right after the demonstrators were made, they changed the rules. But the 107 also met that new requirement as did the 105. They had to do a flyoff. Who won and who really lost is debatable. But USAF chose the 105 over the 107. No tear here. They took the same basic idea and produced the A-5C which was a wildly popular Tactical Nuclear Bomber and made about the best Recon Bird until the SR-71 became public.
North American XF-108 Rapier (cancelled due to the cancellation of the XB-70): This was the fighter to escort the B-70. Mach 3+ at over 70K feet and loaded with internal weapons. It shared parts with the XB-70 like the Radar and Engines. With the cancellation of the XB-70, the parts were no longer going to be available to the XF-108 causing it's cancellation.
McDonnell F-110 Spectre: This is the original designation of the F-4 Phantom II. The designation was changed to denote the new Fighter Series.
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark: Originally it was supposed to be a USAF/Navy program. It proved to be way too big for carrier duty even with it's multiple geo wings swept back. It was HUGE. But it brought into the idea of the F-14 that was a success. The Air Force had trouble finding it a home or job. It was fast, carried a heavy load and could go a very long ways. They used it for Electronic Measures (recon and wild weasel) for a bit but the F-4G took over that roll. It finally found a home as a Strategic Nuclear Bomber flying out of England. And it was used as a Tactical Bomber as well. It was retired because it just got old, not because it couldn't do the job anymore. It left a huge hole until they modified a F-15C to the E and that took over both roles that the 111 used to do.
Lockheed F-112 Blackbird: The last of the Century Series Fighters. This was really an A-12 (single seater spy plane) that they added a second crew member and an internal weapons bay for missiles. It had the same performance as it's followon SR-71. In fact, the SR-71 kept the second crew member and put cameras in the weapons bay. The F-112 was about the hottest hotrod fighter ever made.
North American F-100 Super Saber (lead sled)
McDonnell F-101 Voodoo
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
Republic XF-103 Cancelled in Mockup
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
Republic F-105 Thunder Chief (thud)
Convair F-106 Delta Dart
North American F-107
North American XF-108 Rapier (cancelled due to the cancellation of the XB-70)
McDonnell F-110 Spectre
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
Lockheed F-112 Blackbird
I intentionally left off the F-117 as it's not a fighter at all. It's real designation should have either been an A or a B.
North American F-100 Super Saber (lead sled): This was really a Saber Jet on Steroids. Goes to show that if you put a big enough engine in anything it can go fast. The F-100 was the first production military aircraft to be able to sustain over Mach 1 in level flight. Followed closely by the Mig-19 Was it successful? Yes, in it's day, it was the bird to beat. But that didn't last very long.
McDonnell F-101 Voodoo: This fighter was a gem in it's day. In it's day, it was the fastest bird out there. It set a world speed record. It designed as a Long Range Bomber Escort but got it's mission changed by USAF to tactical nuclear bomber and recon. Even though it was from the early 50s, it stuck around as a Recon Bird as late as 1979.
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger: This is the first Delta Winged Supersonic Interceptor. It was designed in answer to the Russian TU-95 Bear Bomber. It also carried it's missiles internal. It went by the way when other fighters were introduced, mainly, the F-104 and F-4
Republic XF-103 Cancelled in Mockup: This was supposed to be a Mach 3 Bomber Interceptor. But in 1954, it ran into one huge problem. It's skin was made primarily of Titanium and the world was still trying to figure out how to weld that stuff.
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: This is the most controversial of the Century Series. It set numerous speed and time to climb records that stood for at least a decade. It was used by over 29 different nations. Outside of the Germans, this was a favored fighter interceptor for small European countries. It was the first to use the M-61 Gatling Gun that became a staple for fighter aircraft. It was used as an Interceptor, Fighter/Bomber and Ground Attack making the most versatile of all the Century Series. It did have teething problems like any other early aircraft but it was ironed out. The dependability ended up being attributed to Germany have poor training, inadequate flying times and poor ground support. Italy sent their people to Germany for training, experienced some of the same problems, switched to USAF training and got a world beater for the next 30 years. It went out of the Italian Service in 2004.
Republic F-105 Thunder Chief (thud): Originally designed as a Tactical Nuclear Bomber, it ended up being use as a convention Tactical Bomber. It beat out F-107 but they changed the use AFTER both were flown as demos. The original prints wanted a Fighter/Interceptor but it got changed for the flyoff to the Tactical Nuke Fighter Bomber. They thought that the F-105 could fly over Hanoi and not get intercepted because it was so fast. Bad thinking. If you flew that fast for that long you ran out of fuel. To give you an idea how successful the 105 was, over half of the flyers in the Hanoi Hilton were F-105 Pilots. It got so bad that they were running out of pilots. Part of that was making them fly the same course and altitude every time at subsonic speeds. The other part was, it was not being used for what it was good at or designed to do. This is not the fault of the 105.
Convair F-106 Delta Dart: Designed as an Interceptor. And that it was. The original engine was for the F-102 but Pratt was having trouble keeping up with the manufacture of that engine. So they made the 102 a bit bigger and used the J-75 which is a larger engine and even more power. It was an all Weather/Day/Night Interceptor. And you talk about fast. This puppy could move. It set the record at 1544 mph. It's weapons were held internally to keep it clean. It didn't have a gun or any external mounts and only carried air to air missiles.
North American F-107: Here is a tragic story. The last of the Saber Line. It met and exceeded all the Specification but lost out to the F-105 because right after the demonstrators were made, they changed the rules. But the 107 also met that new requirement as did the 105. They had to do a flyoff. Who won and who really lost is debatable. But USAF chose the 105 over the 107. No tear here. They took the same basic idea and produced the A-5C which was a wildly popular Tactical Nuclear Bomber and made about the best Recon Bird until the SR-71 became public.
North American XF-108 Rapier (cancelled due to the cancellation of the XB-70): This was the fighter to escort the B-70. Mach 3+ at over 70K feet and loaded with internal weapons. It shared parts with the XB-70 like the Radar and Engines. With the cancellation of the XB-70, the parts were no longer going to be available to the XF-108 causing it's cancellation.
McDonnell F-110 Spectre: This is the original designation of the F-4 Phantom II. The designation was changed to denote the new Fighter Series.
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark: Originally it was supposed to be a USAF/Navy program. It proved to be way too big for carrier duty even with it's multiple geo wings swept back. It was HUGE. But it brought into the idea of the F-14 that was a success. The Air Force had trouble finding it a home or job. It was fast, carried a heavy load and could go a very long ways. They used it for Electronic Measures (recon and wild weasel) for a bit but the F-4G took over that roll. It finally found a home as a Strategic Nuclear Bomber flying out of England. And it was used as a Tactical Bomber as well. It was retired because it just got old, not because it couldn't do the job anymore. It left a huge hole until they modified a F-15C to the E and that took over both roles that the 111 used to do.
Lockheed F-112 Blackbird: The last of the Century Series Fighters. This was really an A-12 (single seater spy plane) that they added a second crew member and an internal weapons bay for missiles. It had the same performance as it's followon SR-71. In fact, the SR-71 kept the second crew member and put cameras in the weapons bay. The F-112 was about the hottest hotrod fighter ever made.
