CONVAIR QF-106 Delta Dart (57-2467)

Man-O-Mano this and the 102 had the fastest time to climb in the sixties. Very noisy beast also. We would have to stop our softball games when they were running up the engine. You had to hold hands over your ears. (Hard to play ball in that position. Especially the batter.)Very clear photo taken almost 50 years ago. Nice shot.

This is an F 106. The 102 had a pointed vertical stabilizer and the intakes were farther forward. Both great and noisy planes. 106 was good for Mach 2......102 ....a little over Mach 1.

Used to work F-102s of the PIT Air Guard when I was at CLE ARTCC in the late 60s and early 70s. They climbed right (rather quickly, I might add) up to an altitude block of FL410 to 450 to work on intercepts--usually with B-52s. On several occasions an early model B-52 would come for the games and due to model and fuel load could not climb up into the altitude block for the exercise! The Guard also had C-124s at the time--talk about rattling the windows in the neighborhood! Just a constant shaking.

profile looks like an Avro Arrow

As far as I can determine the F-106 still holds the speed record for a single engine Jet. I flew the F-102 and was checking out in the six when I got riffed.

Google search shows that photo credit belongs to Dan Stijovich, October 1987

http://www.f-106deltadart.com/101fis.htm

The "Q" designation signifies that this aircraft has been modified to fly as a pilotless target drone. It would be controlled by a pilot flying in the back seat of a Lockheed T-33 Thunderbird Trainer - modified to control a drone aircraft. The QF-106 would be remotely controlled to emulate the flight pattern of an 'enemy' aircraft - serving as a target for a USAF pilot in a training exercise, whose aircraft carrying 'dummy' armament. I did some design work on the Lockheed QF-80 Shooting Star - back in the '50's.

Art, at the time this photo was taken, it was a pure F-106A not a QF. Not sure why FA does this. Dave, yup that's me.....seems like a lifetime ago!

The Qf-106 were launch and flown from the ground not from the air. They were launch from Holloman AFB then turn over to a controller at White Sands Missile Range. If they were not shot down they were landed back at Holloman.

You are correct Habujet; the QF drones always are identified with orange tail and wing tip markings regardless of what aircraft type it might be. This one is from the early seventies assigned to the 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Otis AFB. I worked on a few 106's and it was also a very good William Tell performer up until 84.

I was hoping that it would be you Dan! Nice to meet you :) Your photographs are spectacular and thanks for the many years of aviation pics.

Used to love seeing these roar over the skies of Jacksonville (out of KJAX). Florida ANG had a squadron there and it wasn't unusual to see a couple on heading east to the Atlantic on an intercept mission.

I worked on the F-106's at George AFB, 329 FIS from 1960 to 1962. I was an Aircraft and Missile Electrician. We had around 25 of them in our squadron. Great plane, the pilots would tell us that it was a dream to fly.