The [McDonnell] F-101 [Voodoo] was a [supersonic] [fighter] designed to [escort] heavy bombers and serve as a fighter bomber, an all-weather interceptor and a photo [reconnaissance] aircraft. It served during the [Cuban missile crisis] and during the [Vietnam War]. It was nicknamed "the long bird" on occasion.

It began as the XF-88 all-weather [interceptor] (fighter), which first flew at [Edwards Air Force Base|Muroc Dry Lake Air Base] in 1948. The original mission for the XF-88 was to escort the [Convair] [B-36] Peacemaker bomber. The two XF-88 prototypes evolved into the F-101 Voodoo. The Voodoo was the first production airplane capable of reaching 1000 [mph] (1609 km/h) in level flight. The Voodoo was famous for its brutal twin engine [afterburner|afterburning] power, but it was not without faults. During its entire career it had a tendency to suddenly do a nose [pitch]-up because of the way air flowed over the low [wing] and its high [tail]. Quite a few of the Voodoos lost in [accident]s on [takeoff] and landing were due to this. The Voodoo also lacked a [zero-zero] [ejection seat], a seat allowing you the comfort of ejection (and survival) from zero height and zero speed. In order to eject you had to be above 900 feet, and at least one pilot was lost because of this shortcoming.

[McDonnell] delivered 807 F-101 Voodoos, designed as long-range, twinjet fighters to escort bombers, attack distant targets and provide close air support for ground [troops]. Attack fighter, interceptor and reconnaissance versions served with the U.S. Strategic Air Defense and Tactical Air Commands and in [Canada]. The multimission F-101 Voodoo was used by all three U.S. Air Force Commands - Strategic, Tactical and Air Defense. The Voodoo flew the fastest combat missions ever flown (with the exception of the SR-71 Blackbird) during recce runs over North Vietnam.

Voodoo variants:

XF-88, penetration fighter prototype. 1 built.
XF-88A, penetration fighter with afterburner. 1 built
XF-88B, turboprop testbed. 1 converted
F-101A, strategic fighter. 77 built
JF-101A, developmental test aircraft. 7 converted
YRF101-A, reconnaissance prototype. 2 built
RF-101A, reconnaissance aircraft. 35 built
F-101B, two-seat, long-range interceptor. 479 built
CF-101B, Canadian interceptor. 112 transferred
JF-101B, developmental aircraft. 1 converted
NF-101B, developmental aircraft. 1 built, 1 converted
RF-101B, reconnaissance conversion of RF-101A. 23 converted
TF-101B, dual-control training aircraft. More than 72 converted or built
EF-101B, Canadian [ECM] aircraft. 1 transferred
F-101C, upgraded F-101A strategic fighter. 39 built
F-101F/TF-101F, Initially interceptor, later dual-control training aircraft. More than 72 built or converted
CF-101F, Canadian dual-control training aircraft. 20 transferred
RF-101C, reconnaissance aircraft. 166 built
RF-101G, reconnaissance conversion of F-101A. 27 converted
RF-101H, reconnaissance conversion of F-101C. 32 converted

Records

In Operation Firewall on December 12, 1957, Major Adrian Drew flew an F-101A to set a world speed record of 1,207.6 mph (1,943 km/h) over the 10-mile record course at Edwards Air Force Base in the US. Major Drew earned himself a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for this feat. In Operation Sun Run in 1957, an RF-101 raced from Los Angeles to New York and back in the record time 6 hours, 46 minutes.

Combat

Tactical Air Command (TAC) and Strategic Air Command (SAC) had three squadrons operating the Voodoo during the [Vietnam war]. All of them flew [reconnaissance] missions doing bomb damage assessment and taking photos of potential targets. In order to complete a "tour of duty", every pilot were required to do 100 missions. Recce missions over North Vietnam were nicknamed "flying in the barrel" by the pilots who did them. When president Johnson ended [Rolling Thunder] (the systematic bombing of North Vietnam) on October 31, 1967, it also put an end to the 20 TRS and the Voodoo missions over the so-called "[Route Package Six]". The latter was the technical name given by [USAF] to the area around [Hanoi], North Vietnam's capital. Voodoo recce missions continued in South Vietnam in support of the army, but no Voodoo ever entered Nort Vietnamese airspace again.

The squadrons who flew Voodoos in [South East Asia] were:

15 Tactical Reconnaissance [Squadron] (TRS), "Cotton Pickers", Kadena AB, [Okinawa]
20 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS), "Green Pythons", Udorn RTAFB, [Thailand]
45 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS), "Polka Dots", Misawa AB, [Japan] and Tan Son Nhut AB, South [Vietnam]

A total of 37 Voodoos were lost in and around Vietnam. 31 in combat, six to accidents and one Voodoo was lost in a ground [rocket] attack on February 17, 1968.

Places of service

Voodoos operated from several locations around the world. In the continental US, the Voodoo served with the Air Defence Command (ADC), [Air National Guard] (ANG), [Tactical Air Command] (TAC) and the Air Research and Development Command (ARDC).Outside of the US, Voodoos served in the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) in Japan, Thailand and Okinawa and in United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) in [France], [Germany] and [England].

Operation Boom Town
Under Operation Boom Town, RF-101A Voodoos were secretly delivered to the Chinese Nationalist Air Force (in then [Formosa], now [Taiwan]), which finally acknowledged this in a press conference in October 1959. 15 TRS was assigned to train the nationalist pilots. Taiwan authorities insisted that the Voodoos were only used for coastal flights over [international waters], but in reality the Chinese Nationalists penetrated the Chinese mainland in whatever recce aircraft they could lay their hands on. In 1965, [Beijing] claimed to have gunned down an RF-101A in [air to air combat]. A Voodoo is today on display outside the museum at [Taipei] Airport, wearing a fake colour scheme.

Technical data

The very first Voodoo was the XF-88, completed August 11, 1948.

Powerplant: two 2,400-lb thrust non-afterburning Westinghouse XJ-34-W-13 turbojets
Performance: maximum speed 710 mph (1071 km/h) at 10,000 ft. Service ceiling 41,000 ft (12,496 m). Range 1,000 miles (1609 km)
Maximum takeoff weight: 39,995 lb (18,141 kg)

The very last Voodoo built - an F-101B - was completed around 1963.

Powerplant: two 14,880-lb (6,749kg) thrust afterburning Pratt & Whitney J57-P-55 turbojets
Performance: maximum speed 1,221 mph (1,965 km/h) or mach 1,85 at 40,000 ft (12,190 m). Service ceiling 54,800 ft (16,705 m). Range 1,550 miles (2,494 km)
Maximum takeoff weight: 52,400 lb (23,768 kg)

Armament

The XF-88 originally had six 20mm [M39] [cannon]s in the nose, and the final Voodoo could be armed with two [nuclear] tipped [AIR-2] Genie rockets and four [AIM]-4 Falcon IR missiles, or simply six Falcon missiles.

Sources: "McDonnell F-101 Voodoo", Robert F. Dorr, Osprey Air Combat, Motorbooks International, 1986
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f101_1.html