The Ultra Fast Interceptor that Became an Unseen Flying Predator
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Published 2024-05-12
However, as the duo approached the Laotian border, MiG-21 pilot Ngan thought he spotted an EB‐66 ECM aircraft; a closer look revealed a much more valuable target: two Convair F-102 Delta Daggers, the world’s first supersonic all-weather jet interceptor.
Also, the United States Air Force’s first operational delta-wing aircraft, the Delta Dagger, had been wreaking havoc on Vietnam for nearly six years as one of America’s first deployed aircraft models to the area.
That day, the Daggers were piloted by Major A. L. Lomax as the flight leader, with 1Lt Wallace Wiggins as his wingman. Sensing the imminent threat, the leader reacted with the precision of a seasoned warrior and tried to unleash the fury of three of his missiles.
But when every missile missed its mark, the Americans were becoming an easy target.
With this, seizing the moment and about to become the first-ever North Vietnam pilot to fire at the iconic Convair Delta Dagger directly, Ngan sneakily maneuvered into the blind spot behind Wiggins and aimed.
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All Comments (21)
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I love the 102 and 106. They were what aircraft looked like when i was a kid.
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My Dad flew the 102 at Thule Greenland in the 60's. He also flew the 106 at Andrews and George AFB. The 106 was his favorite plane, he loved it. He flew everything from CG-4A gliders to F-82 Twin Mustangs, F-86, 101's and F-4's in Vietnam but the 6 was his favorite.
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My uncle flew 66’s in Nam. I’ve always followed AF planes. The Delta’s were some of my favorites. Convair built great planes.
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I never knew the F-102 had such a good career. For some reason I thought it was short lived and replaced by the F-106. I once saw a flight demo of an F-106 at the Chicago Air and Water show and all the people on the beach stood up and cheered for the F-106. The only other time I've seen an air show crowd react that strongly to a flight demo was for the F-14 Tomcat.
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F-102s in combat, as per Wiki: "The F-102 and TF-102 were exported overseas to both Turkey and Greece. The Turkish F-102s saw combat missions during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. There have been claims of air combat between Greek F-5s and Turkish F-102s above the Aegean Sea during the Turkish invasion. A Greek internet website editor, Demetrius Stergiou, claims that the Greek F-5s had shot down two Turkish F-102s, while the Turkish side has claimed that their F-102s had shot down two Greek F-5s;[73] however, both Greece and Turkey still officially deny any aircraft losses."
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On Amazon Prime video they are showing the Old Steve Canyon show. It starts with a flyby of an F-102.
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Designed from the start to be equipped only with missiles.... This thinking which was so common in the early days cost so much in the end. And to add insult to injury the early missiles were not that good.
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I worked on the F102 armament system '64/65. The missile rails operated pneumatically. In the winter time, often the electrical selector valves would freeze up so we had to put the plane in a warm hanger to get the system to operate. Not exactly an "all weather fighter interceptor".....Al Scott
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The F-102 & F-106 always remind me of the ill-fated CF-105 Arrow.
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My dad was stationed at Keflavik in 67 and 68. The Darts would sometimes flyover the base over mach 1 with the boom rattling the apartment windows which we thought was so cool. I was only 9 at the time when my buddies and I would roam out in the tundra just beyond the airstrip and lie on our backs and watch the jets takeoff. The MPs would try to chase us away, but with so many hiding places, we were tough to find. I remember a Russian Bomber had been intercepted and landed at the airbase. Great Memories and love watching the Steve Canyon reruns on TUBI TV !
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“Wreacked havoc in vietnam”? It was so effective it completely failed as a bomber escort and was used its falcons as ground attack missiles
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If those horrible AIM-4 missiles had been replaced by AIM-7 Sparrows and/or AIM-9 Sidewinders the aircraft's effectiveness would have increased markedly.
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I worked on both the F-102 and F-106 during my 12 yrs in the Florida Air National Guard. It is sad to see a documentary film like this showing the F-106 where the F-102 is being described. This film has many such mistakes in it. Too bad they were not better informed about the easy to spot differences so as to be accurate with the visuals. I must admit that the F-106 was a more attractive and sleek aircraft. I worked on and repaired the radar systems in both aircraft.
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That led to the F 106
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As a kid I grew up not far from George Air Force base. I remember when the F102’s arrived. That year at the air show at George the 102 was the star of the show. Airmen walked through the crowd of spectators with boxes of 2” long plastic models of the 102 and would throw them into the air which sent us scrambling to pick them up off the tarmac. I ended up with quite a few. I thought the 102 was the coolest plane ever until the F104 showed up. This video brought back good memories.
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Two of my USAF commanders were former F-106 pilots. Also, I believe the F-106 was capable of Mach 2.5 or more
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Many of your pictures are of the F106 not F102
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🎖️🏆🙏😎 Thank you for sharing this
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These planes are as old as I am, but they look a lot better..
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The Convair F-102 'Delta Dagger' was a direct Derivative of Alexander Lippisch DM-1/ L-13, studied at Langley and improved with apportations by A Lippisch himself. All Info available in NACA/ NASA Cranfield repository
