Manufactured by McDonnell DouglasFighterThe F-101 Voodoo was originally designed as a single-seat escort fighter for the B-36 bomber. Its intended mission was made obsolete by the introduction of the B-52 jet bomber. The F-101 was adapted to serve in other roles. The F-101A amp; F-101C were built as fighter bombers and armed with four M-39E 20mm cannon. Reconnaissance versions, the RF -101A amp; RF-101C, were developed next. These carried cameras in an elongated nose and performed vital photographic services during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. The final variant was the two-seat F-101B all-weather interceptor.
F-101Bs served with the USAF and Canadian Armed Forces to protect the North American continent against a Soviet bomber attack during the Cold War. The USAF accepted its first Voodoo in May 1957 and the last F-101s were retired (from Air National Guard service) in 1983.
Specifications- Role/Category: Fighter
- Role/Category: Fighter
- Wingspan: 39 feet, 8 inches
- Length: 67 feet, 5 inches
- Height: 18 feet, 0 inches
- Weight: 45,700 lbs normal operating weight
- Powerplant: two Pratt amp; Whitney J57-P-55 turbojets each providing 16,900 lbs. of thrust in afterburner
- Speed: maximum – 1,220 mph (1,060 knots) or Mach 1.85 at 40,000 feet; normal cruise – 595 mph (517 knots)
- Ceiling: 52,000 feet
- Crew: 1 pilot, 1 radar/weapons operator
- Armament: Two AIM-4C Falcon infrared-guided missiles and two AIR-2 Genie unguided rockets equipped with nuclear warheads carried on an under-fuselage rotary pallet