INTERESTING ASPECTS OF THE FI06A AIRCRAFT:
When the F-106
Delta Dart was new, it was something of a marvel to fly. Aside from its high
performance flight envelope capabilities that made it a challenge to pilot, it
was an extremely deadly and effective weapons system that any hostile airspace
intruder had reason to fear. The heart of its deadliness was the advanced MA-1
airborne fire control system, developed by Hughes Aircraft and based upon the
earlier F102A MG-10 system. Comprised of over 2512 pounds of navigational and
fire control electronics, the MA-1 system's 200 separate black boxes full of ‘hollow
state devices’ (vacuum tubes) formed a very formidable all-weather, fully
automatic weapons suite for its time. While technologically obsolesced by
today's state of the art aircraft guidance and control systems, the MA-1
system nevertheless represented the apex of contemporary aerial targeting and
fire control systems of its day.
Due to
advancements in SAGE and on-board data transmission links, it was fully
capable of completely automatic interception and destruction of designated
targets, as well as blind GCA and ILS flight in all categories of weather. In
such a mode, the pilot was almost a redundant component! In the course of its
development, the electronics (originally utilizing vacuum tubes in its black
boxes) underwent continuous upgrading and improvement as solid state (transisterised)
devices became the norm. There were, however, circumstances in which a ‘human
computer’ on board was handy (such as in conditions involving fully automatic
digital data link intercepts under unusual or divergent jet-stream and target
heading situations), but no real Dart pilot worth his stuff would ever
admit to the contrary, in any event!
It is worthwhile
here to take a moment and examine a few of the characteristics & parameters of
the F106A Delta Dart. With a fully loaded flight weight of over 40,992
pounds, a wing area of 705 square feet, and a single axial flow Pratt and
Whitney J-75 turbojet engine rated at 24,000 pounds of thrust on full reheat,
the F106A was a spectacular performer. If there was any criticism of the
aircraft by its crews it was that it was hard to slow it down, for the
aircraft liked to keep fast company. Zoom climb altitude was 74,255 feet, and
normal service ceiling was 60,466 feet. Maximum maneuvering speed was Mach 1.9
at 42,431 feet. The length of the Six was 75 feet, its wing span was 40
feet, and its aspect ratio 2.2. Maximum speed was officially specified as Mach
2.31 at 42,431 feet altitude. Empty weight was listed as 23,695 pounds, while
maximum take-off weight was given as 38,330 pounds. With two supersonic-rated
external fuel tanks, each holding 360 gallons of JP4, maximum range was listed
as 2,684 miles at 606.5 mph airspeed and 43,819 feet altitude, while combat
radius was 572 miles with internal fuel only. Useable fuel load carried
internally in the A model was 1740 gallons of JP4, stored in 8 wing tanks and
one fuselage tank located behind the cockpit. Standard interception armament
consisted of a combination of AIR-2A or AIR-2G Genie Nuclear Rockets,
AIM4E/4F Super Falcon radar guided missiles, AIM-4G Super Falcon
infrared seeking missiles, and an internally fitted General Electric M-61 20mm
multi-barrel cannon with 75 rounds of ammunition (fitted only to some models
later in the aircraft's development and which replaced the nuclear-tipped
Genie rocket in the weapons bay).
One of the chief
concerns arising with the new generation of supersonic aircraft of the
Century Series, and particularly with the new Convair F106A was the need
for a new generation supersonic-rated aircrew ejection seat system. The seat
used in the F102A was limited in that it was not supersonic rated, nor was it
useful in zero (altitude)-zero (speed) situations. In October of
1957 a requirement for a supersonic ejection system was issued by the US Air
Force, which resulted in the ICESC Seat Program (Industry Crew
Escape System Committee). Convair, under the supervisory administration of
the ICESC, undertook primary development of a new seat that was to provide
emergency escape for aircrew in all situational parameters, including
supersonic and zero-zero ejections.
The ICESC Seat
Program involved over 6 years of extensive testing (1 January 1956 through 30
June 1961) of the resulting Convair / ICESC "B" Seat system on rocket-powered
sleds at Edwards Flight Test Center and Holloman AFB in New Mexico. These
tests ultimately culminated with a live ejection test using a human volunteer
at the White Sands missile test range in New Mexico. TSgt. James A Howell
ejected from a specially instrumented F106B aircraft at an altitude of 23,336
feet, and traveling at 497 mph. The seat, which employed a unique
tilt-articulated, rocket boosted system, was installed in the early serial
block F106A aircraft. Sled test ejections with dummies were run at speeds
simulating Mach 2.5 at 9,700 meters altitude, with statistically satisfactory
results. Additionally, 35 human test subject sled runs were concluded,
verifying that ejections up to 560 mph airspeed were within the range of human
endurance. The "tilt-seat", as some life support people came to know
it, was not entirely satisfactory, however, and after several fatalities were
sustained during actual in-flight emergency ejections in the supersonic rated
tilt-seat, it was replaced in the F106 aircraft by a more conventional,
rocket-powered seat made by the Weber Corporation (this seat was known simply
as the "Weber Seat"), from 1964 through 1967. The Weber seat remained
in the F106A & B type aircraft throughout the rest of the type's service life,
and gave a satisfactory zero-zero escape capability, as well as a satisfactory
high-speed ejection performance for almost all emergency aircrew escape
situations. It should be noted that one of the motivations for replacement of
the imperfect supersonic ‘tilt-seat’ with a conventional, rocket ejected seat
stemmed from a gradual de-emphasis on high altitude, high speed parameter
ejection capability, as actual operational experience had shown that most
in-flight emergency ejections took place at much lower altitudes and slower
speeds.
Another
interesting aspect of the F106A advanced interceptor was that as originally
designed, the first two prototype aircraft assigned to Edwards flight Test
Phase Two evaluations were fitted with what would have been the first
side-stick controls in an American military jet. Due to combined Convair / Air
Force evaluational consensus, however, the prototype F106A aircraft were
retrofitted with conventional center-stick controls (as were the subsequent
production aircraft) prior to the start of the Phase Two (Air Force
operational flight test) testing , and it was not until the introduction of
the General Dynamics F16 ‘Viper’ that a side-controller stick became a
standard military jet cockpit feature. As in other of its advanced design
areas, the early form of this unique aircraft's control system was an
expression of forward thinking, and had to be marginally conventionalized
for practical purposes.
As with the
earliest F102 ‘interim’ interceptor, the 60 degree leading edge wing sweep was
kept and used just as had been called for in the original Lippisch
experimental studies. In 1958 and 1959 the two-seat, air defense capable
version of the Dart, designated the F106B, was delivered to Edwards
Flight Test Center and following extensive testing, approximately 63 of these
two-place aircraft were subsequently manufactured and used principally for
training purposes (although they could be configured with the same weapons as
the single seater and used for air defense, and performance specifications for
both models were essentially identical).
By 1962 US Air
Defense Command had 251 of the single seat F106A models, assigned to 14
squadrons in strategic sites around the perimeter of the United States.
Although superbly suited to its primary area air defense role against
strategic bomber penetration, by the late 60s it became apparent that there
was a need to confer point-defense and general theatre air-superiority
capability upon the F106. In view of its ability to engage in air-to-air
refueling with world-wide deployment now possible, there was an increasing
likelihood that it would come into contact with hostile fighters in some
future conflict that took it out of its nominal pure interception environment.
Thus a 20 mm M-61 Vulcan rotary barrel cannon was specially configured
for use by the Six, the bulk of which could be carried within its internal
weapons bay. The Vulcan equipped Dart was nicknamed "Six-shooter,"
and new training and tactics subsequently demonstrated that the venerable F106
Delta Dart was also quite well suited for use in its new air
superiority role. Part of the Six-shooter modification included a new
and very accurate "snapshoot" gunsight, and the installed Vulcan M-61
cannon could be carried and used with no interference to deployment of the
normal load of Super Falcon missiles carried in the internal weapons
bay. Among further refinements engineered into the Six was a cockpit
heads-up display, an arrest barrier tail-hook, a clear ‘bubble canopy’ hood,
and improved variable ramp air inlet ramps. F106 cockpit improvements included
installation of advanced vertical ‘tape’ instrument displays, proven far
superior to conventional "round-eye" (analogue) instrument gauges for
conveying precise data quickly.
Further, over the
course of its long service life, improvements in solid-state electronics
provided welcome weight reductions in the massive and complex MA-I guidance
and control system components, and which also reduced lengthy maintenance
requirements substantially.
FLYING THE CONVAIR F106A DELTA DART:
Ask any pilot who
has piloted the Six and he will quite readily tell you that it was one
of the best aircraft he had ever flown. In typical delta-winged control
configuration (equipped with ‘elevons’ instead of horizontal stabiliser and
elevators), the Six felt much the same as any conventionally designed
aircraft in flight, according to Six pilots familiar with other
conventionally winged aircraft. The Six handled well at low speeds as
well as high ones, even when operating at or near specified minimums. General
flight characteristics of the Six fitted with the supersonic rated
external fuel tanks are essentially the same as in ‘clean’ configuration,
except that control at lower speeds is somewhat more demanding. Advantages of
the delta wing with its high surface area, included excellent performance at
high altitudes, and agile turning ability at intermediate and lower altitudes.
Furthermore, the Six was a straightforward and "honest" aircraft when
flown within the parameters of its flight envelope. As with any advanced
high-performance aircraft, however, flying beyond the envelope could
occasionally become a hazardous undertaking. An indication of the structural
integrity of the airframe was to be found in the fact that the original
fuselage airframe lifespan of about 4,000 hours had been doubled, with no
indications of its exceeding its lifetime limitations ever having been
reached, in extensive ongoing structural testing.
Pilots flying the
Six have described the plane's commendable feather light pitch
responsiveness and its approach to a stall as being straightforward with
progressive light, medium, and heavy buffeting leading to well indicated
lateral instability that induced nose yaw. Any increase in angle of attack
beyond the critical limit at this point and adverse yaw induced by any aileron
input initiated a violent roll & pitch-up condition known as post-stall.
The next step beyond this was a severe oscillation about all three axes and
the likelihood of an imminent flat spin. All of these responses were
predictably clear, and more than enough progressive warning of exceeding the
flight specifications was given. Checks on the Six were a Mach 2
restriction, a 752 KIAS "Q" limit, and a skin temperature limit (the "AM3
gray" color that the Sixes were painted was to protect the skin from effects
of high temperature, and was not solely for aesthetic effect).
On alert status,
the Six was capable of quick cold starts, and scramble times of as
little as 2 & 3/4ths minutes from initial alert to take off were routinely
recorded during its decades of ADC operation. Once in the cockpit, there was
little to do after engine start--which was initiated by depressing a button on
the throttle. 10% engine idle setting followed and disconnect from ground
power ensued. As soon as the generators were on line and the radar was
display-configured, the aircraft was ready to taxi, after a ‘last chance’
look-over from the ground crew on the verge of the active runway.
Engine run-up and
last minute checks for engine performance indications took place; flight
controls were checked, nose wheel steering positively engaged and then brakes
were released for take off. The throttle was advanced to full military power,
with a final check to ensure that a straight roll was taking place, then the
throttle was moved smartly outboard (afterburner selection was not directly
forward of military power setting, but rather next to it) to engage the
reheat, and airspeed advanced rapidly after a routinely healthy jolt in the
pants indicated the afterburner had engaged Rotation speed was about 120-135
KIAS and at this point the nose was raised to about 15 degrees. Taking care
not to exceed 17 degrees vertical (to keep the tail from scraping), you let
the aircraft fly itself off the runway. The Six became airborne at
about 184 KIAS, and at 250 KIAS the reheat was chopped and the aircraft
accelerated to 400 knots for the climb out, keeping the rate to .93 Mach. This
speed was maintained for subsequent climb-out and cruise under normal
conditions.
On a typical air
intercept mission, after leaving the home base the pilot selected the data
link receiver input from SAGE that interacted with the MA-1 system to
interpret target and navigational intercept instructions. Under automatic
control the aircraft was then flown to the predetermined interception point.
Verbal control communications were not necessary, and the MA-I system
interacted with the aircraft in that the aircraft "told' the MA-1 system what
it was doing and the MA-I system told the aircraft what it ought to do to
carry out the intercept properly. A consensus in the ensuing dialogue resulted
in appropriate automatic vectoring to the target.
Once the
intercept point had been reached, and the target displayed on the radar screen
as a blip, the pilot then used the left half of the unique U-shaped control
stick to lock the target on the display. As soon as the lock was achieved by
bracketing the scope blip with a "gate", the MA-I system took over; after
pre-selecting the weapons to be used, the pilot allowed the MA-1 to determine
the successful fire and release point to ensure a kill.
Anticipating
interception of Soviet nuclear armed bombers, the Douglas AIR-2A Genie
nuclear tipped rocket was carried by the F106A for destruction of such
formidable targets in the first decade of the Six's service. The
typical Genie launch was carried out in a characteristic looping
maneuver that released the missile and allowed the Six to get as far
away from the anticipated blast as possible, so as to avoid being cremated in
the ensuing melee. Since the small but effective nuclear warhead of the
Genie did not require precise guidance to a direct hit, in order to
ensure destruction, the missile was guided to within a predetermined kill
radius of the warhead and summarily detonated Somewhat later, the effective
but messy Genie was retired from active use as the Soviet nuclear
bomber threat diminished in proportion to the growing Soviet intercontinental
missile threat of the 70s.
Once an
interception had been made and missiles released, with the fast-acting bay
doors snapped closed shortly after firing, the Six was brought back to
home base either under manual or fully automatic control via the SAGE control
center. If desired, the aircraft could be brought in, finalled, flared and
landed--all under automatic control and in full Category 3 conditions,
if need be.
Back home,
initial approach was flown at about 325 knots. Break was carried out clean,
rolling out on the downwind at about 1591 feet altitude, with landing gear
lowered at about 250 knots (gear retraction was mandated on take off before
reaching 280 KIAS to avoid damage, as acceleration was so great with reheat
that this was quite easy to exceed). Landing approach speed of 180 knots was
usual, and characteristic increased nose-high attitude resulting from
delta-wing speed bleed-off was easy to misjudge without prior delta wing
experience. Resultant loss of altitude could occur rapidly, therefore, and
airspeed and rate of descent were controlled largely by power adjustment.
Speed brakes (which also housed the drogue chute) were opened at any point on
final turn or approach. Power was then incrementally reduced after the final
roll out to reach ‘prior-to-flare’ speed, and then reduced to idle as
aerodynamic braking killed airspeed until the main gear wheels touched The
drag chute was deployed at touchdown and the nose was maintained at about 15
degrees to further scrub speed until the nose-gear dropped on its own to the
runway as the aircraft slowed down.
Pilots reported
that coming in hot across the end of the runway at 180 knots was a source of
some
major excitement in a high-performance delta-winged fighter such as the Six,
and reliable word has it that such landings in cold areas where icy runways
were common during winter operations were even more thrilling. The margin for
error was small in these circumstances, and flight proficiency was the key
operative phrase for Six pilots. A normal interception mission was
anywhere from 100 to 120 minutes in duration, depending upon the type and
profile of mission flown.
Once off the
active runway, the drag chute handle was pressed fully home, which action
released it, and a taxi back to the ramp usually brought a gratifying feeling
of great fulfillment to ‘Sixers’ in having once more flown a satisfying
mission in this beautiful beast.
SOME
FINAL COMMENTS:
Despite the level
of sophistication found in the F106A Delta Dart in its service life, it was
regarded by the US Air Force as having the ‘greatest mission-task loaded
cockpit’ among all active USAF service aircraft types flown in the 70s, and
despite being an excellent aircraft to fly, it required a competent and
proficient pilot to wring every bit of its excellence out of it. It was also a
very complex and sophisticated aircraft for its day, requiring a rather
extensive and demanding ground service & maintenance schedule. Much of this
was attributable to the intricacies of the complex Hughes MA-I fire control
system that formed its heart and soul. Given these requirements, however, it
was a reliable, dependable, and deadly accurate weapons platform with which to
counter any conceivable threat of airspace penetration. Above all the Six
was an absolute joy to fly--truly a pilot's airplane--and was loved by all who
worked in or around it. It was regarded with almost as much affection by those
who maintained it (despite its time-intensive nature) as by those who actually
flew it.
Inevitably,
though, as the years progressed, it was the MA-I weapons navigation and
control system, comprising the core of the aircraft, which brought the career
of this greatest of interceptor aircraft to an end By today's standards the
marvel that was the Hughes Aircraft Company MA-I system of the late 50s, 60s,
and 70s is now an obsolesced, archaic relic and it finally became too
burdensome to attempt to maintain the MA-1 systems in repair....especially
with the technologically advanced avionics systems being brought into use on
the newer generation F15 and F16 aircraft of today.
When the last
F106A & B model interceptors were retired from regular and ANG service between
1985 and 1988, they were flown to the USAF’s AMARC depot and placed in
storage. Most were converted to remotely flyable QF-106 (man-rated) target
drones and sent to Tyndall and Holloman air force bases for use as target
aircraft. Of the total of 340 A & 63 B models produced, about 230 were
eventually converted to QF-106 target drone status by Tracor Flight Systems at
Mojave Airport in California. When the last target drone flight was completed
at Tyndall AFB in 1997, there were about two dozen unflyable QF-106s left in
the area at Tyndall known as ‘The Swamp’. There were also about 7
flight-worthy Six survivors, all of which were flown back to AMARC for
storage, joining about 35 other Sixes that had been designated as parts
donors and kept at AMARC to support the ‘Pacer Six’ program. As stated
earlier, about 7 of the non-flying Sixes left at Tyndall were sold
(through DRMO) to David Tokoff’s GrecoAir in El Paso Texas, where they
are being restored for museum display. Two of the QF-106 drones had been
requisitioned for use in the ‘Delta Dragger’ reusable towed space flight
vehicle project at Dryden, designated ‘Project Eclipse’ (59-0130 and 59-0010).
At the end of that program both were again flown back to AMARC. Interestingly,
a significant number of the last flyable Six drones were former 5th
FIS aircraft (including both 59-0130 and 59-0010). Most of these few remaining
examples of the ‘Ultimate Interceptor’ have now found their way to air
museums, via charge through US Air Force Museum authority, and it pleases me
to no end that one of my old Minot AFB 5th FIS birds
(59-0010)
is now on its was to join our Sacramento McClellan Aviation Museum Foundation
(former McClellan AFB Air Museum) collection, as the ‘crown jewel’ of our
Century Series aircraft sub-collection. [Please see the associated history of
that amazingly lucky survivor of the ‘Sexy Six’ aircraft, described by
some (myself included) appreciators as ‘The Class of the Century Series’].
One other 5th
FIS survivor that is a particular favorite is 59-0003 (known as “Balls 3”,
of course). Balls-3 was designated as a parts donor airframe many years
ago and escaped the fate of being used as a flying target; it was fortunate
enough to find its way to the PIMA Air & Space Museum in Tucson AZ (adjacent
to AMARC), where is has rested peacefully and undisturbed for the last 15
years on loan as part of the PIMA collection. It has recently been officially
handed over to PIMA once and for all, and has now undergone the required
‘demil’ procedure that is today required for all ex-military aircraft on loan
to museums. It always gives me great pleasure to visit PIMA and renew old
times with Balls 3. Shortly, however, we will have one of Balls-3’s
stable-mates right here at our McClellan Air Park, when 59-0010 arrives in
March of 2005.
There was an old
saying not long ago, spoken in reference to the Convair F-106 Delta Dart:
“When you’re out of Sixes, you’re out of interceptors!” Pure air defense
interceptors may now be relegated to aerospace history, but for many of us who
served in the US Air Force during the ‘Cold War’ era, there will never be
another aircraft quite like the ultimate progeny of Herr Doktor Professor
Lippisch’s forward looking delta winged aircraft designs!
UFO Incident During the Cuban Missile
Crisis
October 1962
By Francis L. Ridge
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F-106 "Delta Dart"
The recent release of the motion picture about the Cuban Missile Crisis,
"Thirteen Days", reminded me of one of the UFO cases I investigated, but never
filed or published, in the 1980's. In the 60's and early 70's, when I was with
NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena), one of our
major concerns was the possibility of accidental nuclear war caused by jittery
air defense radarmen mistaking UFOs for Russian missiles or jets. And when we
had the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962 there was never a time when we
were closer to a nuclear confrontation, out of the 16 times we know about, as
our research from the NCP (Nuclear Connection Project) indicates. The entire
U.S., Canada, and Alaska were on a top Security Option 5 alert. I can't tell
you about other events around the country, but in NORAD Region 21 something
slower than an incoming missile, but faster than our jet interceptors, was
violating airspace all the way from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, on
into Canada and Alaska, and we were ready to use tactical nuclear weapons, if
necessary, to stop it.
A friend of mine was a radar expert and a defense radar operator at that
time. Years before he died he told me of this incident during the Cuban
Missile Crisis which fully illustrates the seriousness of the situation, plus
gives us an insight into who was, or was not, the intelligence behind the UFO
phenomena. This incident was just one of many, and a very interesting one,
indeed.
But first, let me set the stage:
An F-106 (as shown above) is an all-weather interceptor which was developed
from the Convair F-102 "Delta Dagger". It was designed from the ground up as
an Interceptor. It was originally designated as the F-102B, following it's
predecessor the F-102 Delta Dagger, but was redesignated the F-106 because of
it's extensive structural changes and the more powerful Pratt & Whitney J57
engine. The first F-106A flew on Dec. 26, 1956. A total of 277 F-106As and 63
F-106Bs were built. The F-106 used a Hughes MA-1 electronic guidance and fire
control system. After takeoff, the MA-1 can be given control of the aircraft
to fly it to the proper altitude and attack position. Then it can fire the
Genie Air-toAir Nuclear Rocket and Hughes Aim 4 Falcon missiles, break off its
attack run, and return the aircraft to the vicinity of its base. The pilot
takes control again for the landing. Maximum speed: 1,587 mph. Cruising
speed: 650 mph. Range:1,500 miles ("A" model), 575 miles ("B" model).
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F-102 "Delta Dagger"
If the reader wishes to skip the next two paragraphs, concerning the
F-102 and the SAGE system, the report context will not suffer.
The Convair F-102 "Delta Dagger" had the primary mission of intercepting
and destroying enemy aircraft. It was the world's first supersonic all-weather
jet interceptor and the USAF's first operational delta-wing aircraft. The
F-102 made its initial flight on Oct. 24, 1953 and became operational with the
Air Defense Command in 1956. At the peak of deployment in the late 1950's,
F-102s equipped more than 25 ADC squadrons. In a wartime situation, after
electronic equipment on board the F-102 had located the enemy aircraft, the
F-102's radar would guide it into position for attack. At the proper moment,
the electronic fire control system would automatically fire the F-102's
air-to-air rockets and missiles. However, performance wise the maximum speed
was only 810 mph, with a cruising speed of 600 mph. And its range was 1,000
miles with a service ceiling of only 55,000 ft.
SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) was the military response to
the perceived Cold War threat that came into being almost immediately after
WWII. The concern was for the Air Defense of North America. SAGE was the
technical answer to the need to convert raw radar data to digital form and
display it in real-time. This enabled SAGE operators to detect and direct the
intercept of any unknown aircraft penetrating the air space of the North
American Continent. The Air Defense Command of the United States Air Force had
the command authority to operate and maintain the SAGE system. The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Lincoln Lab was responsible for
the system design of SAGE, both hardware and software. The computer, the
AN/FSQ-7, was built and installed by IBM. SAGE was perhaps the start of the
military-industrial complex that exists to this day. The origin of much of the
computer technology existing today had its beginning in SAGE.
This incident took place over a wide area, but in and around the 21st
NORAD Region. My friend/informant who told me this story was stationed near
Palermo AFS, New Jersey, at a small and remote radar site running a
height-finder, an AN/FPS-6.. In the region there were eight height-finder
radars devoted to SAGE in the Air Defense Sector, and seven of these had
manual lock-ons in this case because the Uncorrelated Target (UT) was over
flying the lobe patterns of the search radars. Palermo was a Back Up
Interceptor Control (BUIC) Phase One Site. There never was a visual sighting
of this object, but this unknown worried a lot of people. There were a lot of
witnesses, including many officers. The UFO that he and many others tracked
that late afternoon had originally spawned an alarm from New Jersey and
Pennsylvania on into New York and later into Canada with the entire Air
Defense Sector on alert with a nuclear-armed F-106.
His site became involved when the alert was handed off to the Boston Air
Defense Sector. The object was painted by the AN/FPS-6 height finder radar
with a radar reflectivity similar to an F-106, or larger, in size. By the time
the UFO had crossed into Rome, NY, airspace it was cruising straight and
level at 73,600 feet, and was pulling away from an F-106 at full afterburner,
which was moving at mach 2.3. All this time they were listening to the
communications from the Direction Center, which was "reading the data back to
them" as they were involved in the tracking.
What really impressed my friend was that there were two F-102's in the
air on the scramble mission. But, at New York, once the F-106 was airborne,
the UFO broke off its pattern. He told me it had a "6th sense". The UFO knew,
apparently, that the F-102's couldn't reach its altitude, but the F-106 could.
The F-106 took a JUDY (radar lock-on), which took control from the pilot and
stayed at full afterburner for 22-23 minutes, but never saw or ever caught up
with the UFO. The 102 landed with 16" less tailpipe than it started with, but
not before flaming out at 75,000 feet at full power, a pretty scary
situation.
The last they heard was that the UFO had passed into Canadian air space
and they had nothing that could reach its altitude. Within a few hours the
incident had tapped out the entire Alaskan Air Defense, which had everything
in the air, which included all the "deuces" (F-102's) and the six F-106's they
had.
Forty years ago, something real was tracked by at least seven defense
radars. This occurred during one of the most dangerous times in our history,
the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although they call it "Thirteen Days", this Cuban
Missile crisis, itself, took in the best part of three weeks. We were just
not aware of it. The object was not a Russian missile; ICBMs move ten times
faster than that. It wasn't a jet. It wasn't ours and it wasn't Russian. They
knew it then, but we all know now for sure. There was no visual sighting, but
the UFO was 14 miles up and moving faster than anything we had in the air. Was
this an isolated incident? I really doubt it. The UFO may have been in the
wrong place at the wrong time, but if I hadn't been an Field Investigator (FI)
for the Center for UFO Studies and State Director for MUFON at the time I got
this report, this incident would not have come to light, which indicates we
have only the tip of the iceberg.
Francis Ridge
NICAP Site Coordinator