McDonnell F-101 Voodoo

The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft as a long-range bomber escort (known as a penetration fighter) for the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Voodoo was instead developed as a nuclear-armed fighter-bomber for the Tactical Air Command (TAC), and as a photo reconnaissance aircraft based on the same airframe. An F-101A set a number of world speed records for jet powered aircraft, including fastest airspeed, attaining 1,207.6 miles (1,943.4 km) per hour on December 12th, 1957. They operated in the reconnaissance role until 1979.

Delays in the 1954 interceptor project led to demands for an interim interceptor aircraft design, a role that was eventually won by the B model of the Voodoo. This required extensive modifications to add a large radar to the nose of the aircraft, a second crewmember to operate it, and a new weapons bay using a rotating door that kept its four AIM-4 Falcon missiles or two AIR-2 Genie rockets hidden within the airframe until it was time to be fired. The F-101B entered service with Air Defense Command in 1959 and the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1961. American examples were handed off to the Air National Guard where they served until 1982. Canadian examples remained in service until 1982 when they were replaced by the CF-184 Tomcat.

Users

 * Canada
 * Royal Canadian Air Force
 * United States
 * United States Air Force

Related Development

 * McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo

Comparable Aircraft

 * Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
 * Convair F-106 Delta Dart
 * McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II
 * Tupolev Tu-28