The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was a supersonic, interceptor aircraft in service with the US Air Force from 1959 to 1988. Although it had a great performance, it was a complex and costly machine. Developed from the F-102 Delta Dagger, its main mission was to intercept and shoot down Soviet bombers during the Cold War. Thus, it usually flew sorties in the skies over Alaska during the 1960s and 1970s. However, it never saw combat action as it did not take part in the Vietnam War or in any other armed conflict.
The F-106 Delta Dart performed its first flight on December 26, 1956, taking off from Edwards Air Force Base. It was the prototype YF-106A powered by one Pratt & Whitney J57-P-47 jet engine. The flight test phase lasted less than three years and it entered service with the US Air Force on June 18, 1959, as the F-106A. Including the two prototypes, 342 interceptor aircraft would be built, in only one combat version; the F-106A. However, a trainer variant was also produced; the F-106B. From the time it was introduced at Geiger Field, Washington, it became the backbone of North America air defense, also becoming the favorite of many pilots who flew it.
Below, head-on view of the delta-winged interceptor in 1959.
Technical Description
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was a single-seat, single-engine, supersonic monoplane of all-metal construction. It had a delta wing configuration, with a slight anhedral angle (with the wing obliquely downwards). It was mounted on lower portion of fuselage (delta low mid-wing), right under the engine air intake. The fuselage was not cylindrical but rather triangular in shape, with a streamlined conical nose. The cockpit canopy was inverted-'V'-shaped.
The Delta Dart was equipped with a Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 turbojet engine, which put out 17,212 pounds of thrust with afterburning. This engine also powered the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. Aside from the internal fuel tank, it usually carried a pair of underwing tanks for longer range. This aircraft featured a powerful search radar and also an infra-red search and track system.
Specifications
Type: interceptor
Length: 21.55 m (70 ft, 8 in)
Wing Span: 11.67 m (38 ft, 3 in)
Wing Area: 61.46 m2 (662 sq. ft)
Power Plant: one Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 turbojet engine
Maximum Speed: Mach 2.25 (2,400 km/h, or 1,491 mph)
Range: 1,850 km (1,150 miles)
Service Ceiling: 17,680 m (58,600 ft)
Armament: one 20-mm M61A cannon; four AIM-4E or AIM4G Falcon air-to-air missile, plus two Genie nuclear rockets.
Below, the prototype YF-106A in 1957.
Four Delta Darts flying in diamond formation.
Below, two F-106As in flight in the 1960s.
