F-106 Delta Dart, Best fighter in the world?

This fighter was one of the best in the world. They shoul d not of took it out of service. It had a powerful search radar and it had a infrared search-and-track system, a feature lacking on even the most advanced fighters of today. It had an internal weapons bay and a semi-retractable M61 gun. It also had a highly advanced avionics package that was integrated with the NORAD air defence system. It had a max speed of mach 2.25, a range of 1,142 miles, a service ceiling of 57,990 feet, and a climb rate of 39,790 feet per minute. In my opinion the F-106 is one of the best fighters ever made. If it was upgraded to todays standerds it could outperform any fighter today. It only had one real problem, its air intakes. They needed to be redesigned to cope with the massive airflow of the J75 engine.

Hmm, dunno on that, I think it all boils down to opinion and for some, stats.

I prefer the F-14 with the Phoenix system, etc. But that is my opinion and not one of pure fact. There are better fighters, etc. in the world.


regards
seekerof

Well,
Though the Dart was powerful, I'm not sure if it could beat a modern fighter...

However, it is, perhaps, the best looking fighter of all time. My father was lucky enough to work on its predescessor, the F-102, once while in the air force (he was a KC-135 jet engine mechanic, but the two planes each had, at the time, J-57 turbojets).

As a side note, F-106s were involved in a famous chase of a UFO over a strategic air command base in 1975, I believe.

My grandfather used to work on F-106s. Actually I have a funny story about the F-106. About 20 to 30 years ago the airbrakes on the F-106s started to break when the pilots would deploy them when landing. They started to investigate and could not find the problem. One day though in the night my grandfather(you was to be off the base at the time) went down to the paint shop and found some guy dipping the airbrakes in a paint. That was why the brakes were breaking. You never dip airbrakes in paint, here is why. The airbrakes are made out of magnesiam(wrong spelling). When the man would dip the brakes the paint would go into the pores in the barkes and the paint would start to eat away at the metal. That was what was causing the brakes to break. They finally fixed the problem, but it costed millions of dollars.

LOL, sabotage!

The F-106 was one of my favorite fighters of the century series(F-100 through F-106). It is way obsolete by today's standards, although I would love to own one, if I won the lottery. While we are talking jet planes here I would like to mention that the B-52 is fifty years old and the air force wants to keep it in service for another fifty. That would be like seeing the Wright flyer of1903 still in service today.


DEN OF THE DAMNED

the F-106 is definately a good looking jet. i've always liked that one. it just has that clean, sleak look to it. i like a lot of the jets from the 60's and 70's. like the F-4. something about that jet that just looks so good.

There is a reason it was put out of service. It's hopelessly outdated. Same reason the F-5 is no longer in service. It's a helluva lot easier to purchase brand new state of the art aircraft than update old ones plagued with problems already. I'm not arguing that it was not a great plane for its time... but for a modern fighter it's obsolete.

Can anyone aswer me this question?

Why were the earlier Jet Aircraft much faster than the current Aircraft?

First the F-106 was not plagued with problems. Also many countries are upgrading older jets to make them potent performers. Just think of the Mig series, F-4, F-5, A-4. These planes are being upgraded by many countries because it is cheaper. Braizil just got many upgraded A-4's to equip their new Carrier.

Why were the earlier Jet Aircraft much faster than the current Aircraft

the missile was still in developement and was no where near as capable as todays air to air missiles, so the fighter had to make up the difference, if a flight of enemy bombers was detecded you would want them taken down as quick as possible, so fighter jets were produced with a higher emphasis on speed to take them down as soon as possible, in 4th gen fighters manuverbillity was important since missiles were becoming more advanced and speed was no longer needed since missiles could achieve much higher speeds and ranges than its launch fighter, so to save money building fighters they began reducing the max mach inlet numbers making it less complex and therfore less costly

It most certainly was one of the most attractive interceptors -one seldom goes wrong with a classic Delta design.
I think the essence of the "top-speed" question has been given; but it very largely reflects not only missile advances but also a fundamental change in what fighters were expected to achieve.
Essentially it was WWI, WWII and Korean War thinking: fighters "dog-fought" other fighters -especially those escorting heavy bombers. One thinks of the F-104 Starfighter as the typical plane of a generation in this role.
However, as Vietnam showed: planes such as the F-105 were actually better used as fast fighter-bombers.
As the traditional "enemies" disappeared, there was less and less need for a grandchild to the P-51 or the Spitfire.

I love the "Century series" fighters as much as the next guy, but they were limited by the technology and their mission at the time they were designed.

A main mission design was to intercept high altutude Soviet bombers. The planes were fast and carried, by modern standards, prinmitive missile systems. You had to be fast to get to those Russkie bombers before they nuked your grandma in North Dakota. It wasn't like you could hang back 30 miles and target 6 bombers and launch missiles and be back at the O club for a cocktail. Now we worry about combat range, fuel efficiency, stealth etc. Modern fighters have a hell of a lot more tasks to accomplish. The time is past for single mission aircraft.

As far as the F4, I always remember a college buddy who was c crew chief of an F4 back in the late '70s. He said "The F4 proves you can make a brick fly as long as you put enough thrust behind it".

A rather good factual "read" on the Dart and the previous "Dagger" here:
home.iae.nl...



[Edited on 7-7-2003 by Estragon]

Thanks for the good info. I saved it onto a disk and added it to my collection.

[Edited on 7-7-2003 by jetsetter]

It�s sad, in a way, that these planes �indeeed that the variety of planes goes. As a little boy I was obsessed with aircraft and I well remember getting the marvellous William Green books on World War II warplanes from the library ( and all the other Observer�s books, too)and trying to memorise everything: and there were so MANY planes: Avro, Bristol, Fairey, Short, Supermarine, Hawker, de Havilland, Vickers, Gloster, scores of planes just from Britain and that was before you got on to scores more from the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France...hundreds of aircraft and hundreds of pages.
I fear a modern boy would have everything on about six pages.

The F-106 is indeed one of the best fighters ever produced. When the F-15 first came on-line they ROUTINELY got waxed in exercises by F-106 pilots. I'd bet an expierenced F-106 driver could whip a young stud in anything flying today.

Originally posted by jetsetter
This fighter was one of the best in the world. They shoul d not of took it out of service. It had a powerful search radar and it had a infrared search-and-track system, a feature lacking on even the most advanced fighters of today. It had an internal weapons bay and a semi-retractable M61 gun. It also had a highly advanced avionics package that was integrated with the NORAD air defence system. It had a max speed of mach 2.25, a range of 1,142 miles, a service ceiling of 57,990 feet, and a climb rate of 39,790 feet per minute. In my opinion the F-106 is one of the best fighters ever made. If it was upgraded to todays standerds it could outperform any fighter today. It only had one real problem, its air intakes. They needed to be redesigned to cope with the massive airflow of the J75 engine.

Here are the specifications for the fighter aircraft of the previous generation, so you can see how does it compare with the others:



1) maximum speed

YF-12 Blackbird 3661 km/h
MiG-25 "Foxbat" 3390 km/h
XF8U-3 Crusader 2832 km/h
Mirage G8 2495 km/h
F-106 Delta Dart 2455 km/h
CF-105 Arrow 2453 km/h
MiG-23 "Flogger" 2445 km/h
IAI Kfir 2440 km/h
BAC Lightning 2415 km/h
F-4E Phantom II 2391 km/h
Mirage 5 2350 km/h
Mirage III 2350 km/h
Mirage F1 2350 km/h
Shenyang J-8 II "Finback" 2338 km/h
F-104 Starfighter 2335 km/h
JA37 Viggen 2231 km/h
Su-15 "Flagon" 2230 km/h
Su-11 "Fishpot" 2230 km/h
MiG-21 "Fishbed" 2175 km/h
J35 Draken 2126 km/h
La-250A Anakonda 2000 km/h
Tu-28P "Fiddler" 1920 km/h
F-8 Crusader 1860 km/h
Yak-28P "Firebar" 1840 km/h
F-101 Voodoo 1825 km/h
F-5 Tiger II 1743 km/h


2) rate of climb

F-4E-2000 Super Phantom 18100 m/min
F-104S Starfighter 16764 m/min
BAC Lightning F Mk6 15250 m/min
F-4E Phantom II 15179 m/min
MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K" 14400 m/min
Mirage G8 13998 m/min
Kfir C7 13989 m/min
MiG-21bis "Fishbed-N" 13800 m/min
Su-15 "Flagon" 13680 m/min
Mirage F1C 13400 m/min
MiG-25 "Foxbat" 12480 m/min
JA37 Viggen 12200 m/min
F-106A Delta Dart 12131 m/min
J35J Draken 12000 m/min
Shenyang J-8 II "Finback-B" 12000 m/min
Mirage 5F 11160 m/min
F-101B Voodoo 11133 m/min
F-5E Tiger II 10455 m/min
XF8U-3 Crusader 9900 m/min
F-8E Crusader 9738 m/min
Yak-28P "Firebar" 8498 m/min
Su-11 "Fishpot" 8230 m/min
Tu-28P "Fiddler" 7200 m/min
Mirage IIIE 5500 m/min


3) ceiling

YF-12 Blackbird 27400 m
MiG-25 "Foxbat" 20700 m
Shenyang J-8 II "Finback-B" 20500 m
Mirage F1 20000 m
J35 Draken 20000 m
Su-11 "Fishpot-C" 20000 m
Mirage G8 18500 m
Su-15TM "Fagon-F" 18500 m
MiG-23 "Flogger" 18500 m
F-4E Phantom II 18300 m
CF-105 Arrow 18300 m
XF8U-3 Crusader 18300 m
BAC Lightning 18300 m
JA37 Viggen 18300 m
Mirage 5 18000 m
Tu-28P "Fiddler" 18000 m
F-101B Voodoo 17800 m
MiG-21bis "Fishbed-N" 17800 m
F-8 Crusader 17680 m
IAI Kfir 17680 m
F-106 Delta Dart 17000 m
Mirage III 17000 m
La-250A Anakonda 17000 m
Yak-28P "Firebar" 16750 m
F-5 Tiger II 15790 m
F-104 Starfighter 15000 m


4) engine thrust

YF-12 Blackbird 280 kN
MiG-25PD "Foxbat-E" 220 kN
Tu-28P "Fiddler" 215.8 kN
CF-105 Arrow 209.06 kN
La-250A Anakonda 196 kN
F-4E-2000 Super Phantom 183.18 kN
F-4E Phantom II 158.8 kN
F-101B Voodoo 150.4 kN
BAC Lightning 142.34 kN
Mirage G8 140.2 kN
Su-15TM "Flagon-F" 140 kN
Shenyang J-8 II "Finback-B" 131.8 kN
XF8U-3 Crusader 131.2 kN
MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K" 127 kN
JA37 Viggen 125 kN
Yak-28P "Firebar" 124 kN
F-106 Delta Dart 109 kN
Su-11 "Fishpot-C" 97.92 kN
F-8E Crusader 80.1 kN
IAI Kfir 79.62 kN
J35 Draken 79.51 kN
Mirage F1 70.21 kN
MiG-21bis "Fishbed-N" 69.62 kN
F-104 Starfighter 69 kN
Mirage 5 60.80 kN
Mirage III 58.75 kN
F-5E Tiger II 44.48 kN


5A) weapons payload

F-4E Phantom II 8480 kg
Mirage F1 6300 kg
IAI Kfir 5775 kg
Shenyang J-8 II "Finback-B" 4500 kg
Mirage 5 4000 kg
Mirage III 4000 kg
AJ37 Viggen 3600 kg
F-5E Tiger II 3175 kg
MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K" 3000 kg
J35 Draken 2900 kg
BAC Lightning 2730 kg
F-8E Crusader 2000 kg
F-104 Starfighter 1814 kg
MiG-25 "Foxbat" 1800 kg
MiG-21 "Fishbed" 1500 kg


5B) internal cannon rounds

F-104G Starfighter 725 (20 mm)
F-106A Delta Dart 650 (20 mm)
F-4E Phantom II 640 (20 mm)
F-5E Tiger II 560 (20 mm)
F-8E Crusader 500 (20 mm)
Mirage F1 300 (30 mm)
IAI Kfir 280 (30 mm)
Mirage III 250 (30 mm)
Mirage 5 250 (30 mm)
BAC Lightning 240 (30 mm)
MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K" 200 (23 mm)
MiG-21bis "Fishbed-N" 200 (23 mm)
JA37 Viggen 126 (30 mm)
J35F Draken 100 (30 mm)


6) maximum range

YF-12 Blackbird 4800 km
F-106 Delta Dart 4300 km
Mirage 5 4000 km
Mirage III 4000 km
Mirage G8 3850 km
F-5E Tiger II 3700 km
XF8U-3 Crusader 3290 km
J35 Draken 3250 km
IAI Kfir 3200 km
Tu-28P "Fiddler" 3200 km
F-4E Phantom II 3000 km
MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K" 2820 km
F-8E Crusader 2795 km
F-104 Starfighter 2623 km
MiG-25 "Foxbat" 2575 km
Yak-28P "Firebar" 2500 km
F-101B Voodoo 2450 km
JA37 Viggen 2250 km
Mirage F1 2200 km
Shenyang J-8 II "Finback-B" 2200 km
BAC Lightning 2040 km
La-250A Anakonda 2000 km
Su-11 "Fishpot-C" 1800 km
MiG-21 "Fishbed" 1800 km
Su-15TM "Flagon-F" 1780 km
CF-105 Arrow 1320 km


7) aircraft built

MiG-21 "Fishbed" / Chengdu J-7 13896
F-4 Phantom II 5195
MiG-23 "Flogger" 5047
F-104 Starfighter 2575
F-5 Freedom Fighter / Tiger II 2246
Mirage III / 5 / 50 1422
Su-15 "Flagon" 1290
F-8 Crusader 1261
MiG-25 "Foxbat" 1190
Su-9 "Fishpot-B" 1100
Mirage F1 720
J35 Draken 644
F-101B Voodoo 479
Yak-28P "Firebar" 435
Shenyang J-8 I/II "Finback-A/B" 390
F-106 Delta Dart 342
BAC Lightning 337
IAI Kfir 220
Tu-28P "Fiddler" 188
JA37 Viggen 149
Su-11 "Fishpot-C" 108
XF8U-3 Crusader 5
CF-105 Arrow 5
La-250 Anakonda 5
YF-12 Blackbird 3
Mirage G 3

Some videos

www.youtube.com...

www.youtube.com...

F-106's could have slaughtered all of our F-22's.

The F-22 Raptors computers crashed when they were first deployed past Hawaii..trying to get to Korea. They hit the International Date Line and the computers shut down. We're lucky an entire squadron of F-22's didn't disappear over the Pacific as they ran out of fuel and the pilots were able to fly back to Hawaii without any flight computers running.

Sometimes the old school American Hot Rods are still the best thing out there.