F-101B "Voodoo" Fighter / Interceptor

Serving on display at K.I. Sawyer is tail number 58-0291

McDonnell F-101B "Voodoo" Tail number 58-0291. Displayed as 58-0308, one of the 62nd FIS's assigned tail numbers.

F-101B 58-0291 was used for battle damage repair training at the repair depot at Hill AFB, UT prior to coming to K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base for static display.

The 62nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron flew the F-101B "Voodoos" out of sawyer from 1959 until 1971 when they were replaced by the F-106A "Delta Dart" Interceptors.

About the F-101 Voodoo

The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is 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 12 December 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. US examples were handed off to the Air National Guard where they served until 1982. Canadian examples remained in service until 1984.