A reminder of the days when RCAF Voodoos thundered over Vancouver Island. Hawk One Canada keeps watch over the Base entrance
Considered one of the world's most formidable fighter aircraft, the McDonnell CF-101B "Voodoo" supersonic all-weather interceptor was acquired by the RCAF in 1961 to replace the CF-100 in Air Defence Command. The twin-engine, two-place Voodoo's high speed, extreme combat radius, exceptional climb performance and ability to operate at great heights give it unusual striking power. As a weapon platform it has great flexibility, being able to accommodate a wide variety of rockets and missiles. The most successful versions of the Voodoo were the two seat interceptor variants which served with Air Defence Command and the Royal Canadian Air Force (later the Canadian Armed Forces). The two seater first flew in March 1957 with the first aircraft entering operational service in June 1959. The first units to fly the aircraft were the 84th, 98th and 322nd Fighter Interceptor Squadrons. 17 squadrons eventually flew the Voodoo with ADC. The F-101B carried a Pilot and Weapons System Operator (In Canada, they were called Navigators). Aircraft armament consisted of two AIM-4 C Falcon infrared guided missiles and the AIR-2A Genie nuclear tipped rockets. Needless to say, during peacetime readiness levels, alert aircraft carried the Falcons. The Genie was unguided and had an effective range of six miles. Some question has been raised as to whether the F-101 itself would survive a AIR-2 launch. Several escape maneuvers based on the altitude of the launch were practiced. The most dangerous was the low level escape as problems regarding pitch up and the effects of ground proximity in enhancing the effects of the nuclear blast could result in the loss of the aircraft. The F-101B was guided to its target via a SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) data link. Steering commands and the targets speed altitude and heading were transited to the navigator without the need for voice communication. A good F-101 crew operating with SAGE would be placed in optimum position for an intercept.
Size: 5620px × 3733px
Location: Comex Air Base Museum Vancouver Island British Columbia BC Canada
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: &, -57-p53/55, 2, 11, 14, 990, air, armed, canadian, crew, defence, ejection, engines, fast, fighter, forces, interceptor, lbs, navigator, pilot, plants, power, pratt, seats, thrust, turbojets, whitney
