After having flown as N616NA for NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland for several years it was transferred to Langley Research Center and renumbered N816NA in January 1979 for the next six years as it joined NASA's Storm Hazards Program to study the effects of lightning strikes on aircraft. NASA 816 (F-106B 57-2516) was used for research at the NASA hanger and associated with the Storm Hazards Program which ran from 1980-1986 during 1496 thunderstorm penetrations and 714 direct strikes. This program was designed to provide data from in-flight measurements of direct-strike lightning characteristics to determine the threat to aircraft constructed of composite materials and utilizing digital control systems. The program also provided data on the location and strength of storms. The NASA 816 conducted 195 research flights, receiving 714 direct lightening strikes. See a video on the airborne lightning research which includes flight footage. The Storm Hazards Program produced the following key results (see full report.
1. Identified regions with the highest probability for an aircraft to experience a direct lightning strike.
2. Identified the typical intensity of these strikes.
3. Identified the relationship of lightning, hazardous precipitation, and turbulence.
4, Determined that airborne lightning location devices may not provide a reliable indication of the potential for triggered lightening.
5. The entire surface of the F106 may be susceptible to direct or swept lightning.

The program began in 1978 using De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft that would fly on the fringes of thunderstorms gathering lightning data to be used in planning the penetration flights of N816NA. The modified Delta Dart would be flown into thunderstorms to trigger lightning strikes. Mainly operating off the coast of Virginia and at various locations in the US Midwest, the Delta Dart would fly as low as 3,500 feet up to as high as 50,000 feet on its penetration flights. In its time with the Storm Hazards Program, N816NA made 1,496 thunderstorm penetrations and was struck by lightning 714 times. In a single flight in 1984 it was struck 72 times in the space of only 45 minutes while penetrating a thunderstorm at 38,000 feet.