F-106A 56-0451 Painted as 59-0082
Selfridge Air Museum, Selfridge ANG, MI (Previously at USAF Museum, WPAFB, Dayton OH)
56-0451 arrived to the Selfridge Air Museum from the USAF Museum Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton OH on 7 Apr 1989. It was retired on 23 Mar 1960 after only 4 years of service, mostly testing, and went to the the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright Field, Dayton, OH (USAF Museum Wright Patterson AFB) as part of the loan program. It went through at least four different versions of paint shemes before moving to the Selfridge Museum. 56-0451 was the first F-106 built and holds tremendous history. Its first flight was for 20 minutes at Edwards AFB, CA on 26 December 1956 as YF-106A. The Buzz Number leter code "FC" indicates the period of time when the F-102B was its designation, FC being the F-102 code vs. FE for the later re designation for the F-106, which occurred after the third aircraft was produced. It was repainted as 59-0082 for reasons not fully known. She still retains the original intakes, which where straight up and down, vs. after the Test-To-Tactical mod that have the intake a 5 degree down angle. 56-0451 is also the only surviving Six that still has the prototype tail cone, (modified) prototype air inlets, one of two that still has the early canopy (59-0134 in the Peterson CO museum the other), the only one remaining with the early main wheel and the only one with the short, prototype ventral bay with the flush hinge. Why the 082 Paint Job by Doug Barbier 17 Nov 1999 (ex-MAGHA Board of Directors, 191 FIG 'driver' F-4C/D, F-16A/ADF) I can clear up the question on why it's painted as 59-082. The Air Force Museum did it!! For many years it was on display in Dayton in it's original paint, but they wanted to show an operational aircraft, so they 'dummied it up' as a 49th bird. They finally received an actual operational bird (the Cornfield Bomber 58-787) so 451 became excess equipment. We (Selfridge) hade been trying to get a six for eons up at Selfridge and were first on the list for it when it became available. When we went down to pick it up to trailer it up to Selfridge we found it still had the engine in it! This caused no-end of problems and delays, because AF wanted the engine back so they could use it in the drone program, so they said, which was probably a ruse since the old original YJ75-P-1 or -9 test engine wasn't used in the QF-106 drones. Soooo, we took a bunch of our old crew chiefs down there, pulled the motor out... and then took the jet apart to move it up north. We hadn't had the opportunity to repaint it yet (before displaying it at Selfridge) - the EPA regs are murder! ----Doug What Selfridge did do however, was to paint over much of the 49 FIS markings, leaving only the 49th patch on the tail.