* 11th FIS: while Harrison Thyng was there 1960-61 - all jets
* 27th FIS: had the one Bus 80900 "Flying without feathers is not easy" and also had Roger Codger
* 48th FIS: a couple while Stultz was there c.1980s (Thunderchicken)
* 87th FIS: WT 72 and 74 competition jets. The Red Schlitz Bull clone does not count - that became a standardized crew block
* 171st FIS: half a dozen 75-78
* 119th FIS: the two Don Spering specials - Kittyhawk Flyer and Last Six
In 1967 in-flight refueling capability was added to the F-106 with an IFR (In-flight Fuel Receptacle) on top of the fuselage just aft of the cockpit. The mod took a few years to complete across the entire fleet of aircraft. Some of the first aircraft to receive the IFR mod were 318th jets at McChord. Partly because of this, the 318th was selected to fly to Korea during the Pueblo incident in January 1968, which required use of in-flight refueling.
REF: F-106 Fuel System
YES
The F-106 Delta Dart served primarily in the continental United States, in Alaska and in Canada, and while never permanently assigned to any overseas location, did serve short TDY spells, deployments and special appearances around the world. The Delta Dart, however, never saw any combat.
Korea: Several F-106 FIS units deployed to sit Alert at Osan AB, South Korea as part of the Korean buildup to support two distinct actions of the USS Pueblo and EC-121 shoot-down incidents. They sat Alert following the USS Pueblo incident and to fly shotgun for the EC-121 Constellations after one got shot down by North Korea on 15 Apr 1969. The first F-106s deployed from the 318th FIS McChord AFB on 22 Mar 1968, conducting in-flight refueling en route, the first such refueling of F-106s. The last unit to serve in Korea was the 95th FIS, which departed Korea on 1 May 1970. In between those dates, units that also served there included the 48th, 71st, and 94th FIS.
Germany: September 1975, 5th FIS deployed 7 F-106s — F-106A 56-0460, 59-0005, 59-0010, 59-0015, 59-0019, 59-0063, and F-106B 58-0901 — to Hahn AB, Germany, to participate in the NATO exercise Autumn Forge/Cold Fire '75, 4 to 27 September 1975.
Iceland: The 87th FIS Red Bulls deployed to Keflavik, Iceland, in April 1978 to assist the 57th FIS with Alert duties as that unit transitioned from F-4Cs to F-4Es.
France: Two F-106s deployed from the 48th FIS for display at the 25th Paris Air Show, June 1963. F-106A 59-0136 was on display, while F-106A 59-0124 was the spare.
Panama: Spring 1974, 318th FIS deployed F-106s to Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone for Exercise Blackhawk '74.
Canada: CFB Bagotville, Quebec; CFB Goose Bay, Labrador; CFB Cold Lake; CFB Moose Jaw.
REF: F-106 History
Originally these external wing tanks were 230-gallon tanks, at least that's what they were always referred to, although they were actually 227 gallons, which were limited to about Mach 1.25, although they were called sub-sonic tanks. Sometime around 1967 these were replaced/upgraded with the well-known 360-gallon supersonic tanks rated to Mach 2.0. These tanks became a fixture on the F-106, as they almost always flew with them since these tanks did not limit the aircraft's performance under Mach 2.
Some mission types that did not fly with the external tanks were Aerial Combat Tactics (ACT fighter vs. fighter) missions, previously called Aerial Combat Maneuvering (ACM), and Functional Check Flights (FCF). Even the Alert birds carried external 360 tanks.
REF: F-106 Fuel System
According to F-106 pilot Bruce Gordon, he believes the elevon split was to give some flexibility as the elevon went up and down in turbulence. It might have relieved pressures on the elevon hinges.
In addition are complex explanations when getting into the transonic zone and the adverse directional movement of elevons.
REF: Flight Controls
According to John Hughes, the missile electronics are locked on to the target while the missile is still internal. The timing of the firing sequence can change a little, but basically it works like this:
So the entire sequence from doors open to doors close is around 6.0 to 6.5 seconds. Here is a WSEM tape; maybe it'll be clear enough to see the sequence. Each vertical solid line is 0.5 seconds.
Simply put: The wing quits flying as the center of lift moves behind it while the tail continues to fly.
Slightly more complexly: In supersonic aircraft everything in the breeze generates lift based on surface area and AOA, including the fuselage. The wing now generates its lift around a 50% MAC (Mean Aerodynamic Chord) point, which is considerably further aft than 25% MAC, and thus there isn't enough down force from the tail at its subsonic position to keep the nose from falling through. If you trim the whole horizontal stabilizer to bring the pitch moments back in balance and succeed in bringing up the nose and the aircraft then decelerates to subsonic, there will then be a pitch-up effect.
As Robert Wegeman (F-106 Crew Chief) explains: The deceleration from supersonic to transonic with stick forces becoming much more effective is capable of generating over-G forces in that sudden reduced-to-transonic speed regime.
There were 2 different Case Type Wingtips on the F-106: Case 14 and Case 29.
The Case 14 and Case 29 wings both incorporate the strake-free wing fence — the notch in the leading edge that replaced the wing fences.
The difference between Case 14 and Case 29 wings was in leading edge camber and in the wing tips, where the Case 14 wings had an almost imperceptible (from a distance) upward flare at the rear of the wing tips and were end-tipped slightly differently.
The early 1956 models had these Case 14 wings. All subsequent aircraft had Case 29 wings where you could see the upward flare at the rear of the wing tips.
The original F-106 canopy with the two glass panels on the sides and the metal bar down the middle on top was a carry-over design from the F-102. Its design, however, was found to restrict pilot visibility, so to improve visibility the design was changed and a one-piece bubble canopy replaced it.
The last bubble canopy replacement mod was completed in early 1973 prior to the F-106's being transferred to ANG duty. Some other mods were made as the aircraft rotated through the depot at McClellan AFB, Sacramento, CA. Some were accomplished on site during PUP upgrades.
It was rather uncommon, as the Six flew with the external 360 wing tanks most of the time. However, there were certain missions where they were removed, such as ACT (Air Combat Training) and ACMI (Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation), as well as when flying an FCF (Functional Check Flight). Tanks were not hung at these times.
Lucky enough this site has a huge Photo Gallery with almost 14,000 photos.
Find it at https://www.f-106deltadart.com/piwigo/