F-106A Delta Dart by Trumpeter

1/72 scale
Kit No. 01682
Price: $39.99
Decals: Three versions, all U.S. Air Force
Comments: Engraved panel lines, recessed rivet detail, highly detailed cockpit and weapons bay, six AIM-54 Falcon air-to-air missiles and one AIR-2 Genie rocket; optional position canopy

History

Even as Convair’s F-102A Delta Dagger was being developed, the U.S. Air Force was refining its requirements for a new, improved “ultimate interceptor” — based in part on the F-102’s shortcomings. While the “Deuce” was an impressive interceptor that pilots loved, it fell short of the desired Air Force specifications that triggered its very existence, namely a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 with a combat service ceiling of 58,500 feet. After a series of modifications the F-102 reached Mach 1.2 and could perform its mission at 52, 500 feet. While it entered service with the Air Defense Command in 1956, it was considered an interim interceptor and would be phased out beginning in 1960.

Initially designated the F-102B, as the new design evolved, due to extensive differences in the two airframes, the follow-on aircraft would become the F-106A. At a glance the two most notable differences are the swept-back vertical tail of the F-106, compared to the triangular tail of the “Deuce,” and the movement of the F-106’s new variable geometry engine intakes several feet back from the canopy, while the F-102 intakes were directly beneath its canopy. The delta wing remained the same but the fuselage was re-designed to accommodate a more powerful Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojet, and had a more noticeable “coke bottle” shape to help it achieve supersonic speeds.

The prototype F-106A first flew on December 26, 1956 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Early testing revealed problems including lower than anticipated maximum speed and acceleration rate, plus problems with its MA-1 fire control system. For a time, it seemed the F-106 program would be cancelled. But early in 1957, it reached an altitude of 57,000 feet and a speed of Mach 1.9, improvements dramatic enough to keep it off the chopping block. The two-seat prototype F-106B would take flight in April 1958. Like the F-102, the F-106 was developed as part of an integrated weapons system, SAGE, or Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, a system that would coordinate the response of NORAD (the North American Air Defense Command) to any Soviet air attacks by providing command guidance for ground controlled interception by air defense aircraft), or by GCI (Ground Control Intercept) radars.

The first F-106 squadron was declared operational in May 1959. In service with the Air Defense Command, it would quickly prove its superiority to its predecessor in key performance areas. Its Pratt & Whitney P-17 turbojet generated 24,500 lbs. afterburning thrust to the 17,200 lbs. of the -102’s Pratt & Whitney J57; it had a maximum speed of 1,487 mph to the -102’s 825 mph; its service ceiling was 58,000 ft. to the -102’s 54,000; range with external tanks was 1,950 miles to the -102’s 1,350; and the F-106’s rate of climb, 30,000 feet per minute, outperformed the F-102’s 17,400 feet per minute. There was no doubt that the F-106 was the Mach 2 interceptor the Air Force wanted.

While even the performance of the F-106 was below the ever-upward-spiraling specifications of the Air Force (they called at one point for an all-weather fighter able to intercept Soviet aircraft at up to 70,000 feet, and capable of Mach 2 interceptions at up to 35,000 feet), engine and avionics improvements since the inception of the F-102 program brought the F-106 up to an acceptable standard. Upon entering service in 1959, it would remain on front-line status for well over 20 years due to continual upgrades (including Weber ejection seats, enlarged 360-gallon fuel tanks in 1966 and modification for in-flight refueling in 1967). In 1963, NASA used an F-106 to simulate portions of spacecraft re-entry and landing profiles. While the immediate beneficiary of these flights was Boeing’s X-20 Dyna-Soar program, which was cancelled in December 1963, the data would later be useful in the development of the Space Shuttle.

Armed with a Hughes MA-1 fire control system and up to four AIM-54 Falcon air intercept missiles (able to carry conventional or nuclear warheads) and one or two AIR-2 Genie nuclear air intercept rockets, all in an internal weapons bay, the F-106 formed the backbone of the U.S.-Canadian NORAD interceptor force at the height of the Cold War. The F-106 was designed and built in an era when the prevailing belief was that guns were obsolete in modern fighter aircraft. Air combat experience in Vietnam shattered that belief, and starting in 1973, the F-106 was equipped with an integral 20mm cannon, installed along the centerline of the weapons bay in lieu of one of the Genie rockets. At peak strength, the F-106 equipped at least 13 Air Defense Command intercept squadrons. It was not phased out of Air National Guard service until 1988.

The F-106 had a critical and very specific role in American air defense strategy for over two decades. Due to that specific role — the destruction of incoming Soviet bombers intent on delivering a nuclear blow on U.S. soil — perhaps the greatest tribute to the Convair F-106 is that it never had to fire a shot in anger.

The Kit

Trumpeter’s F-106A is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 112 parts, including two sprues with clear parts for the canopy, windscreen, landing gear lights and a dorsal navigation light. The first impression one gets upon opening the box is that Trumpeter has made a mistake and this kit is actually 1/48 scale. No mistake, it’s 1/72 scale — the F-106 was really that big, rather large for a single-seat interceptor. The kit features a highly detailed cockpit with a tub whose side panels feature ample raised relief, as does the main instrument panel. For those who don’t wish to paint the instrument panels, decals are provided.

The ejection seat, two-part control yoke, and main instrument panel are all quite well detailed. Landing gear are likewise well detailed with abundant raised detail in the wheel well interiors as well as in the weapons bay that was the heart of the F-106. There are boxed in wheel wells for the main landing gear, and the weapons bay doors can be depicted open or closed. If open, the trapeze that lowered the AIM-54 Falcon missiles into position for firing is faithfully recreated, and the missiles themselves, like the AIR-2 Genie nuclear-armed rocket, are well detailed. The kit also features two large underwing drop tanks and an option to position the canopy open or closed. The instructions include a two-sided sheet of color plates for the three versions for which markings are provided, calling out colors in the Mr. Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya and Humbrol lines. The instructions provide painting guidance for the cockpit and wheel wells during construction, but that’s it. The color plate includes a paint guide not only for the F-106, but for the missiles and the Genie rocket.

Markings

The decals are in-house by Trumpeter and are fully in register with realistic color. Decals are provided for three versions of the F-106, all of them painted in Air Defense Grey (which the Trumpeter color plates identify as Imperial Japanese Navy Grey – it may be that the colors are similar). They consist of three versions: 1) 460th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, June 1972; this version has a yellow flash on the vertical tail with a thick black border, and yellow and black stripes on the rudder; 2) 171st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 191st Fighter Interceptor Group, Selfridge AFB, 1977; this version served with the Michigan Air National Guard and bears a double yellow flash on the vertical tail with thin black borders, and a black and yellow checkerboard pattern on the rudder; 3) QF-106 Drone of Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center – Crashed June 12, 1992; this bears a stars and stripes emblem on the tail.

Conclusion

This is a well-detailed kit and a quantum leap above the old Hasegawa version. Highly recommended.

References

• A Handbook of Fighter Aircraft by Francis Crosby; Copyright 2002 Anness Publishing Limited; London.
• Convair F-106 Delta Dart by William G. Holder; Copyright 1977 Aero Publishers Limited; Fallbrook, California.
• Combat Aircraft Since 1945 by Stewart Wilson; Copyright 2000 Stewart Wilson and Aerospace Publications Pty Limited: Fyshwick, Australia