I was raised with the sound of Voodoo's AB's near the runways at C.F.B. Bagotville. This seeded the dream of being a military pilot which I became and served 23 years. Thanks for this awesome video of a great airplane
I recall fishing in the Laurentide Park of Quebec one day and a few of these aircraft ripped across the sky just above me. Wow, what a noise. Scared the shyt out of me.
As a lifelong aviation fan I still very clearly recall a quiet day at my family cottage in Magnetawan ON. I was around 17at the time and was absolutely thrilled to hear the sound of jet noise in the usual quiet of our lakeside solitude. I ran to the open field area by the road just in time to see two 101's go ripping by at around 500 feet. It absolutely made my weekend. I had never before or since seen that. I assume they were 425 ac flying out of CFB North Bay. I usually saw the mighty 101 at the CNE Air show in Toronto where those hardlight afterburners hit hard and often unevenly. The Warlock team made many appearances there and I enjoyed every one of them. Long live the One O' Wonder in the memories of us lucky enough to have witnessed it.
I was stationed in Comox when the Voodoo was doing it's job. Since the nuclear Genie was the property of the US, it had US military security, and thus, a lot of USAF armed guards surrounding the QRA and weapons depot. I witnessed one incident when one unwary civilian took a shirt-cut across of stretch of grass beside the QRA, harsh instructions were issued, the guns came out, he had to lay prone on the ground, and within seconds three vans roared up and discharged a LOT of armed guards. It was as serious and real as it could be. But it was very cool to see, at the weirdest hour, two Voodoos roar out of the QRA and do a maximum performance takeoff, going out to meet Russian bombers sniffing around our coast. The Voodoo did not have the capability of it's younger sibling, the Phantom, but it could match it in raw performance. Since Comox lay in the route of any aircraft transiting to Vietnam, we had a lot of weird aircraft transiting, including many Phantoms. Kerosene cowboys being what they are, we had the occasional side-by-side drag race, Voodoo versus Phantom, and the Voodoo always won that race into the sky. We used to sit at the end of the runway, and it was a thrill to see them stage for takeoff, come closer and closer, lift off, retract their gear (you could tell, the landing lights went out), and hold about 50 feet of altitude until they reached the end of the runway (right over our heads), then pull up and just plain disappear into the sky. And yes it was LOUD. Good times, and a wonderful beast.
David Killens Cool story David! I was stationed in Comox when they placed a voodoo on that pedestal at the entrance to the base (1992). Sure was a different base by that time than the one in your story.
I remember getting a tour of a Voodoo in a hanger back in 64 or 65 when I was in Air Cadets.....it was pretty impressive. I recall that there were also a couple of Bomarc missiles that looked like they could be fired within moments.
As someone who has always been more interested in older piston driven warplanes, thank you. You're video on the CF-100 Canuck and their deployment drew me in and now I've grown a great appreciation for post WW2 and cold war era aircraft. Every video since then I've ravenously consumed. Thanks for shinning a spotlight on this and other aircraft/projects that are so often underappreciated and overlooked. Keep up the outstanding work!
To say the Voodoos were loud is an understatement. When they took off, always in pairs, and hit those afterburners. Every window pane in The Comox Valley rattled.
My dad was RCAF, lived in Bagotville and North Bay many years. There’s a black Voodoo gate guard at CFB North Bay. The Bomarc missle was downtown for years until the USAF wanted it back. The silo base is still there just beside the highway. A CF100 is still at the downtown park.
In America the F-101B is almost forgotten glad someone is remembering them In the 80s Canada was really the Only ones with a official modern Air Defense Aircraft in the CF-18 we just had what ever Aircraft Fighters we laying around and the more famous F-106A in the ANG
Well... the CF-18 only came on in 1983 and the F-106 I believe was retired in 1988 from the ANG. Pretty sure you had F-15s at Elmendorf the whole time.
@@calvinnickel9995 To be fair and I do live in Anchorage the F-15 Was on Northern Air Defense in the 80s but Plan A for US Air Defense was Upgraded F-16A's the F-16A ADF with AIM-7 for the ANG and probably later Using "Older" F-16C Blk 32s with AIM-120 but the Cold War Ended
Yeah, that’s not true at all. The F-15 was really coming online and actually fed the Voodoo their lunch during exercises at Cold Lake. The USN also had the Tomcat.
It was almost forgotten because there is good reason to forget it. It never live up to what it was intended, air superiority. It couldn't fulfill the TAC roll because it lacked the ability to carry a variaty of weapons. It suffered from Engine stalls that never really was fully fixed, it suffered from the dreaded and deadly pitch-up phenomenon that was never fixed but only masked by a warning system. Could only fire two non-guided nuke rockets and two IR missiles at one time, a lot of airplane for just two missiles and 2 rockets. It suffered from USAF production Holds because of the issues. The USAF finally cutting its losses and accepting the 101 as an air interceptor and photo-rece. As described in the book "F-101 Voodoo: Mcdonnell's Heavyweight Fighter" and I quote "It was a deeply flawed aircraft" The only good thing that came from the F-101 was the F-4 Phantom, as all the problems were ironed out on the phantom.
Fond memories of being on parade when these did a fly past. They came towards us from behind the spectators who all ducked as one when they roared past! We saw them coming.
My teen buddy Mike was at the Abbotsford Airshow when a couple of 101Bs zoomed overhead. He said they headed north in a climb when *BOOM!* one of the planes exploded, completely disintegrating. Happily, two 'chutes popped open, so I presume pilot and backseater saw all the fire warning lights go on and punched out just in time.
I was wondering if you were going to do a video the Voodoo. Glad you did! Too bad we didn't get a "Made in Canada" fighter, but the Voodoo was a good fighter and filled what we needed at the time.
I won't say that the bird was loud but at airshow, doing circles, they needed to light the lower afterburner so those little wings could keep the bird in the sky. Magnificent show at 50 feet. Thanks for a great piece on a much-ignored star
Nice job! I'll always remember two noisy Voodoos opening the Abbotsford Airshow back in the early 80s. Also, one of our treasured flying club members has the distinction of having flown every Voodoo in the Canadian inventory. His name appears on the CF-101 sentry proudly on display at the Abbotsford Airport if you're ever in the area.
Good show! Interesting, informative and entertaining. The Voodoo was a favourite performer at the Abbottsford International Airshow and I am thankful to have been there from 1978 on to see them fly. I also enjoyed seeing the Oregon Air National Guard Redhawks at airshows as well. Fond memories of *simpler* days gone by.
Thank you for your comment. I remember being just blown away by the 4 ship 409 Sqn Nighthawk’s display @ Abbotsford 1982 (last year for their 4 a/c demo I believe), AND the 4 a/c F-4C Demo Team at the CFB Moose Jaw annual airshow. BOTH teams REALLY FLEW their spectacular a/c to thrill the crowds. Now? Official demo teams flying solo displays that last ~ 8 to 11 minutes? Cheers!
When I was training at the Air Cadet summer training center at CFB Trenton, I believe there was a CF100 Canuck and a CF101 Voodoo parked on opposite ends of the parade grounds. I always enjoyed getting up in the morning to go to the parade grounds and you would see the sun shining on these two iconic aircraft of the RCAF.
There was a stillborn effort to get that CF-100 from the Trenton cadet compound flying again, using spare parts from a former pylon display Clunk. The Trenton one had never been demilled. Alas the project went nowhere...
During morning parade at HMCS Quadra we would usually hear the two Voodoos from CFB Comox a few miles away take off for their morning flight. Their afterburner sound would shake the snares of the band's drums and it would sound like a drum roll.
@@StudeSteve62 I never knew she was air worthy, I had been told all the CF100s on display had had their spars cut so they could never fly again. I do remember she was looking good for her age too.
My grandfather flew these planes back in the day. He was stationed at Bagotville, Comox, and Cold Lake. It's a pleasure learning more about the aircraft that is part of so many stories. Great video
This was always a favourite at the Shearwater Airshow, BITD. Low pass, go vertical, light the afterburner and it felt, to a very young me at the time, like the very earth shook as it disappeared from view into he firmament.
Those Shearwater Airshows & Voodoo Demos there were fantastic!!! I grew up in Dartmouth watching T-33s, Trackers, and lovely lumbering Arguses turn final from our yard, Seakings whirring by. Having A Voodoo ‘sneak up’ behind the crowd at the show from the harbor side and hit burners as they pulled up at show line, the double thump hitting you in the chest, was glorious! The RAF Vulcan demo one year was amazing, tho when I asked one of the guys in back how he liked it when the skipper did low level like that he said dryly “not that much”. Was lucky one year to prowl the ramp, camera in hand, after show close & get some great Kodachrome shots as a participant (w Bluenose Soaring Club). If you’re visiting Halifax don’t miss Shearwater Aviation Museum & Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum (that has a Voodoo)
I'm proud to say that I was a Voodoo Medicine Man at 416(AW) Sqn from 1982 to 1984. As an Aero Engine tech I was there when the forward engine mounts broke and needed replacing. The 416 aircraft was orginally a project of the squadron pilots and they used car paint from the local Canadian Tire store, every time it flew the leading edges would have to be repainted. In 1983 416 won the NORAD trophy for the best reaction times beating out the F-106s and the F-16s the Americans were flying at the time.
At least you knew more-or-less what was wrong when things went wrong. That fire control system, on t'other hand, was mostly a matter of hoping that the boxes liked each other on that airframe at that time of the year and were pleased by the offerings you gave it. (I do not miss the avionics of that period at all.)
polyus you make some of the best and most inspiring videos on youtube in my opinion, I hope that after you're done with content about canadian aerospace that you wil keep making vids
Excellent video. I was at Abbottsford when a Voodoo crashed. Sadly, the Nav, who survived, died in a light twin years later. Great old machine all the same.
I have many fond memories from my childhood of the Voodoo. The first would have been ~1979-81 when attending the Hamilton airshows with my dad I always was impressed with the F-101s flying from Buffalo/Niagara Falls from the US Air National Guard (I believe). They would only do a few passes, but of all the planes I saw attending those shows it was the Voodoo I remember. Later on I remember taking a vacation to see family in Nova Scotia and on the way home driving by Chatham and seeing a pair on hot alert being dispatched (likely intercepting a Bear bomber) Seeing them roar overhead was a sight to behold. It was enough of an impression I remember in my early teens building 1/48th scale model and imagining myself flying one! Great video! Thanks for bringing these pieces of history alive and allowing this ex-pat to teach my daughters some of my birth-country's history!
I have worked on them as an Aeronautical Mechanical Tech and ground Runup technician at CFB Chatam 1980-1984 until they closed 416 Sqn...Was a blast !!
My old man grew up listening to the sounds of 416 taking off doing training drills. we still got one on display at the now decommissioned base in Chatham
Early 80's I was a very young kid at an airshow in Hamilton, while in one of the hnagers one of these made a low flyover before the airshow commenced and remember jumping up and down in "shock and awe".
She was a beast! I remember fondly those days in the 1970s seeing them perform at the CNE airshow -- and Dude, when that afterburner kicked in you knew it!
My uncle flew F-101 Voodoo's out of Wurtsmith SAC base near Oscoda,Michigan (just across Lake Huron from Canada) in the early 1960's in the Air Defence Command.He carried the nuclear tipped 'Genie' missle on his aircraft.He was in the 445 Fighter Interceptor Squadron.When they were sent to Vietnam they transitioned to the F-4 Phantom.He told me he always loved the sound of the afterburners kicking on in the F-101.I didn't know Canada flew them into the 1980's.Very cool!
Great vid! Thanks for not lamenting the loss of the greatest jet fighter ever made , the Arrow (tongue-in-cheek), like so many of these videos do ad nauseum.
I was so darned Proud to have seen and met many pilots of this incredible intercept fighter the CF-101 Voodoo's Scream overhead, burned solidly in my brain. This also brings fore to my memory of a Plasma Ball I witnessed over Prince George BC where the CFB Baldy Whews A Radar Site (closed in the late 70s) but back then when UFOs buzzed us they would call to CFB Cold Lake Alberta and 2 CF 101 Voodoo's were there so quick I saw both. It helped this ball of plasma was not in a real hurry. Pilots saw it took pics of but could not lock radars on it. Thanks for this most memorable super Canadian Call to regain the pride in our broken Nation is the first Best thing we can do to help the Nation to heal despite of our governance ❤❤
Don't know how I haven't seen this channel before!!!!! Excellent content and great narrative!!!! Liked and subbed immediately!!!!! Keep up the great work!!!!
In 86 at Namaeo air show voodoo was decommissioned, piliot flew east then came from west 3 minutes later 500 ft from over our heads well over mach!!! Big boom!! Piliots sitting on wings almost fell off from shock!!! Been my favourite plane ever since!!! The story of a voodoo pilot who came across an sr71 who tried to race it, he wasn’t susdesfull it against an f18 on a flat I think this old plane would kick its but’!! A true muscle car of old fighters!! Go voodoo!!’ 😃
Some jargon you should use in future videos. Bombs fall from the sky by gravity, nuclear armed missiles and rockets are equipped with warheads, not bombs. Also, the air force and commercial air industry does not use the word "crash". It uses "accidents" (usually resulting in the loss of the aircraft and potential loss of life) and incidents (usually involving damage and no loss of life). Love your work so far. Keep it up!
'We' had them at CFB Chatham, NB. What I remember most was the cyclical nature of intense flying. I recall being told there were always more voodoos flying near the end of the month because the individual pilot flight hour quotas were assessed at the end of each month. I've always found that to be strange. If I were flying a voodoo I would have thought I would be flying one at every available opportunity.
When I was a young kid, my Dad, my brother & I were out on a small lake fishing northeast of the 414, when 2- 101s came full on south to north just above tree top level,... we nearly capsized!
Summer 1980 Dayton Airshow (just a few miles from Wright-Patterson so huge military support). Was talking to an A-4 pilot who turned out to be in command of a Marine Aggressor squadron. I said it would seem a more junior officer would be sent to represent at an airshow in Ohio. Early in his career he had served as an exchange officer with the RCAF and his best friend now headed a CF-101 squadron and was flying the Dayton F-101 demonstration as a farewell to the 101. So, the Marine took the A-4 gig when his bud swore that on his low pass he would be BELOW gear down altitude. It was to be in about 10 minutes. The Voodoo was clean, no tanks, but son of a ...... he freaking did it. Maybe more amazing/scary was how hard he was wrapping into turns given the the Voodoo's pitch-up issues at high AOA. I always loved the 101 but that demo was amazing. Canadian comes down to the belly-button of the USAF in a 28 yr old airplane and steals the show. AWESOME.
Loved the Voodoo Never forget the low pass a Voodoo made at the CFB Shearwater Airshow around 1979. Scared the crap out of everyone lol..... came from nowhere ....
I saw 4 Voo Doos perform at the Abbotsford airshow in the 80s. I had just finished reading a book about the Avro Arrow and I have never been so upset after reading a book. I was terribly disappointed in the events of canceling and destroying the all Canadian Arrow. At this time at the airshow the VooDoos were quite old and I wasn't expecting much from them. The RCAF put on a good show flying one behind the other, low level, high speed, thundering overhead exactly as the clock struck 1pm. Old technology at the time but still impressive and powerful.
One of my uncles flew a Voodoo out of Comox. I remember watching him fly it in the airshow at CFB Namao in the 70's. Holy shit that was a long time ago. There is one on display at the Aviation museum in Edmonton now at the old municipal airport.
Jet crews may have liked the Voodoos, but with the rapid advances in jet design, they were obsolete the moment they rolled off the assembly line back in the late 50s/early 60s. Case in point: The USSR's TU-95 Bear bomber pilots that were intercepted along the Canadian Arctic and west coasts would purposely fly their plane below the stall speed of the CF-101, which would force them to circle the Bears to stay with them, thus fatiguing the pilots and burning excessive fuel. That is not stellar performance for an interceptor. Glad we got the CF-18s to replace them. They were a remarkable engineering achievement for their time.
My buddy and I were canoeing on Burntroot Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park back in the day when we saw one scream overhead. We were going from our island campsite to the mainland one morning to pick blueberries when one went over us 'just above the treetops' as they say. It was a quiet day with calm waters, a perfect morning in the wilderness. To this day my buddy and I say, "The pilot had blue eyes" in reference to how low that Voodoo was and in the quiet of the wilderness the legendary noise of these things was amplified. Considering the course it was flying we thought it was going from Trenton to North Bay.
@@polyus_studios Oh, you are correct, I found the reference and the one in my home town is on a concrete pedestal, it was installed in 1990. pilotes.quebec/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11555
Lived cfb Como from 1968 to1974 father was a voodoo medicine man loved watching them take off .It was jaw dropping to them take off then stand on their tail and disappear i
Pretty sure one of my instructors at CFB Kingston (CFSCE) ejected from a CF 101. Last name "Hughes". I think he re-classified into comms after the ejection (1980s?). One ejection in your life is enough. Anyone have a tally of CF101 ejections/crashes?
Graham Baxter: The Voodoo could carry two drop tanks attached to the fuselage, aft of the rotating weapons bay. (You can see them at 0:10 ) But even without external tanks, the Voodoo had incredible range, and long range was an important feature for Canadian interceptors because aerial in-flight refueling tankers didn't enter service with the RCAF until the 1970s.
At 5:41 in the video you referred to CFB Namao, I think, just north of Edmonton (actually butting onto the city limits these days). It is an army base now, but was an air force base in the 60's. It is pronounced "Na-MAY-o", three syllables, emphasis on the middle syllable. I'm an Edmonton native and live about 10 minutes south of the base
There's a Voodoo in Lynx livery in Halifax alongside the highway across from the airport at the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum. I've driven by it for years and always wondered the story behind it. Tail number on it is 416
We were at an airshow on the 'Air Force' side (Namao) of CFB Edmonton. Just came out of the visiting USAF 'Spooky' C-130 gunship on the tarmac, when two Voodoos from CFB Comox came over the crowd from behind (not allowed now) and went full afterburner then climbing almost straight up, my girlfriend almost pissed herself. She liked the RAF Harrier better.
@@phillmaltese757 I live in Manitoba and every in every history class I was taught the same thing from grade 5-12 about the same thing word for word involving residential schools.
Really like your stuff, good historical overview. Just one comment: you might want to check your pronunciation of bases like Namao and Chatham. In Namao, first 'a' is soft and second is hard. In Chatham, the second 'h' is silent. For future reference...
@@dukeford8893 I was at Hamilton in 67=68 and told then they were rebadged Canadian, We had a joint base then and until I got used to it I wasn't sure who to Salute. The 101s were flown by the 84th FIS The CO was Lt Col Ed Kenney Hamilton was the HQ for the Western NORAD Region Commanded by Maj General James Winn US Army and Brig General Huge C. Ledoux CAF I might be able to double check the 101 thing but remember we lost a lot of 101's in Viet Nam. My unit supported the 12 th recon Sqd and after loosing X amount of RF-101Cs we had to scroung all the 2 seat versions from I believe Malstrmom AFB??? The RF-101C was also flown out of Udorn by the 20th TRS starting in April 66 When the 12th and 20th got down to 16 AC each they started to being in the RF-4C
The Voodoo always interested me. I see it all the time, we've got one in North Bay painted up in the black 414 EW livery, its just across from the airport beside some period radar sets. Still kinda crazy to think that air to air nuclear rockets not only survived design and planning but were actually produced and deployed. Nuts to think about nowadays.
I remember seeing many CF-101 Voodoo flybys as a kid to young adult before they were replaced by the CF-18 hornet in the mid 1980's. Today the CF-18 is likely being replaced by the F-35.
Sadly, there is a full Voodoo assembled shell sitting at the Airport in London Ontario on side parking tarmac.. YXU. Engines were removed but exist. Presumably it was to be rebuilt and put in to Londons Jet Aircraft Museum. YXU London Ontario Canada. Sadly, this sweetie has been sitting outside for years with NOTHING being done. Every time I go by I feel positively heartsick. Thought someone whould know.
What I find interesting about the CF-101 Voodoo is that it was examined by Canadians prior to the CF-105 and was found to NOT meet Canadian requirements and thus the CF-105 project was carried on.
Probably the A model. The F101B we got, was actually a fantastic plane. In many ways just as good as the Arrow ever would have been. I'm a massive Arrow fan, and I have almost every book published on it's development. It had a great potential, but in reality the technology wasn't ready . By the time the Arrow would have been in production, The F4 Phantom would have been as well. The F4 is superior to Arrow and vastly cheaper.
Look at that! A nice 'Canadian' Interceptor. Might have been a great plane for the RCAF, but bottom line it replaced the Avro Arrow. Oh right, the 'Bomark missiles' were the replacement for the Arrow. :(
Could the number 030 of this plane have changed? I think not... I flew in a CF-101 in 1982 in Bagotville. On the paper that I received as a souvenir, it is indicated 101030. So I believe it is possible that this plane was previously with the 425 Alouette in Bagotville? It was a reward and I flew in the navigator's seat... I'm surprised to find this plane here on the Internet and n British Columbia.
In 1982 or 83, during the war games in Abbotsford, two Voodoos flew over Cultus Lake and spotted my friend's hot girlfriend in a tiny pink bikini standing up on the boat and waving at them. Needless to say, they broke from their flight path (bomb run) and did several flybys over the lake. As it happened we finally caught fish too as the fast movers made a lot of noise.
It's amazing how few Canadians even know we had nukes on planes back in the day! For the record, there's errors in the numbers at 2:00. Mach 1.72 is correct but that is no where near 2,124 km/h. Obviously we used Mach numbers because the speed of sound changes with altitude, but top speed for aircraft such as this are reached at 50,000 feet where the air is thin and sound is slow. It's closer to 1,800 km/h. Good video, though!
@@magneticstorm1 More like, "The first line of defense is over the arctic and your territory even though we're the target, so if you don't mind supplying the defensive linemen, we'll supply the equipment!"
the more I hear about the history of the Canadian Warplane History since the cancellation of the CF-105 and the subsequent demise of our Military Aircraft Industry has led to our total dependance of American Aircraft. Is that a good thing ? just sayin
I was raised with the sound of Voodoo's AB's near the runways at C.F.B. Bagotville. This seeded the dream of being a military pilot which I became and served 23 years. Thanks for this awesome video of a great airplane
I recall fishing in the Laurentide Park of Quebec one day and a few of these aircraft ripped across the sky just above me. Wow, what a noise. Scared the shyt out of me.
Thank you for your service.
What did you fly? and when?
As a lifelong aviation fan I still very clearly recall a quiet day at my family cottage in Magnetawan ON. I was around 17at the time and was absolutely thrilled to hear the sound of jet noise in the usual quiet of our lakeside solitude. I ran to the open field area by the road just in time to see two 101's go ripping by at around 500 feet. It absolutely made my weekend. I had never before or since seen that. I assume they were 425 ac flying out of CFB North Bay. I usually saw the mighty 101 at the CNE Air show in Toronto where those hardlight afterburners hit hard and often unevenly. The Warlock team made many appearances there and I enjoyed every one of them. Long live the One O' Wonder in the memories of us lucky enough to have witnessed it.
Cadet, camp élémentaire.à Bagotville, 1982 Les afterburners le soir, c'était incroyable!
I was stationed in Comox when the Voodoo was doing it's job. Since the nuclear Genie was the property of the US, it had US military security, and thus, a lot of USAF armed guards surrounding the QRA and weapons depot. I witnessed one incident when one unwary civilian took a shirt-cut across of stretch of grass beside the QRA, harsh instructions were issued, the guns came out, he had to lay prone on the ground, and within seconds three vans roared up and discharged a LOT of armed guards. It was as serious and real as it could be.
But it was very cool to see, at the weirdest hour, two Voodoos roar out of the QRA and do a maximum performance takeoff, going out to meet Russian bombers sniffing around our coast.
The Voodoo did not have the capability of it's younger sibling, the Phantom, but it could match it in raw performance. Since Comox lay in the route of any aircraft transiting to Vietnam, we had a lot of weird aircraft transiting, including many Phantoms. Kerosene cowboys being what they are, we had the occasional side-by-side drag race, Voodoo versus Phantom, and the Voodoo always won that race into the sky.
We used to sit at the end of the runway, and it was a thrill to see them stage for takeoff, come closer and closer, lift off, retract their gear (you could tell, the landing lights went out), and hold about 50 feet of altitude until they reached the end of the runway (right over our heads), then pull up and just plain disappear into the sky. And yes it was LOUD.
Good times, and a wonderful beast.
David Killens Cool story David! I was stationed in Comox when they placed a voodoo on that pedestal at the entrance to the base (1992). Sure was a different base by that time than the one in your story.
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
My dad took us to a airshow when i was young. I remember this fighter specifically cause it was so loud.
Thanks. Great post
I remember getting a tour of a Voodoo in a hanger back in 64 or 65 when I was in Air Cadets.....it was pretty impressive. I recall that there were also a couple of Bomarc missiles that looked like they could be fired within moments.
Always love learning about Canadian history!
As someone who has always been more interested in older piston driven warplanes, thank you. You're video on the CF-100 Canuck and their deployment drew me in and now I've grown a great appreciation for post WW2 and cold war era aircraft. Every video since then I've ravenously consumed.
Thanks for shinning a spotlight on this and other aircraft/projects that are so often underappreciated and overlooked. Keep up the outstanding work!
To say the Voodoos were loud is an understatement. When they took off, always in pairs, and hit those afterburners. Every window pane in The Comox Valley rattled.
This is an absolute goldmine of history for canadian aviation. Glad I found this.
My dad was RCAF, lived in Bagotville and North Bay many years. There’s a black Voodoo gate guard at CFB North Bay. The Bomarc missle was downtown for years until the USAF wanted it back. The silo base is still there just beside the highway. A CF100 is still at the downtown park.
According to what I've found, the black Voodoo gate guard at North Bay is the sole EF-101 Electric Voodoo.
In America the F-101B is almost forgotten glad someone is remembering them
In the 80s Canada was really the Only ones with a official modern Air Defense Aircraft in the CF-18 we just had what ever Aircraft Fighters we laying around and the more famous F-106A in the ANG
Well... the CF-18 only came on in 1983 and the F-106 I believe was retired in 1988 from the ANG. Pretty sure you had F-15s at Elmendorf the whole time.
@@calvinnickel9995
To be fair and I do live in Anchorage the F-15 Was on Northern Air Defense in the 80s but Plan A for US Air Defense was Upgraded F-16A's the F-16A ADF with AIM-7 for the ANG and probably later Using "Older" F-16C Blk 32s with AIM-120 but the Cold War Ended
Yeah, that’s not true at all. The F-15 was really coming online and actually fed the Voodoo their lunch during exercises at Cold Lake. The USN also had the Tomcat.
It was almost forgotten because there is good reason to forget it. It never live up to what it was intended, air superiority. It couldn't fulfill the TAC roll because it lacked the ability to carry a variaty of weapons. It suffered from Engine stalls that never really was fully fixed, it suffered from the dreaded and deadly pitch-up phenomenon that was never fixed but only masked by a warning system. Could only fire two non-guided nuke rockets and two IR missiles at one time, a lot of airplane for just two missiles and 2 rockets. It suffered from USAF production Holds because of the issues. The USAF finally cutting its losses and accepting the 101 as an air interceptor and photo-rece. As described in the book "F-101 Voodoo: Mcdonnell's Heavyweight Fighter" and I quote "It was a deeply flawed aircraft" The only good thing that came from the F-101 was the F-4 Phantom, as all the problems were ironed out on the phantom.
Fond memories of being on parade when these did a fly past. They came towards us from behind the spectators who all ducked as one when they roared past! We saw them coming.
My teen buddy Mike was at the Abbotsford Airshow when a couple of 101Bs zoomed overhead. He said they headed north in a climb when *BOOM!* one of the planes exploded, completely disintegrating. Happily, two 'chutes popped open, so I presume pilot and backseater saw all the fire warning lights go on and punched out just in time.
I was wondering if you were going to do a video the Voodoo. Glad you did!
Too bad we didn't get a "Made in Canada" fighter, but the Voodoo was a good fighter and filled what we needed at the time.
I won't say that the bird was loud but at airshow, doing circles, they needed to light the lower afterburner so those little wings could keep the bird in the sky. Magnificent show at 50 feet. Thanks for a great piece on a much-ignored star
A very fair, accurate and well-researched history of the CF 101 Voodoo. Bravo!
Nice job! I'll always remember two noisy Voodoos opening the Abbotsford Airshow back in the early 80s. Also, one of our treasured flying club members has the distinction of having flown every Voodoo in the Canadian inventory. His name appears on the CF-101 sentry proudly on display at the Abbotsford Airport if you're ever in the area.
Good show! Interesting, informative and entertaining. The Voodoo was a favourite performer at the Abbottsford International Airshow and I am thankful to have been there from 1978 on to see them fly. I also enjoyed seeing the Oregon Air National Guard Redhawks at airshows as well. Fond memories of *simpler* days gone by.
Thank you for your comment.
I remember being just blown away by the 4 ship 409 Sqn Nighthawk’s display @ Abbotsford 1982 (last year for their 4 a/c demo I believe), AND the 4 a/c F-4C Demo Team at the CFB Moose Jaw annual airshow.
BOTH teams REALLY FLEW their spectacular a/c to thrill the crowds.
Now? Official demo teams flying solo displays that last ~ 8 to 11 minutes?
Cheers!
Our farm was on the American side of the Abbotsford airport. Allways enjoyed the airshow! Including the f 104 that crashed one year
When I was training at the Air Cadet summer training center at CFB Trenton, I believe there was a CF100 Canuck and a CF101 Voodoo parked on opposite ends of the parade grounds. I always enjoyed getting up in the morning to go to the parade grounds and you would see the sun shining on these two iconic aircraft of the RCAF.
I recall as an Air Cadet in the 60's visiting Comox getting a tour of the CF101 and being able to look into the cockpit
There was a stillborn effort to get that CF-100 from the Trenton cadet compound flying again, using spare parts from a former pylon display Clunk. The Trenton one had never been demilled. Alas the project went nowhere...
During morning parade at HMCS Quadra we would usually hear the two Voodoos from CFB Comox a few miles away take off for their morning flight. Their afterburner sound would shake the snares of the band's drums and it would sound like a drum roll.
@@StudeSteve62 I never knew she was air worthy, I had been told all the CF100s on display had had their spars cut so they could never fly again. I do remember she was looking good for her age too.
My grandfather flew these planes back in the day. He was stationed at Bagotville, Comox, and Cold Lake. It's a pleasure learning more about the aircraft that is part of so many stories. Great video
Great video! There used to be a cf 101 on display at the municipal airport in my area. My grandfather worked for Avro Canada on the Arrow project.
This was always a favourite at the Shearwater Airshow, BITD. Low pass, go vertical, light the afterburner and it felt, to a very young me at the time, like the very earth shook as it disappeared from view into he firmament.
Boom....BOOM
I watched those disappearing acts at Lockbourne around '65. Impressed the hell out of me.
Those Shearwater Airshows & Voodoo Demos there were fantastic!!! I grew up in Dartmouth watching T-33s, Trackers, and lovely lumbering Arguses turn final from our yard, Seakings whirring by. Having A Voodoo ‘sneak up’ behind the crowd at the show from the harbor side and hit burners as they pulled up at show line, the double thump hitting you in the chest, was glorious! The RAF Vulcan demo one year was amazing, tho when I asked one of the guys in back how he liked it when the skipper did low level like that he said dryly “not that much”. Was lucky one year to prowl the ramp, camera in hand, after show close & get some great Kodachrome shots as a participant (w Bluenose Soaring Club). If you’re visiting Halifax don’t miss Shearwater Aviation Museum & Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum (that has a Voodoo)
They did exactly the same thing at the Hamilton International Airshows in the early 80’s, flying in from North Bay, Ontario for the shows.
Great video! Lots of good information, delivered in a easy to digest manor!
I'm proud to say that I was a Voodoo Medicine Man at 416(AW) Sqn from 1982 to 1984. As an Aero Engine tech I was there when the forward engine mounts broke and needed replacing. The 416 aircraft was orginally a project of the squadron pilots and they used car paint from the local Canadian Tire store, every time it flew the leading edges would have to be repainted. In 1983 416 won the NORAD trophy for the best reaction times beating out the F-106s and the F-16s the Americans were flying at the time.
At least you knew more-or-less what was wrong when things went wrong. That fire control system, on t'other hand, was mostly a matter of hoping that the boxes liked each other on that airframe at that time of the year and were pleased by the offerings you gave it. (I do not miss the avionics of that period at all.)
polyus you make some of the best and most inspiring videos on youtube in my opinion, I hope that after you're done with content about canadian aerospace that you wil keep making vids
Saw one of these yesterday, 101006 at London, Ontario. 006 was the last Voodoo ever to fly.
Excellent video. I was at Abbottsford when a Voodoo crashed. Sadly, the Nav, who survived, died in a light twin years later. Great old machine all the same.
I got to see a Canadian F-101 demo at March AFB back in the late 70's.
What a beautiful experience that must have been for the pilots flying over the Arctic in a machine like this.
Great job Brad.... very well done!
Hey! Another great vid. Great to see what our friends were doing back then, love from The UK
I have many fond memories from my childhood of the Voodoo. The first would have been ~1979-81 when attending the Hamilton airshows with my dad I always was impressed with the F-101s flying from Buffalo/Niagara Falls from the US Air National Guard (I believe). They would only do a few passes, but of all the planes I saw attending those shows it was the Voodoo I remember. Later on I remember taking a vacation to see family in Nova Scotia and on the way home driving by Chatham and seeing a pair on hot alert being dispatched (likely intercepting a Bear bomber) Seeing them roar overhead was a sight to behold. It was enough of an impression I remember in my early teens building 1/48th scale model and imagining myself flying one!
Great video! Thanks for bringing these pieces of history alive and allowing this ex-pat to teach my daughters some of my birth-country's history!
I LOVED them at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
I have worked on them as an Aeronautical Mechanical Tech and ground Runup technician at CFB Chatam 1980-1984 until they closed 416 Sqn...Was a blast !!
My old man grew up listening to the sounds of 416 taking off doing training drills. we still got one on display at the now decommissioned base in Chatham
Early 80's I was a very young kid at an airshow in Hamilton, while in one of the hnagers one of these made a low flyover before the airshow commenced and remember jumping up and down in "shock and awe".
She was a beast! I remember fondly those days in the 1970s seeing them perform at the CNE airshow -- and Dude, when that afterburner kicked in you knew it!
My uncle flew F-101 Voodoo's out of Wurtsmith SAC base near Oscoda,Michigan (just across Lake Huron from Canada) in the early 1960's in the Air Defence Command.He carried the nuclear tipped 'Genie' missle on his aircraft.He was in the 445 Fighter Interceptor Squadron.When they were sent to Vietnam they transitioned to the F-4 Phantom.He told me he always loved the sound of the afterburners kicking on in the F-101.I didn't know Canada flew them into the 1980's.Very cool!
Loved watching them fly over when I was a child in the West Midlands.
There can be no mistaking the whistle from the twin Pratt and Whitneys.
Great vid! Thanks for not lamenting the loss of the greatest jet fighter ever made , the Arrow (tongue-in-cheek), like so many of these videos do ad nauseum.
loved the video! excited to check out all your other videos as Canadian history is important to me
At 3:37, watch the traffic going backwards on the road in the background.
The Voodoo has such an amazing profile. It just looks so good.
Loved seeing the Voodoo at the Moncton NB Airport Air Shows during the early 1970's. Very loud and impressive as they broke the sound barrier.
Binge-watching your videos, also just subscribed. Just a tiny note: Chatham, NB, is pronounced "Chat-'um", not "Chath-um".
I was so darned Proud to have seen and met many pilots of this incredible intercept fighter the CF-101 Voodoo's Scream overhead, burned solidly in my brain.
This also brings fore to my memory of a Plasma Ball I witnessed over Prince George BC where the CFB Baldy Whews A Radar Site (closed in the late 70s) but back then when UFOs buzzed us they would call to CFB Cold Lake Alberta and 2 CF 101 Voodoo's were there so quick I saw both. It helped this ball of plasma was not in a real hurry. Pilots saw it took pics of but could not lock radars on it.
Thanks for this most memorable super Canadian Call to regain the pride in our broken Nation is the first Best thing we can do to help the Nation to heal despite of our governance ❤❤
Don't know how I haven't seen this channel before!!!!! Excellent content and great narrative!!!! Liked and subbed immediately!!!!! Keep up the great work!!!!
another awesome video thank you once again
In 86 at Namaeo air show voodoo was decommissioned, piliot flew east then came from west 3 minutes later 500 ft from over our heads well over mach!!! Big boom!! Piliots sitting on wings almost fell off from shock!!! Been my favourite plane ever since!!! The story of a voodoo pilot who came across an sr71 who tried to race it, he wasn’t susdesfull it against an f18 on a flat I think this old plane would kick its but’!! A true muscle car of old fighters!! Go voodoo!!’ 😃
This chnnel is great. You do really good work. When I was little, I loved looking at pictures of the Voodoo.
I think it's super cool how u can see the panels of the plane riveted and welded together
Some jargon you should use in future videos. Bombs fall from the sky by gravity, nuclear armed missiles and rockets are equipped with warheads, not bombs. Also, the air force and commercial air industry does not use the word "crash". It uses "accidents" (usually resulting in the loss of the aircraft and potential loss of life) and incidents (usually involving damage and no loss of life). Love your work so far. Keep it up!
Very cool to see one still parked at the entrance to the Abbotsford Airport.
Great review and a wealth of info... thanks
'We' had them at CFB Chatham, NB. What I remember most was the cyclical nature of intense flying. I recall being told there were always more voodoos flying near the end of the month because the individual pilot flight hour quotas were assessed at the end of each month. I've always found that to be strange. If I were flying a voodoo I would have thought I would be flying one at every available opportunity.
When I was a young kid, my Dad, my brother & I were out on a small lake fishing northeast of the 414, when 2- 101s came full on south to north just above tree top level,... we nearly capsized!
Summer 1980 Dayton Airshow (just a few miles from Wright-Patterson so huge military support). Was talking to an A-4 pilot who turned out to be in command of a Marine Aggressor squadron. I said it would seem a more junior officer would be sent to represent at an airshow in Ohio. Early in his career he had served as an exchange officer with the RCAF and his best friend now headed a CF-101 squadron and was flying the Dayton F-101 demonstration as a farewell to the 101. So, the Marine took the A-4 gig when his bud swore that on his low pass he would be BELOW gear down altitude. It was to be in about 10 minutes.
The Voodoo was clean, no tanks, but son of a ...... he freaking did it. Maybe more amazing/scary was how hard he was wrapping into turns given the the Voodoo's pitch-up issues at high AOA. I always loved the 101 but that demo was amazing. Canadian comes down to the belly-button of the USAF in a 28 yr old airplane and steals the show. AWESOME.
Loved the Voodoo
Never forget the low pass a Voodoo made at the CFB Shearwater Airshow around 1979. Scared the crap out of everyone lol..... came from nowhere ....
I saw 4 Voo Doos perform at the Abbotsford airshow in the 80s. I had just finished reading a book about the Avro Arrow and I have never been so upset after reading a book. I was terribly disappointed in the events of canceling and destroying the all Canadian Arrow.
At this time at the airshow the VooDoos were quite old and I wasn't expecting much from them. The RCAF put on a good show flying one behind the other, low level, high speed, thundering overhead exactly as the clock struck 1pm.
Old technology at the time but still impressive and powerful.
Love the look of the black electronic warfare bird.
I have always loved the Voodoo
There's one in the boneyard behind the museum at Shearwater, NS. Yours for the price of the scrap...
Great video! Excellent production.
Another good mini-doc...
One of my uncles flew a Voodoo out of Comox. I remember watching him fly it in the airshow at CFB Namao in the 70's.
Holy shit that was a long time ago. There is one on display at the Aviation museum in Edmonton now at the old municipal airport.
Jet crews may have liked the Voodoos, but with the rapid advances in jet design, they were obsolete the moment they rolled off the assembly line back in the late 50s/early 60s. Case in point: The USSR's TU-95 Bear bomber pilots that were intercepted along the Canadian Arctic and west coasts would purposely fly their plane below the stall speed of the CF-101, which would force them to circle the Bears to stay with them, thus fatiguing the pilots and burning excessive fuel. That is not stellar performance for an interceptor. Glad we got the CF-18s to replace them. They were a remarkable engineering achievement for their time.
My buddy and I were canoeing on Burntroot Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park back in the day when we saw one scream overhead. We were going from our island campsite to the mainland one morning to pick blueberries when one went over us 'just above the treetops' as they say. It was a quiet day with calm waters, a perfect morning in the wilderness. To this day my buddy and I say, "The pilot had blue eyes" in reference to how low that Voodoo was and in the quiet of the wilderness the legendary noise of these things was amplified. Considering the course it was flying we thought it was going from Trenton to North Bay.
Nice!
I think I saw in your video the Voodoo that's on display in my home city of Lévis (Québec)
@@polyus_studios Oh, you are correct, I found the reference and the one in my home town is on a concrete pedestal, it was installed in 1990. pilotes.quebec/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11555
What a beautiful machine. I had no idea they served that long!
I spent a year on the Pine Tree line at CFS Sioux Lookout.
I was stationed at CFB Valdor and we had Voodoos. Great plane.
Before Valdor I was at CFS Sioux Lookout which was part of the Pine Tree line.
Ah, now I have something to do this morning.
Edit: First
Second! I love that "tappy" music.
Lived cfb Como from 1968 to1974 father was a voodoo medicine man loved watching them take off .It was jaw dropping to them take off then stand on their tail and disappear
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Not sure you have the Avro Arrow stats for ceiling, max speed, and range correct to the arrows second Iroquois engines , max ceiling was 60,000'
Pretty sure one of my instructors at CFB Kingston (CFSCE) ejected from a CF 101. Last name "Hughes". I think he re-classified into comms after the ejection (1980s?). One ejection in your life is enough. Anyone have a tally of CF101 ejections/crashes?
A good looking machine.
The listed range for the Voodoo is surprising, does that include extra fuel from drop tanks?
Graham Baxter: The Voodoo could carry two drop tanks attached to the fuselage, aft of the rotating weapons bay. (You can see them at 0:10 ) But even without external tanks, the Voodoo had incredible range, and long range was an important feature for Canadian interceptors because aerial in-flight refueling tankers didn't enter service with the RCAF until the 1970s.
Great Vid, thanks!🙂
At 5:41 in the video you referred to CFB Namao, I think, just north of Edmonton (actually butting onto the city limits these days). It is an army base now, but was an air force base in the 60's. It is pronounced "Na-MAY-o", three syllables, emphasis on the middle syllable. I'm an Edmonton native and live about 10 minutes south of the base
There's a Voodoo in Lynx livery in Halifax alongside the highway across from the airport at the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum. I've driven by it for years and always wondered the story behind it. Tail number on it is 416
416 was CFB Chatham, New Brunswick
We were at an airshow on the 'Air Force' side (Namao) of CFB Edmonton. Just came out of the visiting USAF 'Spooky' C-130 gunship on the tarmac, when two Voodoos from CFB Comox came over the crowd from behind (not allowed now) and went full afterburner then climbing almost straight up, my girlfriend almost pissed herself. She liked the RAF Harrier better.
The aircraft #425 from the alberta aviation museum in Edmonton is currently being disassembled and sent down to Calgary to their museum
This SO awesome! Back when Canadians knew their history and loved their country
And had babies
Some Canadians still do.🇨🇦
@@RideAcrossTheRiver
Like ALL Endangered species they do not reproduce well in Captivity
I live in Windsor Ontario . Sad to say we learn more about the states history more than Canadian history
@@phillmaltese757
I live in Manitoba and every in every history class I was taught the same thing from grade 5-12 about the same thing word for word involving residential schools.
I was MP at CFS Val D’or in 1970 see it all
I was there 1973 as a MP
Really like your stuff, good historical overview. Just one comment: you might want to check your pronunciation of bases like Namao and Chatham. In Namao, first 'a' is soft and second is hard. In Chatham, the second 'h' is silent. For future reference...
You left out the CF-101s serving at joint CAF/USAF base, Hamilton AFB. They served in USAF colors. I have many fond memories of the 101s at Hamilton.
@@dukeford8893 I was at Hamilton in 67=68 and told then they were rebadged Canadian, We had a joint base then and until I got used to it I wasn't sure who to Salute. The 101s were flown by the 84th FIS The CO was Lt Col Ed Kenney Hamilton was the HQ for the Western NORAD Region Commanded by Maj General James Winn US Army and Brig General Huge C. Ledoux CAF I might be able to double check the 101 thing but remember we lost a lot of 101's in Viet Nam. My unit supported the 12 th recon Sqd and after loosing X amount of RF-101Cs we had to scroung all the 2 seat versions from I believe Malstrmom AFB??? The RF-101C was also flown out of Udorn by the 20th TRS starting in April 66 When the 12th and 20th got down to 16 AC each they started to being in the RF-4C
There's 1 of them at the Aircraft museum in Ottawa and another in the War Museum in Ottawa
The Voodoo always interested me. I see it all the time, we've got one in North Bay painted up in the black 414 EW livery, its just across from the airport beside some period radar sets. Still kinda crazy to think that air to air nuclear rockets not only survived design and planning but were actually produced and deployed. Nuts to think about nowadays.
The Canadian Air Force has a great history. Join up and you could fly the same aircraft your great granddad did. Now that's history. ;)
Well our F-18s have now served way longer than the voodoo ever did....
@@MattVarnish1103 Vintage Air Force, Nostalgia Navy.
The Canadian Armed Forces is notorious for being able to do the most with the least
@@stephenlong8800 No choice in the matter and yes I agree.
I was in Bagotville when these were flying - I was a Weapons Tech - guarded the Nucs
I remember seeing many CF-101 Voodoo flybys as a kid to young adult before they were replaced by the CF-18 hornet in the mid 1980's. Today the CF-18 is likely being replaced by the F-35.
My dad flew this. He was in the USAF
101065 can be seen on static display at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander, NL
Very informative. Did not know
Sadly, there is a full Voodoo assembled shell sitting at the Airport in London Ontario on side parking tarmac.. YXU. Engines were removed but exist. Presumably it was to be rebuilt and put in to Londons Jet Aircraft Museum. YXU London Ontario Canada. Sadly, this sweetie has been sitting outside for years with NOTHING being done. Every time I go by I feel positively heartsick. Thought someone whould know.
What I find interesting about the CF-101 Voodoo is that it was examined by Canadians prior to the CF-105 and was found to NOT meet Canadian requirements and thus the CF-105 project was carried on.
Probably the A model. The F101B we got, was actually a fantastic plane. In many ways just as good as the Arrow ever would have been. I'm a massive Arrow fan, and I have almost every book published on it's development. It had a great potential, but in reality the technology wasn't ready . By the time the Arrow would have been in production, The F4 Phantom would have been as well. The F4 is superior to Arrow and vastly cheaper.
Look at that! A nice 'Canadian' Interceptor. Might have been a great plane for the RCAF, but bottom line it replaced the Avro Arrow. Oh right, the 'Bomark missiles' were the replacement for the Arrow. :(
It is a shame you cannot get higher quality footage. I wonder if it can be had from the National Archives.
Wonderful!
Many thanks!
Could the number 030 of this plane have changed? I think not... I flew in a CF-101 in 1982 in Bagotville. On the paper that I received as a souvenir, it is indicated 101030. So I believe it is possible that this plane was previously with the 425 Alouette in Bagotville? It was a reward and I flew in the navigator's seat... I'm surprised to find this plane here on the Internet and n British Columbia.
In 1982 or 83, during the war games in Abbotsford, two Voodoos flew over Cultus Lake and spotted my friend's hot girlfriend in a tiny pink bikini standing up on the boat and waving at them. Needless to say, they broke from their flight path (bomb run) and did several flybys over the lake. As it happened we finally caught fish too as the fast movers made a lot of noise.
The Voodoo is what Canada settled with after Ottawa's cluster which decided to scrap and destroy the CF-105 Arrow.
From Formula One to NASCAR.
It's amazing how few Canadians even know we had nukes on planes back in the day! For the record, there's errors in the numbers at 2:00. Mach 1.72 is correct but that is no where near 2,124 km/h. Obviously we used Mach numbers because the speed of sound changes with altitude, but top speed for aircraft such as this are reached at 50,000 feet where the air is thin and sound is slow. It's closer to 1,800 km/h. Good video, though!
So basically the U.S. said to Canada i have a few spare Nuclear weapons you can use them in case of an emergency, lol.
@@magneticstorm1 More like, "The first line of defense is over the arctic and your territory even though we're the target, so if you don't mind supplying the defensive linemen, we'll supply the equipment!"
the more I hear about the history of the Canadian Warplane History since the cancellation of the CF-105 and the subsequent demise of our Military Aircraft Industry has led to our total dependance of American Aircraft. Is that a good thing ? just sayin
Read:
''In Retreat' Canada's Armed Forces in the Trudeau Years, by Gerald Porter.