I was an avionics tech at Tyndall AFB, the Air Defense Weapon Center, from July 1976 to Jan. 1980. My first couple years I worked on the F-106A and F-106B, as well as the F-101B Voodoo and T-33A trainer. Then ADC was disbanded, we were put under TAC, and the 4756AGS maintenance squadron was split into three. I was sent to Hanger 3 to work on the T-33A T-bird exclusively. Loved watching the Six taking off! Ol' 795 was a good bird. The 20mm gun was awesome. Now I am retired, I have been building scale models of the Tyndall aircraft I worked on. There are decal sets available with the ADWC markings.
Thanks Hawk.I got out of the navy in '80.NAS Miramar was a great base then,I went back for an airshow in '92 and haven't been since.I remember well the Top Gun white brick wall with all the Mig kills and pilot's names (Navy & Marine).Cunningham is the only name I remember now.It wasn't till the movie that I realised how lucky I was to have shared the hangar with TG. Navy planes had great squadron paint jobs then too. That's all gone now with low viz grey. Huge base Miramar,..just enormous.
That is such a cool story. I have grown fond of now MCAS Miramar mostly because of Top Gun the movie and I went to the annual air show there in 2011. Amazing to see how it's changed over the years.
I hate that I wasn’t old enough to see these planes in action. By the time I was in the Air Force, they were being used as unmanned target drones at Tyndall AFB....
That's actually a pretty good question. I would wager that officially they did not but I mean come on if you were an f-106 pilot and you had some 20 millimeter ammo left what would you do with it I sure wouldn't bring it back to base!
It was dismountable but effectively permanent. It took some doing to get it out again, you hear the list of stuff they installed. And they decided the nuclear air to air rockets were not really the thing.
I was stationed at NAS Miramar in '75,working in the hangar attached to the famous TopGun hangar.My squadron was RVAW-110, a rag outfiit that flew E2-B Hawkeyes.The F-14's had just come into service.TopGun school used F-5 and A-4's as adversary planes.Sometimes the A-Force boys would fly in with the 106's to mix it up with the Tomcats.The F106's were black.I can still see them landing.They'd just float in gently,nose up,chute trailing.I'd just stand there,hypnotised,staring at the sleek daggers.
@don s Hi don s, my original post is so old I forgot it existed so thanks for posting. I'm sure you're right about the high altitude superiority advantage of the 106, and that not even the Tomcat could compete. Since I was an enlisted mechanic I can only speculate what went on between the two adversaries but it was likely exciting. The early Tomcats had serious compressor stall problems at various angles of attack. They also lacked power compared to later versions. This may have limited very high altitude dogfight training back in '75...don't really know. Whatever limitations, I'm sure the fighter pilot boys found some way to mix it up properly. Who won these F-106 vs. F-14 way back then? I sure don't know. Thanks for posting don s.
F-106 American direct analogue to Soviet Mig-21. This aircraft should have been deployed to Southeast Asia to deal with N.Vietnamese Mig-21PFM. But he Imperial majesty Gen. Lemay wanted to his SAC F-106 squadrons to concentrate on high end Cold War gone Hot fight with Soviets.
Absolutely nothing because the 20 mm round it has a built-in explosive that will detonate after a certain time meaning it will have a maximum range and explode into chunks of shrapnel small enough that they couldn't hurt you even if they got terminal velocity. That's really the best advantage of the 20 mm is that it is large enough to fit a significant explosive charge. I'm not sure if the ammo always had that feature or if it's something developed since, as almost all US fighters that still have guns are usually rocking the 20mm Vulcan still
Except the F-102/106 were speced and designed to just do that. Scramble, haul ass as fast as possible at incoming Soviet bombers, launch their nuclear Genies/ Falcons at them , and then run away to contemplate the end of the world.
In flight testing, the Six could outrun, outmaneuver and outfight the F-4 Phantom, our top aircombat fighter at the time. The 20mm gun was a service item, though rarely carried. Tests were run with the F-106 carrying Sidewinders under the wings. That did not reach service status.
@Thane Mac Engineers designing new fighter planes always say, "We don't need a gun anymore" due to speed or tech. And then, a war gets fought, and old-fashioned guns show themselves to be indispensable. Leaving off the guns was tried with the F22 and F35 of late. But it was overruled by the pilots, and they have guns. Not added gun pods or reengineered later models, but from the beginning of actual service. So HISTORY proves my point. Now do as you're told.
@Thane Mac It was an interceptor. Read again my initial comment, as I essentially define that role in my description of the plane. My point is that was too purpose-built as a fighter, thereby wasting resources, limiting its utility, and leaving it open to, say we say, "unforseen circumstances." The F15 proves and air superiority and interceptor can be in one package, and F22 and 35 show that even in packages that might actually be intended for situations lending themselves to dogfights forming there is the culture of trying to get rid of the gun.
"the General Electric facility at Burlington Vermont"? Where was that, I didn't even know that was a thing. I know they have a military firing range _near_ Burlington, Fort Ethan Allen, but I never knew GE had any facilities there or that they tested F-106s there. I can only imagine what the people occupying the town today would think about them testing autocannon near their socialist utopia? You should have heard how they whined when they stationed the first F-35s there, when they found out they could carry nuclear weapons! Apparently the F-16s were fine, but they didn't want F-35s.
@@sandemike Nope the F-106 and the Mig-21 would have been a very even dog fight. The F-106 could out fly anything else the US had at the time and the data from the captured Mig-21 tests proved as much.
They only built 342 and they were assigned to national defense. They did play with the idea of sending them over but, could not justify the risk of loosing to many. In testing it could out dogfight anything else the US had and the data from the Area-51 Mig-21 tests showed that it would have been a good match against it.
I was the crew chief of this -106 at Tyndall AFB, FL in the late 70's. It was a Test Squadron jet for the gun, and other mods. Great memories.
I was at Tyndall 68-71 in the bomb dump and they used to come up with weird 20mm linking for the aircraft like 6 TP 1 tracer and 1 HEI.
Did you ever fish big ammo lake?
I was an avionics tech at Tyndall AFB, the Air Defense Weapon Center, from July 1976 to Jan. 1980. My first couple years I worked on the F-106A and F-106B, as well as the F-101B Voodoo and T-33A trainer. Then ADC was disbanded, we were put under TAC, and the 4756AGS maintenance squadron was split into three. I was sent to Hanger 3 to work on the T-33A T-bird exclusively. Loved watching the Six taking off! Ol' 795 was a good bird. The 20mm gun was awesome. Now I am retired, I have been building scale models of the Tyndall aircraft I worked on. There are decal sets available with the ADWC markings.
@@eodmaxdid you work with an airman by the name of Hans And wags) Wagner?
No never did any fishing only snorkeling off of EOD beach.
Thanks Hawk.I got out of the navy in '80.NAS Miramar was a great base then,I went back for an airshow in '92 and haven't been since.I remember well the Top Gun white brick wall with all the Mig kills and pilot's names (Navy & Marine).Cunningham is the only name I remember now.It wasn't till the movie that I realised how lucky I was to have shared the hangar with TG. Navy planes had great squadron paint jobs then too. That's all gone now with low viz grey. Huge base Miramar,..just enormous.
Outstanding! Thank you for posting!
That Delta wing airframe is soooo sexy taking off....
That is such a cool story. I have grown fond of now MCAS Miramar mostly because of Top Gun the movie and I went to the annual air show there in 2011. Amazing to see how it's changed over the years.
Indeed it is huge! Biggest airshow I've ever been to so far! Amazing all the opportunities you got!!
@kerschniggle Keep an eye out....we will be posting more videos!
Sounds like a straightforward, simple installation that works well.
Can I get one installed in my Buick?
Only if you have a 1966 sedan, it was a factory custom option that year only lol
I hate that I wasn’t old enough to see these planes in action. By the time I was in the Air Force, they were being used as unmanned target drones at Tyndall AFB....
At least you got to see them flying.
Still the fastest, single engined jet fighter.
I thought the 104 was faster! This is so cool!
F-104 about 100 mph shy of the F-106 top speed!😢
God I love this stuff.
Very cool and very informative!
Ram Air Enemy Killing. Great stuff!
Did they ever fire on ground targets with it?
That's actually a pretty good question. I would wager that officially they did not but I mean come on if you were an f-106 pilot and you had some 20 millimeter ammo left what would you do with it I sure wouldn't bring it back to base!
Was the cannon permanently mounted on the F-106? I thought it was fitted in its missile bay.
The M61 Vulcan had 650 rounds of ammunition in the center weapons bay and it replaced the AIM-26 Super Falcon or Genie.
@@andrelabbe5315 but was it permanently mounted, or could it be dismounted and replaced again by a Genie or some other weapon?
@@Leadblast not permanently guns dismantle if you want to use genie or falcon but impossible to use in same time
It was dismountable but effectively permanent. It took some doing to get it out again, you hear the list of stuff they installed. And they decided the nuclear air to air rockets were not really the thing.
I was stationed at NAS Miramar in '75,working in the hangar attached to the famous TopGun hangar.My squadron was RVAW-110, a rag outfiit that flew E2-B Hawkeyes.The F-14's had just come into service.TopGun school used F-5 and A-4's as adversary planes.Sometimes the A-Force boys would fly in with the 106's to mix it up with the Tomcats.The F106's were black.I can still see them landing.They'd just float in gently,nose up,chute trailing.I'd just stand there,hypnotised,staring at the sleek daggers.
Eric Mowrey I wonder how the Darts fared against the Tomcats?
I second what dieseldave said. How did the F106's fare against the Tomcats?
@don s Hi don s, my original post is so old I forgot it existed so thanks for posting. I'm sure you're right about the high altitude superiority advantage of the 106, and that not even the Tomcat could compete.
Since I was an enlisted mechanic I can only speculate what went on between the two adversaries but it was likely exciting. The early Tomcats had serious compressor stall problems at various angles of attack. They also lacked power compared to later versions. This may have limited very high altitude dogfight training back in '75...don't really know.
Whatever limitations, I'm sure the fighter pilot boys found some way to mix it up properly. Who won these F-106 vs. F-14 way back then? I sure don't know.
Thanks for posting don s.
Sounds like Ward Cleaver is the narrator!
The beaver has trouble withstanding the constant vibrations.
@@nuttintoseehere9141 🤣🤣🤣
I didn't know Sammy Davis Jr's twin worked on the 106! 3:46
putting a gun on a long range interceptor, seems legit...
I mean it’s missiles weren’t that good either
@@soapbox4632 The F-106 had a 90% success rate with The Aim-4G. Aim-9's used by the rest the US had 9% on a good day.
Johann Bezuidenhout but they lacked the range compared to the aim7s
F-106 American direct analogue to Soviet Mig-21. This aircraft should have been deployed to Southeast Asia to deal with N.Vietnamese Mig-21PFM. But he Imperial majesty Gen. Lemay wanted to his SAC F-106 squadrons to concentrate on high end Cold War gone Hot fight with Soviets.
Rest assured that SAC did their job so well, we were never attacked by the Soviets.
What’s the danger to people and structures on the ground of rounds falling on them?
None, unless you live on the ocean.
Absolutely nothing because the 20 mm round it has a built-in explosive that will detonate after a certain time meaning it will have a maximum range and explode into chunks of shrapnel small enough that they couldn't hurt you even if they got terminal velocity. That's really the best advantage of the 20 mm is that it is large enough to fit a significant explosive charge. I'm not sure if the ammo always had that feature or if it's something developed since, as almost all US fighters that still have guns are usually rocking the 20mm Vulcan still
Nasty. Just the way I like it!
Its the Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppp 1.0 Beta
lol
When technology-addicted fools realize that a fighter needs to be able to fight, not just go up, launch missiles at bombers, and land.
Except the F-102/106 were speced and designed to just do that. Scramble, haul ass as fast as possible at incoming Soviet bombers, launch their nuclear Genies/ Falcons at them , and then run away to contemplate the end of the world.
In flight testing, the Six could outrun, outmaneuver and outfight the F-4 Phantom, our top aircombat fighter at the time. The 20mm gun was a service item, though rarely carried. Tests were run with the F-106 carrying Sidewinders under the wings. That did not reach service status.
@Thane Mac History, moron.
Shut up.
@Thane Mac Engineers designing new fighter planes always say, "We don't need a gun anymore" due to speed or tech. And then, a war gets fought, and old-fashioned guns show themselves to be indispensable.
Leaving off the guns was tried with the F22 and F35 of late. But it was overruled by the pilots, and they have guns. Not added gun pods or reengineered later models, but from the beginning of actual service.
So HISTORY proves my point.
Now do as you're told.
@Thane Mac It was an interceptor. Read again my initial comment, as I essentially define that role in my description of the plane.
My point is that was too purpose-built as a fighter, thereby wasting resources, limiting its utility, and leaving it open to, say we say, "unforseen circumstances." The F15 proves and air superiority and interceptor can be in one package, and F22 and 35 show that even in packages that might actually be intended for situations lending themselves to dogfights forming there is the culture of trying to get rid of the gun.
"the General Electric facility at Burlington Vermont"? Where was that, I didn't even know that was a thing. I know they have a military firing range _near_ Burlington, Fort Ethan Allen, but I never knew GE had any facilities there or that they tested F-106s there. I can only imagine what the people occupying the town today would think about them testing autocannon near their socialist utopia? You should have heard how they whined when they stationed the first F-35s there, when they found out they could carry nuclear weapons! Apparently the F-16s were fine, but they didn't want F-35s.
Sounds like Walter Cronkite narrating.
Mig21 killer.
Think it was the other way around.
@@sandemike Nope the F-106 and the Mig-21 would have been a very even dog fight. The F-106 could out fly anything else the US had at the time and the data from the captured Mig-21 tests proved as much.
@don s Obviously another flag waving American😂
I Always Liked This Plane & Wondered Why They Didn't Try It Out In Vietnam . . .
They only built 342 and they were assigned to national defense. They did play with the idea of sending them over but, could not justify the risk of loosing to many. In testing it could out dogfight anything else the US had and the data from the Area-51 Mig-21 tests showed that it would have been a good match against it.
@don s if an AIM-4 would have guided
@don s Vietnam didn't suit the F-105 either. It's high loss rate proves that.