CONVAIR F-102 DELTA DAGGER

USAF SERIAL NUMBER 56-1325

The F-102, nicknamed “Deuce” was flown on air defense missions by the Minnesota Air National Guard, 179^th FIS, Duluth, MN from 1967 to 1972. This unit earned the nickname “The Aces of Deuces” winning the William Tell Weaponry competition against all other Deuces in the USAF. The F-102, one of the USAFs “Century Series” aircraft was a US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the USAFs air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to invade Soviet bomber fleets. The F-102 was the first operational supersonic interceptor and delta wing fighter of the USAF. The F-102 also saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground attack roles. The F-102 was retired from operational service in 1976. The follow on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart which was an extensive redesign of the F-102. There were 1,000 F-102s built.

Cost: $1,200,000

Crew: 1

Length: 68 Feet, 4 Inches

Wingspan: 38 Feet, 1 Inch

Height: 21 Feet, 2 Inches

Engine: 1 Pratt and Whitney J57-P-25 Afterburning Turbojet, Dry Thrust 11,700 Pounds, Thrust With Afterburner 17,200 Pounds

Maximum Speed: Mach 1.25 (825 MPH) at 40,000 Feet

Range: 1,350 Miles

Service Ceiling: 53,400 Feet

Armament: 6 AIM-4 Falcon Air To Air Missiles or 3 Aim-4 Falcon Missiles and 1 AIM-26 Falcon with Conventional or Nuclear Warhead, Rockets, 24 X 2.75 Inch unguided rockets in the missile bay doors.

Interesting facts: The prototype F-102 made its first flight on 24 October 1953, when first built it was only able to achieve Mach 0.98 due to transonic drag. To solve the problem and save the F-102, Convair embarked on a major redesign, incorporating the recently discovered “Area Rule”. The redesign entailed lengthening the fuselage 11 feet and “pinched” the fuselage at mid section (Dubbed the Coke Bottle Configuration). The “Area Rule” concept is still used on many aircraft to this day, to reduce drag. The redesigned F-102 first flew on 20 December 1954 and exceeded Mach 1 the following day. The museum F-102, when retired, was a display aircraft mounted on a pole in New York. Extensive restoration took place when it arrived here, to make the aircraft light enough to sit on a pole, the landing gear were removed by torch, to reinstall the landing gear parts of the wing structure had to be replaced, the wing components, landing gear, cockpit items, etc. were recovered from several F-102s located in New Mexico. Most F-102s, after retirement, were converted to drones and used for aerial target practice by the USAF.

An F-102 mounted on a pole at Buckley ANG base CO

The museum F-102 undergoing a second restoration, in the summer of 2011

The successor to the F-102 was the Convair F-106 Delta Dart, pictured here, a total redesign of the F-102