History

The F-101B Voodoo, first flown on the 29th of September 1954, is a typical American fighter aircraft of the 1950s: big, powerful, noisy and wellequipped. As a comparison the French counterpart to the Voodoo was the Dassault Mystère IVA, only half as long and half as heavy (you may compare the two aircraft in our collection).

Rapidly replaced in the fighter role by other aircraft, the Voodoo found its niche in the reconnaissance role, in which it served until 1979. Only Canada used it extensively as an all-weather fighter defending the vast northern part of the country against the potential threat of soviet bombers flying “over the Pole”. It was replaced in 1984.

An interesting technical feature of the Voodoo is the rotating armament bay door. This gives the aircraft an aerodynamically clean fuselage shape, reducing drag. In case of enemy contact, the armament bay door was rotated through 180° in order to fire the air-to-air missiles. Another noticeable equipment is the bulbous infrared receiver that you can see in front of the cockpit. This allowed the crew to locate enemy aircraft without the use of the Voodoo’s own radar, thereby reducing the risk of being detected themselves by passive radar receivers.

Caracteristics

Wingspan	12,09 m
Length	20,54 m
Height	5,48 m
Empty weight	12,9 t
Maximum take off weight	23,7 t
Payload	3,5 t
Speed	Mach 1,65
Range	1 100 km
Crew	2
Engine	2 Pratt & Whitney J57-P-55
Serial number	58-0282 (MSN 654)

 

Our aircraft

Our Voodoo, serial number 58-0282, last served with the Minnesota Air National Guard, before going into storage at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. In 1990, it was lent to us by the US Air Force Museum as a long-term loan, and transported to France by the French Navy. It is currently under restoration and is one of only three F-101 Voodoos on display in Europe. The Voodoo was at one time based in France with NATO.

Some photos

 Watch the videos of the painting :