It’s a long story and I’ll spare you the details, but as an RCAF logistics officer in the 1980’s I was able to finagle a back seat ride in a CF-101. It was an actual mission, not a hop, so I was up there for 90 minutes. Just before they closed the canopy the crew chief came over and asked “Have you ever been in a high performance aircraft before, SIR.” I admitted I hadn’t and he hurriedly stuffed some air sickness bags under the restraint straps. It’s always been a point of pride, even all these years later, that I didn’t need them. Thanks for these amazing videos, they are a true gift that will stand the test of time.

I clicked seeing the F-108 Rapier as a big fan of the XB-70. Nice editing and accuracy.

I was trained as a crew chief on the F-100, F-101, F-104 and F-111. The Aardvark was to be my primary machine for my hitch to Thailand in 1969, but the aircraft had problems and was recalled to the states. So, I was sent to the U.K. to work on RF-4C Phantoms. This video brought back a ton of memories (good, bad and indifferent). Thanks for the history and keep up the good work.

I grew up with the Century series. I watched them fly and saw some crash. Life as a dependent in the Air Force was outstanding.

Good to see a shot of Kartvelli and the models he designed. Still remember him shuffling down the aisles in engineering at Republic in the early 70's.

Great Video, Mike. When I was assigned to my first duty base (Langley AFB, Virginia) I worked on T-33s & T-39s primarily. However, I'd also get to work on any transient aircraft that happened to flutter in - and quite a variety DID flutter in what with Langley being TAC Hq.. Langley afforded me my one and only chance to lay hands on an F-104 - a TF-104 that dropped by one Friday. With a brigadier general and his colonel chauffer overlooking us (I had a partner), we successfully diagnosed a faulty ignitor unit. Of course - it was such a thrill (to me) to get to work on such a fantastic machine. The two officers were amused at my excitement. At one point we asked the pilot (the colonel) to go thru a start procedure to assist with the diagnosis. After he climbed back out of the cockpit, I asked the colonel "What's it like to fly this thing?" He pointed at the general and said: "Ask him - he won't ever let me have the controls!" Of course, we all had a laugh at that. And I felt brave enough to present my query to the general after we'd all shared the levity of the moment. There was no rank at hand in that moment - it was just this pimply-faced young guy with 2 stripes and a tool bag, his partner, and these two officers. SO - "General - sir - do you hold it close to the ground after you retract the wheels or do you start to climb as soon as you're off?" The general replied: "You two get us going again and I'll demonstrate." A part was flown in overnight and we got the plane fixed early the next day (a Saturday). After the engine was started, I stood there as the canopies closed. The general shot us a thumbs up and gestured that I should watch them take off. With that, I hopped on my bike and pedaled to the end of the runway where they would be airborne. I watched as they turned onto the runway at the far end. I could hear as the throttle was pushed to AB. As the Starfighter sped my way, it lifted just a bit. I could see as the gear tucked away - the plane seeming to stay at just a few feet off the runway. Getting close now - I could see the concrete and white lines reflecting off of the shiny silver missile of an airplane. The thunder of that J-79 drowned out all of my senses as the ship abruptly pulled up maybe a hundred yards from runway's end. Up - up - straight up that flame-tipped thing went. It sped straight thru the high overcast as it disappeard from sight. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I thought about the plastic model F-104 that was hanging in my bedroom - the bedroom where I'd dreamed about being able to touch the real things one day. And there I was.

I’m a huge fan of 50’s aircraft, and the Century Series were always a kit modeling focus. Even have a kit of the F-107. Thanks for this Mike!

At the very least visually, the 'Teen Fighters' are also clearly members of the same family in design philosophy, as the Century Series were, yet not as diverse. Looking forward to your episode about the Century Series' counterparts in the Navy.

Germany purchased a lot of F-104's from us.No mention here of all the brave pilots who lost their lives flying this plane in peacetime. I enjoyed this video!

I grew up seeing F-106's quite often in the skies as they were stationed at a near-by AFB. One day two jets come blasting down out of the sky, out of nowhere, and I quickly recognized the delta wing configuration as two F-106's came down on the deck out over the bay doing a mock dogfight! Two hotdogs were having some fun!

What a great video! The Century series were some of the coolest looking jets I remember growing up. My mother's best friend's husband when we lived in Gretna La. and I was 10 was an Air Force pilot who flew the F106. As was typical in those days there were several fly overs each week, especially in the summer. When Bill flew over he would always wag his wings to let us know it was him. Mr. Martin retired from Eglan AFB as a Lt. Colonel and a wing commander. He went on to fly Gulfstream jets privately for many years. What great memories! Thanks for bringing them back to mind! As always God bless you and yours and thanks again for all you do! Take care always.👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸😊

Another excellent video, Mike! I had the opportunity, as an avionics instrument tech in the USAF during the late 1970s, to work on the F-101B&F Voodoo and the F-106A&B Delta Dart. The F-106 remains one of my favorite jets of all time. It still holds the official record for the fastest single engine interceptor, set in 1959! 1,525MPH!

F104 without wing tip tanks is the ultimate freak plane. Saw one at Smithsonian in D.C. and the wins really is amazingly thin with its leading edge sharp enough to send you to hospital! Thank you Mike for the great video on the whacky wild times of 1950's creativity and experimental designs.

Great history of the "Century Series" including some of the more unusual numbers that never made it beyond mockup stage such as the F-103 and F-108. Thanks for sharing! 1988 was the only time I ever witnessed and photographed a Convair F-106 ("B" version). It was a Montana Air National Guard aircraft that flew into the Des Moines, IA airport visiting the Iowa Air National Guard base at the airport.

My god u get around, Mike! I was watching a video about the F-16 VISTA (apparently called the X-62 now) and u came up with the paintwork! I also enjoyed your talk about Douglas on the Peninsula Seniors Channel! Love your work!

I had the good fortune to be in the second class at USAF Interceptor training school at Perrin AFB in 1960 to fly the F102A & TF102 which replaced one of the two squadrons there. The other squadron was still flying F86s. My assignment from there was to the 322nd FIS @ Klamath Falls, Oregon flying the F101B starting early 1961. In November of 1963 I was reassigned to the 49th FIS @ Griffiss AFB, Rome NY. I liked your presentation, but as most articles on century series fighters, I feel the F101 is always given slight attention. The F101 was an incredible aircraft as long as it was flown within its limits, but could bite you in the rear if manhandled. The F106 was just entering squadron service in early 1961, and was grounded for long periods because it's advanced electronics were initially unreliable. Whenever we landed at a 106 base we would extend our refueling probes located in front of the windshield as we taxied by the 6's because they looked amazingly similar to the male sex organ. In the era I flew the squadron camaraderie was great.

Another fantastic video, Mike. I love how you integrate archival photographs with your amazing artwork...it's easy to imagine oneself flying off the wing of these epic machines.

What a great video Mike! Your channel is one of the rare gems of KZfaq!

Another great video. The evolution of of the aircraft designs is impressive. They seemed to be able to develop air frames that needed engines and avionics where that part of the technology was too slow at catching/keeping up. I can't imagine how disappointed the designers and services were with engine issues that held back or doomed projects because the power plant just couldn't deliver.

As a kid I remember having a model of the F-100 and the Bomarc. Loved that SuperSaber. I love the story of the Cornfield Bomber, the F-106 that landed itself after the pilot ejected.

George Welch, of Pearl Harbor fame, was a test pilot for North American Aviation. He was killed test flying the short-tail F100-A on Oct 12, 1953. As a result, North American determined that they needed a taller tail.

Great video! My dad worked for General Dynamics in the mid to late 1960’s as an engineer designing part of the F-111. We lived in Ft.Worth TX from 1967 - 1970 and lived in off base housing while he worked at the plant at Carswell AFB. As a kid I got to see lots of century series fighters as well as B-52’s flying around but my favorites were the F-100 Super Sabre and F-106 Delta Dart besides the F- 111 of course. Dad used to talk a lot about the escape pod on the F-111. I still have a poster of the Navy version of the F-111 with the short nose.

It's amazing how far aviation has come since the Wright Brothers. As always, a video full of information along with great narration. "MODELS??? I thought you'd never ask!!!" Priceless....... Thanks for your knowledge and your time......

Great history, facts and stories about the century series. Thank you.

An excellent presentation, thank you for great work on the famous century series.

Used to have a book carrying every aircraft up to YF-17. Lost it decades ago. You are so correct with this video.

A very fine presentation, Mike. The Century Series, a very broad subject which you covered very well.

I lived near the Canadair factory in Montreal in the early 60s. Canadair built Canada's version of the Starfighter, the CF104. They flew over our house on a regular basis. We'd also hear them testing engines. It remains my favourite military aircraft. Loved this video. Thanks for making and posting it.

Lovely video, I wish the thunderwarrior was made, such a special design, really spaceship aesthetic

There is a Voodoo gate guard in North Bay Ontario Canada. Really large airplane. Superb channel.

Thank you for posting

Another great video and as always a very interesting subject. And a great selection of photos. Great stuff.

Another fine Mike Machat aviation technology / scale model video. It made me remind the sorely missed Wings and Airpower magazines. All of these were (and are) an important part of our lives. Thank you!

This was great a lot of old favourites here...I love the F101 Voodoo for one, very stylistic plane.. seemingly underrated

Excellent video! Thanks Mike for sharing!

It's good that your intro and extro image include the six Century Series jets.

Great video! As a kid in the 60s I had a huge collection of aircraft and ship models, which included all of the production Century Series fighters. This really beings back fond memories. Subscribed.

Just found your amazing channel. You do an incredibly good job making these videos. Thank you so much!

Thank you Mike. Another great episode. Keep them coming.

Absolutely got into this!! Bring on more!!

Perfect way to start my day. Thank you!

As an avid flight nut, I appreciate your time and effort in compiling this into an educational/entertainment video about my favorite subject - flight of any type, by any device. I'm a hang glider and parasail pilot these days and enjoy the quiet flight time, but also due to age and a fixed income, as flight time is getting expensive - fuel, airplane rental, insurance, etc. I will fly as long as I feel safe to do it.

Also, Mike, I have to say, with all my research and study of aircraft, it dawned on me that I’ve not seen the majority of the pictures you’ve presented. Along with your perspective, that fact makes watching your work on the more rewarding.

My favorite airshow memory (out of many) was being at abbotsford in '82(I think). Waiting for the next demonstration round and having several CF-101's come from behind us without notice and doing a pullup with afterburners just after clearing the crowd. It felt like they were only a 100' off the deck, but shock and drama compressed the sensations so much that it was hard tell what was reality from impressions. The Century Series has always been my favorite. I spent quite a number of rolls of film admiring WA-ANG F-106's flying in and out of McCord AFB in the 80's.

Awesome video sir, thanks for the time spent in making it.

What an AMAZING video!! 😊 Thank you for posting this highlighting these "Cold Warriors"! Did you know, and I came across this interesting tidbit while doing research for my master's thesis, that in the mid 1970s (I want to say 1977/78), there was a proposal to re-engine the Phantom with the PW F100 engine. If memory serves there were several modified aircraft based on the F-4E. These significant advantages over the existing F4s, including greater speed, payload, climb, and a nearly 20% longer range. This "super-Phantom", was to have been re-equipped with a single seat cockpit, utilizing the fire control systems and radar of the then brand-new F-16. I believe, that in the very late 1980s the Israelis did convert a number of their Phantoms to utilize the F100 engine and the F-16's radar, but retained the two-seat layout. The Germans did similar, but retained the existing J79 engines.

This guy is awesome dude,idk much about planes but when I started working at the science center 2 years ago it became a pass time to read about our planes on display (all century series) and this guy is like a perfect teacher

Great video, thanks for making this. The F101 had a rotating weapons bay, it flew with the missiles internal. The B model also carried the Genie nuke tipped missiles to intercept Russian bombers. My dad was crew for 101Bs at Charleston AFB in the early 60s. The 444thFIS.

Great Video Thanks

I've been watching your video's approx. a month now, and I'll tell you, the topics you cover are very interesting. Between your channel and the "Dailey Aviation" channel, you guys cover some darn good subjects. Nice thing is, I know quite a bit about aircraft due to my being brought up in an aviation influenced family, and so I'm quite sure you're not pulling facts out of your head like the "Dark" channels and their clickbait videos.

I always loved the F-100, even with all its shortcomings. While I never worked on them, I was based with F-105s in Thailand, and it is my fav of the century series.

Love this Mike, it's great !

So many beautiful and interesting planes! It’s tough to decide which plane is my favorite. It can’t be done. They all have unique appeal and fascination.

Beautiful photos sir ! Wow - Thanks . Over & out …

You've done it again... a great video with new information and insights so well described.... you have such vast knowledge....

One of your best videos. Thanks so much!

Great review of the Century Series. I've just subscribed to your videos! Please keep em coming.

Great video as always.

Brings back a lot of memories as in the 1960s I was crazy about the Century Series and bought plastic kits of all I could get my hands on in the UK. I later had all the 1/48 Monogram Century kits which were the best and most accurate in their day.

You deserve a lot more subscribers. It's rare that KZfaq actually recommends something relevant to me....today is such a blessed day. Great work!

Superb narrative, quite interesting and informative.

very nice! Thanks!

Mike…..you are correct. That gate guard is in ND. I just google earthed that bad boy. It is still there. Nice video.

Our local air museum has the first production model of the F-105, and we are soon to receive a TF-101B, which was a two-seat trainer conversion of the single seat B model, different from the two-seater shown here. I'd love to see a couple more of the century series fighters in out museum. The F-106 has always been my favorite.

Wouldn't have fancied my chances bailing out of the F-107 [ 19:52 ] with that big intake above and behind!!

Great video ... usually I hate videos that are mostly still photos, but your voice and easy to follow explanations, plus the high quality of the photos, more than make up for the lack of animation ... plus, I just loved the scale modelling part at the end, nice touch 😃 ... you've got a new subscriber. Cheers.

Another great one Mike, thanks ! :Subscribed !!

Outstanding video.

F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105 and the F-106. I did this listing at the very beginning of the video. I had models of all Six Plus, F-86, 89 98 A-4. There is an RF-101 on display at the old air guard base. Local veterans groups keep it clean. Oh forgot they have an RF-4C on static display too

I think I know a lot about aircraft…nope, you do. Thanks for keeping me humble and learning.

Could you imagine a F106 with a modern P&W F119 that puts out more military thrust than a j75 at full afterburner , not to mention P&W F135.

Excellent video!

That was a glorious era of aeronautical development. Engineers were raising expectations across the board and spawned an accelerated development of many industries. The competition of an aircraft against the missile was much more humbling than aerospace planners admitted. It still carries over today into the space program. The pilot was considered the most important part, but even pilots had to compete against avionics for that status. The speed of events created a huge load for even the best pilots. Glorious results prevailed.

Excellent presentation!

An era of unparalleled technological achievement and advancement. Of course, having almost unlimited funding helped. Remember that the F-106 still holds the single engined speed record set in 1959!

My absolute favorite era of aviation and series of aircraft!

This is the best thing I ever saw.

First video that I have seen of yours, and I have subscribed. Looking forward others.

Great post!

Thanks, Mike. It had a lot of delta-winged planes which are my favorites!

I was an instrument repairman with the US. Air Force working on mostly F-100's and F-105's with the 388th A & E, Korat RTAFB, Thailand, 1966-67. They were "Magnificent Flying Machines" back then and a challenge to work on. The pilots were outstanding and loved flying that beast every day. One fantastic aircraft.

Very informative and well presented. Thank you. Liked and subscribed.

Excellent post. I have the highest respect for you content.

@MisterEd - You guys are lucky, I’ve always wanted to do the same but in an F-4. However, I think I’d just use the bags while still on the ground, and just get on with it. This is a great channel, Mike, and I love the Cold War coverage - this period of rapid technological expansion and the sheer volume of aircraft types is amazing, and even to this day can be hard to ‘keep up with.’ When watching your work, it brings me back to that National Geographic issue about SAC I poured over and pretty much wore out several times. Fortunately I could find copies of it in antique stores and resale shops, even to this day, which makes me smile.

Hi Mike, New to your channel and find it really refreshing to not listen to someone reciting verbatim from a script, makes it so much more conversational and enjoyable.

Thanks to LBJ for making sure a lot of F-105s were shot down during the Vietnam war by using very restrictive ROEs and making the routes and times so inflexible that the Thud Pilots were sitting ducks for the NVA ack ack.

AWESOME!

You produce some of the most informative, interesting and entertaining video on the history of flight! I don’t have any experience with aircraft other than riding in them now and again, but I throughly enjoy your videos! Edit: I will say my step dad worked on F4 phantoms in Vietnam and used to take me to see them when they would do displays in the 70’s, as a kid

The golden age of military aircraft. Amazing designs - all of them.

bravo! more!

Nice piece. 25:38 While the Aardvark was the first, from scratch, attempt to produce a "one fits all" fighter....de facto the F-4 performed that role much earlier.

Nicely done, Mike. FYI, re: the Aurora F-110A kit, in 1964 I built and super detailed it. I entered the model in Orange Show competition in SoCAl. I won first place with it. Long time fan of yours. Just now subbed.

Thanks for this video. I've been in love with these planes for decades. You mentioned the "area rule" while discussing the F-102. It didn't have the Coke bottle fuselage shape that the 106 had, instead the engineers added the cone-shaped extensions on both sides of the exhaust to compensate for the newly discovered area rule. They were nicknamed "Marilyns", as in Marilyn Monroe for obvious reasons.

Great videos! You have covered the planes I grew up with and I had many of the plastic models as well. Please consider discussing McNamara's decision to force the Navy to re-designate their aircraft. Thanks again!

Thanks!

Very interesting video

my grandfather was a crew chief for f105’s stationed in Thailand during Vietnam. Lots of crazy stories and even one about a thunderchief landing with a massive hole in the wing

Well done

Thank you.

Nice job Mike: