My father-in-law, Col. Robert R Blank, was a three war combat veteran, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He flew the RF-101 Voodoo, one of 43 different aircraft he flew in his career. I miss you dad.

My dad was an F101 Voodoo Scope Wizard stationed in Charleston S.C. when I was born. Miss you too. Dad. Vietnam got him way before his time. Thanks, Monsanto amd Dow Chemical.

My first ever boss (RIP) was a retired USAF Major, who flew RF-4C Phantoms over North Vietnam, and also personally aided in fixing the F-100 Super Sabre's teething control issues/crashes during it's development by having a controlled midair collision with a F-100 that was about to crash, forcing the control surface to a neutral position with the wing tank of his F-80. Between those two events, he also sat on a runway in Florida with a Genie nuclear rocket (air-to-air) under a F-101 Voodoo, on 8hr shifts, in the cockpit, with armorers ready to install the nuclear "pit" and arm the weapon and other ground crew to get the aircraft running and on the runway. Guys like this kept us ready to strike/retaliate during this touchy time in history. God Bless these Cold Warriors!!

My dad flew rear-seat ("Scope Wizard") in F-101B's out of Wurtsmith in 1965. He's told me many interesting stories about it. In 1969 he flew RF-4C's at Kadena with the 14th Tac Recon, and at that time Adrian Drew was among the crews. Dad said he didn't know who Drew was, but it came up that both of them had flown 101's, then Drew said "I set the speed record in it." Drew said the cockpit film later showed he'd over-temped the engines just for a moment and felt lucky that he didn't blow up. A couple of interesting stories, the RF-101's always did very well at the annual Air Force bombing competition. It lacked any real bomb-nav system but crews figured out that at a given speed and altitude, if you picked just as the target disappeared under the nose, you damn near got a shack every time. The RF's had that squared off upper lip on the nose to act as a visual guide. Other teams could never figure out how they were doing it. Dad said the 101 crews would go out their airplanes with a grease pencil and a straight edge to mark lines on the forward looking camera window. This made the other teams think that this was how they were scoring so well, by somehow using the camera! Second, not all that well known, when F-105's stood nuclear alert in Europe, at the beginning, they discovered a serious problem with the airplane that required they all be stood down until fixed. The only available option was to use RF-101's to stand nuclear alert in their place, and so they did. Dad said "We didn't have very many RF's available to do it, so it was all kept very quiet because we didn't want the Soviets to know about the reduced numbers." While I'm at it, another story is that, for a period ,101's were crashing w/o explanation. It had two hydraulic systems, one for subsonic and one for supersonic, and had to do with the different degrees of control surface deflection needed in each regime. Maintenance crews ("Witch Doctors") would sometimes cross-fit the lines, causing loss of control. So, one fitting was then made bigger than the other across the fleet. This solved the problem, for a while. Another crash occurred and it was discovered that an enterprising Witch Doctor had noticed the fittings wouldn't go on how he wanted, so, he had manufactured an adapter! Fortunately, these were all accidents at higher altitude so, as I recall, all the crews got out. A third of the F-101B's were dual-control so dad said he got a lot of stick time, which came in handy when he moved to the RF-4C. Then, into the F-111A and then the F-111F. He says he was very fortunate to have gotten so much time in tactical types. I'll pass your video on to him. I'm sure he'll love seeing it. Thanks for the work!

My dad, a USAF Pilot, at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, while not involved in flying over Cuba taking pictures, was nonetheless involved with the operation. That film from the Cuban overflights had to be delivered from the base the RF-101s landed at directly to Washington, DC for the brass to look over. So he flew that lightweight but extremely important cargo to where it needed to go (in a T-39, a kind of military version of a Lear Jet).

Canada flew voodoos for 20 years past the Cuban missile crisis, they were cold comfort when compared to the Cancelled Arrow program

The first recon missions over Cuba exposing the missile installations and construction were flown by VFP-62 flying RF-8's out of NAS Key West. This provided the concrete evidence that the Soviets were in fact placing weapons which had the capability of hitting targets in the US. Post the fly-overs of Cuba the RF-8's landed at NAS Jacksonville where the film was processed prior to being flown to the Pentagon. The pilots of VFP-62 were awarded the DFC by President JFK for their actions.

I have waited for the Voodoo episode, and I am so glad it's here

Holy cow! All this time, I never knew that the Voodoo had a rotary bomb bay. Pretty avant-garde for an aircraft of its size and era.

The Voodoo.......great name and great looking plane

Actually I think the main low level photo-reconnaissance work was done by the U.S.Navy’s RF-8A photo Crusaders. See the book ‘Blue Moon over Cuba’. The RF-101 cameras still needed work on their motion compensation system to reduce blurring. The RF-101C with it’s higher g-limits did their important work in VietNam.

Thanks for this informative video! My Dad was a USAF officer stationed at Homestead Air Force Base & at least 5 other bases & flew more than a hand full of missions over Europe & several other countries outside of Europe. In 1960 my parents divorced & I went with my Mom back to her home state of Ohio. I knew very little of my Dads military history to say the least. I received a letter from his dear friend that he had passed away in 2019, then received 3 boxes of extremely important mementoes of his service. His name is Lester J. Vohs, USAF Major in 1960 stationed at Andrews AFB. I feel strongly he took part in some of the missions mentioned. Thanks again, an old USAF Military Brat. 👍👍

My Father flew the RF-101. Stateside as well as 2 years in Viet Nam. I remember the squadron lost a lot of planes and pilots during their deployment. Low level recon was a dangerous mission! My father telling me that pre attack recon was preferred over the post attack missions mainly because the Viet Cong knew that they were coming after an attack for damage assessment. Seeing some of his declassified photo's would send chills down my spine. Showing pictures full of tracers and smoke trails of missiles coming at the camera.

F-101 was a beautiful Aircraft

The One-Oh-Wonder did everything that was asked of it, and did it well.

It’s amazing how many other aircraft in this video that aren’t F-101’s! But overall an enjoyable video. Thanks

During my Airforce hitch in late 1970s, at Tyndall AFB/ADWC, Florida, I was an avionics tech working on the F-101B/F interceptors, in addition to Convair F-106A/B Delta Darts and venerable T-33A trainers. Our F-101s supported the intercepter training for the Sixes. They pretended to be aggressor planes, and towed the big orange plywood targets. Maintenance was a bit of a headache, with it's capacitance fuel quantity indicating system and the nucleonic (low level radioactive) oil quantity indicating system. Overall, good planes, with Texas ANG and Canada both sending Voodoos to our 1978 William Tell interceptor meet.

I remember when i was young... The Voodoos were stationed at Niagara Falls Air Force Base. The had such a distinctive sound to them as they flew overhead. They were eventually replaced by F-4 Phantoms.

Always thought the 101 was one of the best looking fighters the US ever produced. Can't compete with today's F-15 in performance perhaps but still one of the finest ever created.

My dad was full time with the KY Air National Guard. He worked on the ejection seats of the RF-101's. The Voodoo is still my favorite.

As a kid, I spent parts of summer and fall near Otis AFB on Cape Co, MASS. We were on the flight path for the approach to the runway. Those Voodoo jets would come in two at a time just a few hundred feet overhead. So loud. What a thrill.

I grew up by Holloman A.F.B 2 of my closest friend's dad's piloted RF- 101 Voodoos I loved that aircraft. They stayed very busy in the 60s&70s.

Now with with 22% MORE Ultra Turbojet!

I think the version with the angled "shark-nose" looks much better than the cone-nosed versions. Reminds me of my old BMW 6 series.

Really enjoyed your video. I'm an AF brat from the 50's & 60's. Next to the F-104 the '101 is my favorite of the Century Fighters.

Back in the late 1970s I was in charge of the "Mod Squad", modifying the Voodoo to carry ECM pods and chaff dispensers, for training pilots on how to counter the countermeasures

I always thought as a teenager the F101 was the most beautiful jet aircraft that the US ever produced. I still think so! The F101 was the only aircraft that managed to intercept 1 of 8 Avro Vulcan bombers during exercise Sky Shield 1 in 1960 and exercise Sky Shield 2 in 1961. The (at the time) vaunted F102 Delta Daggers could not get near the Vulcans! Respect to the Voodoo! 🤩🤩🤩

The F-101s did not "smash" the coast to coast speed record. They did break the record set by John Glenn in an F8U-1P Crusader a few months earlier by a small amount. The difference between the two speed runs was that the F-101s had KC-135 jet tankers whereas Glenn used a prop driven AJ tanker. The USAF declined the Navy request for a KC-135 tanker.

Cool music

The F-101 Voodoo was the first scale model I built as a kid in the early 1960s just before my family was stationed at Westover AFB SAC, just outside Chicopee, Massachusetts.

Love the background music combined with your voice

Excellent video 😊!

This Jet is by far my favorite of the century series

The voodoo is my favorite of the century series aircraft with the f105 thud being an extremely close 2nd. Both designs are of the cold war 1950s and they were bpth extremely fast aircraft. Even by todays standards. Theyre lightning fast.

thanks for another great vid.

Oh how I hate to see the F102/106 when talking about the Voodoo…remember your viewers are well versed.

Coolest soundtrack :) almost like a music video. Feels like one.

My dad, non rated, was a maintenance officer at Laon AB 1964-1966 as part of the 66th TRW. 4 squadrons of 101's. Transitioned the 66th to England before returning stateside. Challenging plane maintenance wise, the sheet metal shops worked non-stop.

I hope the music never stops! Let's Go!

Beast AF

Thanks for the video. THere's Voodoo static display at the Gila Bend, AZ airport. I talked to a guy who was a cargo pilot, that got to transition into the Voodoo instead of retiring. When he flew it, there were problems with a fuel leak into the engine compartment on take off. His tongue in cheek saying about the Voodoo, "gear up, flaps up, blow up". Anybody heard that one before? I see the VooDoo as the predecessor to the F-4 Phantom. IMHO, the T tail of the F-104, and F-101, still had the potential to be "blanked out" by the wing at high angles of attack on landing. The F-4 and the F-105 put the tail planes below the airstream of the wing at high angles of attack,

The F101 was the only model aircraft I finished.

Watched while eating popcorn!!!!!

I read about the F-101 Voodoo. It was called the F-10-wonderful because it was a pleasure to fly. Much of the design and accoutrements of the Voodoo were used in the F-4 Phantom. When I was making plastic models of airplanes as a teen that one was not available or I would have had it.

If you're ever in Gander, Newfoundland, the North Atlantic Aviation Museum has one of these beauties on display, a CF-101 from Canada's Armed Forces. It looks menacing and fast even sitting on the ground. The museum is definitely worth a visit. 😺😻😺

Dude's talking faster than the jet itself

My favourite model plane as a kid ! 👌🏻

Two aircraft actually went to the 522nd Strategic Fighter Squadron, just before they became a Fighter Bomber Squadron. Also during the cold war RF-101's were fitted with a special bomb rack to carry Nukes to Russia. A lot of pilots sat on ramps doing alert which from pilot reports was not too fun.

Why are you showing so much of the F 106 Delta Darts?

I know they took liberties in the movie 13 Days, but the movie used FA-8 Crusaders. Personally, I think the Voodoo is a sexier airframe

We have the best pilots with the finest training available. One of a couple reasons you do not want to piss us off.

As a old saying I heard, when in Air Cadets. Whilst on Summer Camps @ Both RAF Wittering n Laarrbruch'e. "FLY LOW, HIT HARD!". And that sounds, JUST RIGHT For the Voodoo. 🤫

What about the RF-8 Crusaders? Weren't they used as well?

Hello, Dark Skies!

I just saw something in the sky over NYC that for sure was either a rocket, or jet and it was super fast and super high!

The Demon, Voodoo and Phantom II all had their tail planes sticking out over the jet exhaust. I always wondered why.

Here we go again!

My Pops flew the F101 Voodoo I was 2 at this time he was TDY from South Hampton NY during the event. He said they would drop down to just 100' ASL and Blast past the Keys with a wall of water getting sucked up by the lead A/C. He ended up transfering to Hurlburt AFB to A-1 Sandys flying in SEA 1968/69.

What a plane

You totally fail to acknowledge the recon photo activity done at low level by Navy RF8 supersonic jets who also covered Cuba and flew imaging of the Cuban missiles directly to Pres. Kennedy confirming the readiness of those missiles...

The Voodoo a fast fighter great for recon. However the 104 and the F4 along with the Delta wing 102 and then the 106 led and augmented the great Voodoo. My Uncle flee these great birds at the same time my father flew F-100s

I may be going senile but I see various designs in the aircraft that now show themselves on the B1B bomber

Love the commentary. Music is too damn loud. Nobody needs added agitation.

And all controlled by hydraulic system . For plus of this design was real " feeling " of aircraft , not a simulated , like in fly by wire systems , which helps to make almost impossible acrobatic , and allows a brick to fly . Great material , like always on Dark channels ! Thank You !

My father flew the RF-101 among other planes. Sadly he did not make it back from Vietnam.

My Dad flew the 101 at Oxnard AFB. He said it was a good plane but LOVED the F-106

Don't forget that the B-58 played an important but little mentioned role as a reconnaissance platform in the Cuban missile crisis as well....

So according to this guys video and every other video about the cuban missile crisis every plane in existence was the one to take pictures of the missiles and deliver them to the US. Every time I watch a video about a specific plane in the 60s IT was the plane that "discovered" and took pictures of the missiles.

Delta Dart cameo just because

I have a fondness for the 101. In Viet Nam my folks had RF-101Cs and later B's. When I got back to the States I was stationed at Hamilton AFB where we had nuclear armed F-101Bs

I lived it & there was no exercises in School or Shelters as ive seen later in years thru American documentaries . Now , I watch Ukranian Drones take out the trash daily , while enjoying my mornings Café Cubano.

There was a NORAD exercise where Canadian Pilots had their (very out-dated) Voodoos, and went up against US pilots in brand new F4s. The F4s got their butts kicked by the Voodoos.

My dad was offered the chance to fly in the RF-101 from the 189th TAC of the Arkansas ANG as they were going to the Boneyard. I still have the picture of him with his bloodshot eyes, and O2 mask lines on his face. They had rung the Old Girl out, and He was a kid again. I miss you Dad!

I was an engine mechanic on both the RB-66 and the F-101, so I find it quite irritating when you mix up the two aircraft in your presentation.

We know this one.

I had a model set of two F101s in the late sixties. I thought then, and I still think, it's one of the most beautiful jets ever built. In the mid-70s, DC Comics had a Batplane design that was absolutely definitely a straight rip-off from the F101. It amused me, since I loved the F101.

At 0.03, I do not think that remotes for tv are not available yet to the public.

As I recall, at one point the F -101 held the world rate of climb record.

Okay Navy, the video is about the F-101 Voodoo, and not the Cuban Missile Crisis. At no time did Dark Skies state that the Voodoo performed reconnaissance during the Cuban missile crisis, except for confirmation that the Soviets had removed their missiles.

6:36 completely amazing load out!!! This is totally 007/Tony Stark weapons tech!!

Should be a Part2 for the Vietnam service and service with the RCAF.

It was the Vought F-8 Crusaders that first took photographs of the Cuban missiles,they flew so low that they returned with bullet holes from small arms fire.

Looks like a pre-cursor to the B1-Lancer.

Tactical Air Command not Technical Air Command. The Technical Air Command was an entirely different highly classified organization.

I enlisted too late to work the 101. IMHO, it was the prettiest of the Century series, and perhaps the last such before builders began to create more single-themed designs such as the Deltas and the attempt to rationalize the X-15 which became the F-104.

Lots of images of aircraft that are NOT VooDoos when the video is specifically addressing different variants of the F-101. Really poor research and presentation. Incidentally, as a Navy Airborne Electronic Warfare Officer I had an ACM 5:18 hop in the back seat of a CF-101 VooDoo of 410 Squadron at RAF Bagotville, Quebec, in 1981.

At 13:12 it sure looks like an A3 to me. We had the A3-Ds aboard the USS America in the mid-70s.

I have my voodoo medicine man patch

The voodoo was a bad ass aircraft that took a bad ass pilot to operate high speed low level penetration is one technique that would have worked against the soviets.

The VooDoo is an interceptor, not a fighter, fighter can execute extreme maneuvers, the VooDoo can maneuver but not to the same extent as a fighter.

The F101’s were sent in for reconnaissance after the U2’s during the CMC? Heyser McIlmoyle Anderson.

That remote control in Dads hands has me wondering…

Great big aircraft! Terrible dog fighter..it was an interceptor and then a recce airplane, which it performed well. I heard it was very hard to master; but Col. Robin Olds prided himself on mastering that jet! It was huge, bigger than the F-4! I seen them fly once in 1984 on the last day of the El Toro airshow, on late Sunday and a pair of Canadian Voodoos departed in full afterburner and that was special!

What strikes me is there there is really little footage of the Voodoo in service. The retired planes were EVERYEHERE! It was once the most viewed gate guard aircraft and I think it still holds the title of most of a single AC on display ever. Yet there is very little good clear footage of the plan in operation.

Kenedy was the one who truly blinked. The only reason why the U.S.S.R. removed those missiles was due to the fact that Kennedy gave up our nuckear site in Turkey.

I just keep seeing a small b1. 😊

Excellent presentation of cold war history I wasn't aware of. JFK was a real cool operator in the highest stake poker game ever played. Except he wasn't bluffing.

musica bueno

No one knew USSR had Tactical Nukes hidden! Tactical rockets that they didnt see

Vasily Arkhipov --- the name of the Soviet submarine officer that prevented WWIII.