[3e] F-106 Delta Dart

[Phaelen Bleux]

Convair F-106 Delta Dart (TL7)
As the Cold War began to take shape in the early 1950s, The USAF began looking for the "ultimate interceptor" to counter the threat of Soviet bombers. Supersonic jet design was yet in its infancy, and at this time the delta-wing was being explored. Convair developed the F-102 Delta Dagger, but despite increasingly powerful turbojet engines and the delta-wing configuration, the design did not meet expected performance levels. Aeronautical engineers were baffled by this lack of expected performance until Richard Whitcomb introduced the area-ruled fuselage concept to even out airflow turbulence and reduce resistance as the jet approached the speed of sound. This gave the fuselage a distinctive "wasp-waist" at the point of attachment of the wings, greatly improving near-Mach performance. By now, in the mid-'50s, the USAF had raised its goal for the "ultimate interceptor" to be an all-weather, high-altitude, Mach 2-capable jet featuring the semi-automatic ground environment (SAGE) system and other avionics improvements. Once these changes were incorporated into the F-102 design, the aircraft was so radically different it was redesignated the F-106 Delta Dart.
Unfortunately, the F-106 also fell short of expected performance figures, with sluggish acceleration, lower-than-expected top speed, difficulties with the fire-control system, and a faulty ejection system that killed the first 12 pilots to use it. The USAF nearly scrapped the program, but with so much money already invested elected to instead reduce procurement by two-thirds, opting for a few high-quality aircraft in place of quantity. The F-106 finally reached service in late 1959, with 277 aircraft being produced through 1960. The "Six" (as the jet was colloquially known) never saw combat (even in Vietnam), and was the last pure interceptor produced for U.S. service. By 1981, the F-106 was being replaced in front-line service by the F-15 Eagle, and was retired from reserve service by 1988.
The F-106 carried its payload internally. It could carry one AIR-2A Genie or one AIR-2B Super Genie nuclear-tipped air-to-air rockets and four AIM-4F/G Super Falcon air-to-air missiles. Alternatively, many aircraft were equipped with a 20mm Vulcan rotary cannon in place of the Genie missile. The cannon was fixed in a forward firing position. The SAGE system allowed the aircraft to be guided to its target from a ground base, requiring the pilot to guide the jet only for the mission's take-off and landing. For long-range missions, the F-106 could be equipped with two 227-gallon external drop tanks mounted on wing pylons.
The F-106 has a crew of one. It burns 774 gallons of jet fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel (internal capacity only) costs $4,542. A full load of 20mm ammo costs $1,560. Other ordnance varies by mission parameter. It has a combat radius of 575 miles (1,950 miles with drop tanks).

F-106A
Subassemblies: Body with Superior Streamlining +4, High-Agility Wings +3, three retractable Small Wheels +0.
Powertrain: 17,200-lb. thrust Turbojet with afterburning, 8,000-kWs lead-acid battery.
Fuel: 1,514 gallons jet fuel (Fire 13) in Standard self-sealing tank [Body and Wings] (Fire -1).
Occupancy: 1 NCS.
Cargo: 5,494 lbs. ordnance [Body and Wings:U].

Armor: 3/10 overall.

Equipment:
Body: Long-range radio with scrambler (300-mile); autopilot; IFF; ejection seat; flight recorder; limited life support system (1/4 man-day); precision navigation instruments; targeting radar (240-mile; Scan 25); laser (IR) detector; dedicated targeting computer (+3 to skill) and terminal; datalink; 1,634-lb. bomb bay; refueling probe; arrestor hook; 24,000-lb. vehicular parachute. Wings: One underwing hardpoint each (for two 227-gallon drop tanks).

Weaponry:
4x AIM-4E/F Falcon AAMs [Body: U].
1x Genie AIR-2A nuclear missile [Body:U]
or
20mm autocannon/Vulcan M61A1 [Body:F] (650 rounds).

Statistics:
Size: 70'x38'x20' Payload: 7.22 tons Lwt.: 19.13 tons
Volume: 644 cf Maint.: 10 hours Price: $3,735,533

HT: 10. HPs: 861 Body, 1,047 each Wing, 78 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 1,142 aAccel: 9 aDecel: 46 aMR: 11.5 aSR: 3
Stall speed 107. With afterburner: aSpeed 1,487, aAccel 13.
gSpeed: 527 gAccel: 24 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.25 gSR: 3
Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road speed.

Design Notes:
The Body is 330 cf with Heavy frame and Standard materials. It has Superior streamlining. Sealed. Mechanical controls. Wing volume (157 cf) was reverse-engineered from actual wing area (698 sf). Wheels are 16.5 cf. Armor is Standard metal. Design empty weight was 185 lbs. heavier than the historical. Design loaded weight was reduced 3% to the historical; design aSpeed with afterburner was 1,362 mph. The design afterburner produces 25,800 lbs. of thrust; the historical value of 24,500 lbs. of thrust was used for performance calculations. The historical top aSpeed is shown.
The Hughes MA-1 weapon system was difficult to interpret with the Vehicles design system. The MA-1 consisted of an onboard computer, datalink, targeting radar and autopilot system all linked to a ground base up to 400 miles away. All of these components together historically weighed 2,520 lbs. The design was given a dedicated targeting computer and terminal, datalink, autopilot, and long-range radio, with the remaining weight being assigned to the radar. This allowed a 240-mile radar to be installed. Both the radar and radio fall short of the 400-mile range, but this was hand-waved as irreconcilable.
Historical unit cost was $3.3 million to $5 million.

Variants:
The F-106B was a two-seat trainer. 63 built. It was still fully combat capable.
The -C, -D, -E, and -F proposed versions were never built.
The F-106 was originally designated the F-102B. The F-102A (1956) was slightly smaller (11' shorter), slower (825 mph), carried less fuel (1,085 gallons), and featured a smaller afterburning turbojet (11,700-lb./17,200-lb. thrust). Loaded weight was 31,500 lbs. One less AIM AAM was carried. 1,000 built. The design of the F-102 would downgrade streamlining to Very Good.