Today marks the 47th anniversary of the first flight of the North American XB-70A Valkyrie. As a kid, I only saw photos of the airplane, so didn't really know the significance of the program–but, boy, that was one cool-looking airplane! I started thinking–a dangerous thing, sometimes–and managed to come up with an Aviation Hall of Fame (of sorts) in my head. I'll start with the "modern" stuff (read: jets). In no particular order:
The Fairchild-Republic A-10A. While it isn't much to look at, this airplane kicks ass. Designed to provide close air support (CAS) to the guys and gals on the ground, it carries an impressive punch. An added bonus? When all the "whistling shit cans" are gone from the pylons, the airplane has a 30mm cannon that can do just as much damage as the bombs and missiles do. Not particularly loved by the brass (it is ugly and subsonic–not a Mach-buster, to be sure), Operation Desert Shield/Storm saved the airplane from retirement when it proved to be able to dish out punishment more accurately that the fast jets AND bring it home when things went pear-shaped–in other words, do what Republic designed it for. The airplane could take a licking and keep on ticking, as the Timex ad men would say. Attempts at retiring it have still come up empty. Sure, a number of them have been sent to storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AMARG), but the low-timers are being modified to soldier on for a while onger–not bad for a type whose last example was completed in 1984!
The General Dynamics F-111. Never has an airplane been so misunderstood–and it stems from the requirement that birthed it. Born as the TFX program–"Tactical Fighter, Experimental"–it was to be used by both the Air Force and Navy. The Air Force wanted a low-level penetrator to augment and later replace the fighter-bombers then in service. The Navy needed a point-defense interceptor to complement the F-4 Phantom II. Robert McNamara, the Secretary of Defense under President Kennedy, was one of the dozens of "Whiz Kids" Kennedy tapped to fill his Cabinet. McNamara had come from the Ford Motor Company, and he didn't understand why the different branches of the service couldn't use the same hardware. The TFX program would be given the added burden of "Commonality"–to use as many common parts for all versions. Several bids were offered, and the Boeing design got the nod, but only tentatively so. Boeing re-worked their bid, and all bids were once again analyzed–and once again, Boeing got the top spot. McNamara overruled them, and selected the General Dynamics design instead, because the two versions had more commonality than the designs from the other bidders. To make a very long story short, the Navy's version didn't work out. Even the Air Force versions didn't share as much commonality between versions as McNamara envisioned–each of the Air Force subtypes were just different enough from the others that most version-specific parts were just that, version specific. In the end, though, the airplane proved to be the best low-level, all-weather interdiction/strike aircraft in the world. Don't believe me? Remember all those videos of precision-guided bombs taking out targets in the first Gulf War? You know, the ones credited to the F-117A Stealth Fighter? A good number of those films belonged to F-111 strike cameras…
The XB-70A. It was just pure sex in the sky.
The Century Series. Okay, I know–there were five Century Series airplanes that saw production, some interceptors, some fighter-bombers, and even an escort fighter in the form of the F-101A and F-101C. But these airplanes were born when technology was developing very quickly. They used the newest, biggest, most powerful turbojet engines produced at the time (as an aside, do you wonder why, when an engine powers a jet fighter they call it "Thunderchief", but when that same engine powers an airliner they call it "Whisperjet"?) and they had the most advanced avionics and fire control systems money could buy. The interceptors (F-101B, F-102, and F-106) were designed to do one thing–shoot down hordes of Soviet bombers coming over the Polar routes with their cargoes of nuclear destruction. The fighter-bombers (the F-100 and F-105) were designed to carry and drop tactical nuclear weapons. The ironic member of the family has to be the McDonnell F-101–the early versions were ordered as Escort Fighters for the Strategic Air Command. The thought was that the Voodoo would escort the B-47s and B-52s to the target and protect them from enemy fighters. When that mission disappeared, the airplane was modified to fill the photo reconnaissance mission, and later still it was modified to become an interceptor–in other words, in the final form, the Voodoo was designed to shoot down enemy bombers. The odd-man-out in the mix is the Lockheed F-104. It didn't serve long with the USAF, but it did serve for many years in the inventories of Allies in Europe and Japan.
The F-4 Phantom. Sure, it became the ubiquitous symbol of American air power for several decades, and is still serving in front line roles around the world. The F-4, to many non-aviation types, is the jet equivalent of the P-51 Mustang–people can pick it out of a crown without knowing a lot about airplanes.
I'd be giving the Navy short shrift if I didn't mention the Vought F-8 Crusader. This thing looked fast. It served as the Navy's interceptor and pure fighter with distinction–and when it was gone, it would be the ultimate pure fighter aircraft the Navy had. When you're out of F-8's, you're out of fighters, so the saying went.
And the North American A-5 Vigilante was pretty cool, too. It was big–but it looked fast just sitting on the deck. While the attack role didn't pan out for the Vigi, it was modified into a reece ship that was second-to-none, and, like the F-8, the type's retirement left big shoes to fill. Alas, those shoes are still waiting…
For some odd reason, I was never a Tomcat fan-boy, or an Eagle Weenie, or fond of either lightweight fighter (F-16 and F/A-18). These airplanes served and continue to serve with distinction, but they lack that character of the first- and second-generation jet fighters. And yes, if you put a Felix the Cat or a Top Hat squadron marking on an F-14, I'll take note–same goes for any Air National Guard squadron code on an F-15 or F-16. I'll just say they get an Honorable Mention, along with the earliest of jets–the Lockheed P-80, the Republic F-84, the early Grumman cats (F9F Panther and Cougar, and F-11 Tiger), and the McDonnell Banshee.
I'll share my piston-powered military aircraft and civil types with you later on.
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.