Also known as the "One-O-Wonder." This one was from the school that trained Air Force test pilots, first organized in 1944 and still going. Home base was Edwards. This one is probably a photo target, not a bomb/gun target. The Canadians kept their F-101s in service a little longer than we did. There's also a photo-target B-58 bomber hulk out there somewhere.
I saw a video showcasing old B-58 hulks. The wind was blowing during one of the scenes and the old girl was creaking and banging as inspection doors and panels moved in the wind. Sitting on barren landing gears with no wheels, or brake assemblies. Just sitting on bare ground on the axles baking in the sun. That is just sad that these magnificent machines were done that way they were. I've been fascinated by B-58's ever since I was a youngster. There was one sitting on static display at Chanute AFB that I wanted to get a closer look at but it was in the dead of an Illinois winter, and I was not going to risk the cold. Sex with 4 J79 afterburning engines. And the F-104.
The USAF stopped using the Voodoo as a front line interceptor in the early '70's. Canada kept theirs until 1984, well past the time they should have been retired. One blew up in 1973 over an airshow in Abbottsford B.C. when some turbine blades let go.
This one was towed there in 1978 as a radar calibration mule , it was stripped by the airforce themselves, quite sad as it was historically significant as it was an engine testbed
@@scotttait2197Judging by the tail number it's pretty early right? Lowest number I seen was except for one other... Also still wearing the bare aluminum color.
It never ceases to amaze that no matter how remote a site may be those anal born spray paint taggers still find it and screw it up with their infantile painting.
What about the trash the USA leaves around the globe, military hardware, AGENT ORANGE, crashed planes, spent uranium shells, radioactive ships, irradiated islands, etc.
That’s a nice find in the desert and a cool video. Good job in describing the F - 101. I am an aircraft mechanic and airplane enthusiast myself. I work up near Ridgecraft on military aircraft. If you are interested in aviation you’d make a great mechanic or pilot.
According to Joe Idoni, this plane was used as a bank test for different engines used later by other F-101, being redesignated as JF-101A. In 1979 it was towed to the Precision Impact Range Area (PIRA) , in the middle of the Mojave Desert and near the base of Edwards AFB (California), to be used as a target for radar calibration, not very far from the bombers we saw here last year. It has been there ever since:
The fact that it had an early radar, which was capable of being upgraded was its strength that the Canadians enjoyed. I'm Australian but they are my brothers. The rudder emblem indicates it as a test aircraft for the test pilot program in the old Muroc field. Now called Edwards AFB. Those guys were dropping from the twig on a monthly basis, sometimes more, sometimes less. Brave, foolhardy professionals.
F-101A 53-2422 served as a test aircraft most of its life time. Was also attached at one time to the Astronaut Training School at Edwards. Mike Collins once flew it. It was sent out to the range, but no word on how it got to this location.
Wow! Standing on the back of that aircraft and looking forward. I imagine that at one time, this jet fighter flying high, 35 to 40,000 feet up there. It's incredible that it is just sitting there in the desert alone all these years. 😕
Pretty cool. I grew up around these planes. My father flew the RF101. In Texas, Japan and the Vietnam war. RF = reconnaissance fighter. No guns, bombs or missiles. Just cameras and fuel. Also single seat. Most of the interceptor models were 2 seat (except for the "A" models).
You can see the lines of the then future F-4 Phantom in this F-101. This is the fifth F-101 to come of the production line. It was used for testing later engine variants for the 101 series. It arrived here in 1979 as a radar calibration target-not for bombing or strafing.
Very cool video. Numerous Voodoos are on display up here in Canada & it's a fascinating tour of cold war technology whenever one gets to crawl around them.
I've been in some homes that do have Graffiti on walls and items they own, it's a lifestyle just like a tatted face. I just shake my head and get the job done.
Graffiti always reminds me of a dog peeing on something to mark its territory there are distinct parallels between the to personality types ,but I digress I do that
Cool stuff. Just a tip . I had a buddy that found out the hard way. He was just out Jack rabbit hunting years ago at a place like that and didn't see the signs that had been blown or kicked down . He was stopped by people from that particular military area and taken back to base . He got off with a lot of questions but was told Don t come back. Always do your homework first. I figure you did .The other part is you could find out the bad way that it's a live amo target rang. Cool video
Seeing this jet aircraft in its partly disassembled state reveals some of the amount of the engineering & complexity hidden beneath the exterior of these type aircraft. Any part or structural detail on the aircraft represents many hours of engineering & design work, & the aircraft has hundreds of part assemblies & thousands of part sub assemblies. This aircraft was built using state of the art technology of the 1950's, & later military jet aircraft became even more advanced & complex.
We practiced maintenance on a F-101 Voodoo when I was in the USAF @ Tech school in 1983, it was retired and used for training purposes, awesome looking aircraft, awesome name, a RF-101 Voodoo flew close to the ground over Cuba taking surveillance photos during the Cuban Missile Crisis , so close that Cubans playing soccer could see the pilot and Vice Versa waving at each other, haha!
Wow! I have pictures of my daughter and wife at this very site . It was only 10 years ago and there was no graffiti and the plane was pretty much intact. I’m pretty sure an Apollo astronaut flew this aircraft.
because 10 years ago it wasn't scene on social media.. as soon as more and more videos of it showed up on social media, the hunters, pickers and vandals swarmed in on it.
I dug out the color slides that I took of this airplane over 40 years ago. Aside from the graffiti and a few more holes, it's in the same general condition now that it was in 1982. It certainly wasn't "pretty much intact" even then.
The 101, Hustler, and B-52s are easy to find on Google maps. They are all fairly close to each other on the south end of Rogers Dry Lake. ("Edwards AFB") China Lake Naval Air Station had a bunch of neat planes sitting out in the desert, all on base/Weapons Center property.
What goes on in the heads of those people who need to destroy things like this? same in deserted houses etc.. They mustn't have had enough toys to play with when they were kids maybe.. Great video unbelievable amount of wiring..!!
very awesome video I wish you could do more video like this , it is very helpful for the students to see the structure of this jet . thank you so much and I appreciated your effort.
Hi Jerith, a pretty cool look at this old fighter jet just sat out in the desert. You never said how it got there and why it was left ???. Thank you for sharing, much love. xx 💞
According to Joe Idoni, this plane was used as a bank test for different engines used later by other F-101, being redesignated as JF-101A. In 1979 it was towed to the Precision Impact Range Area (PIRA) , in the middle of the Mojave Desert and near the base of Edwards AFB (California), to be used as a target for radar calibration, not very far from the bombers we saw here last year. It has been there ever since:
That aerospace research emblem on the tail means it was a test aircraft. A lot of early versions of aircraft like that were used as test subjects. My grandfather worked on Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs and a lot of the early production versions of that aircraft were later used as test beds for updated weapons, avionics, etc.
Pretty cool, dude. There's no planes hanging out in our deserts in New Mexico for some reason. I really liked that last shot from the rear, looking toward the cockpit and showing the shape of the wings from above. Keep trekking, bud.
Brother, your channel is coolness! These aircraft skeletons are fascinating, and even more so because your way of exploring them. You have a talent for detail. Cheers! 🙏🏽
My pops flew that bird in the early 60s was scrambled down to Homestead during the Bay of Pigs, He said it was a fun bird to fly fast. a few years latter he transitioned to a old prop bird the A1E which he absolutely loved flying.
Well ventilated by bullet holes. The "0" preceeding the tail number means that this aircraft was more than ten years old when still in service. The insignia is from the test pilot school at Edwards AFB.
You are correct, MrShobar. The "0" for each decade of service was discontinued years ago, but I wish they still did it. The BUFF I crewed would have 6 zeros prior to the tail number.
@@forrestthompson8714 IDid not as I did not have very much contact with the pilots. I worked on the automatic flight controls but did not debrief the pilots.
All supersonic jets have stabilators or all moving tails called flying tails. Piper Cherokees even have them and they are not supersonic planes. The idea for supersonic planes having them was developed on the Bell X1 to overcome compressibility. And then adapted to later models of the F-86.
@@ILSRWY4 Center of pressure jumps back to 50% chord when going supersonic (it's around 25% subsonic). So supersonic flying requires a lot of elevator authority.
In 1986 I was stationed at RAF Woodbridge England. An F101 arrived in 5 or 6 crates we spent the next month assembling it for use as a static display at the front gate. It could still be there. I hope it is.
If it was, we would have nabbed it for the museum at RAF Bentwaters. There were 2 F-101Bs used for BDR. They are both at the Midland Air Museum in Coventry, England. We would love an intact F-101A or C for the museum, but shipping from the USA is prohibitively expensive. I remember seeing them fly, based in the UK between 1957 and 1965. only a dozen of the fighter/bomber variant left. It never went on the gate for display. There were no 'planes on sticks' at those bases.
This Voodoo has been sitting on the Edwards Air Force Base Photo Test Range, along with several other derelict aircraft, for over 50 years. They are all on government property, although the nearby highway is public access to the EAFB Rocket Test Site on the east side of Muroc Dry Lake. The planes have certainly deteriorated over the years, but aside from a few more holes and some graffiti are in basically the same shape that they were when I photographed them in the early 1980's.
its always pretty cool to get up close and personal with aircraft in what ever condition is presented, i have worked on aircraft myself and never ceases to amaze me the work that goes into building such craft, someone sat down and designed all this stuff, and others assembled the expensive materials into a once mighty machine just for a few jockeys to whizz around the skies in order to protect our way of life its always sad to see something littering the countryside, abandoned like this where it is at some degree of peril, by weather and scavengers, you wonder at its past and its future, its worth nothing now to anyone, it might still pose some use for radar targeting by modern aviators, but someday in the future some mad idiot just might come along and try make a last attempt to gain a few dollars from her scrap metal, the value might be nearly equal to its recovery, it is a sad end but still madly an attraction to visit such places
I grew up very close the CFB Comox on Vancouver Island BC Canada. In the 70s it was common to hear the Voodoo interceptors scrambling at all hours of the night and day. Sometimes practicing and other times who know? The afterburners were LOUD!
First jet my AF lifer dad worked on. He didn't think highly of them as they had some attitude issues with that tail. He went on to F-100's at Luke. In the Philippines, Col Chuck Yeagar took him up in a 2 seater and broke the sound barrier. Got a cool 'mach busters' card 🙂 Ended up working on F-4's...which is what I worked on in the Corps (VMFA-333) F-4J's 60's was an exciting time to be around the second gen jets in that part of the country.
The sleek, elegant, speedy F-101 Voodoo, state of the art for a time in its day; now a shot-up, vandalized relic. It still retains its sleek lines. I wish a paint can would explode in a graffiti vandal's hands.
Fun Fact: The F-101 fighter had wings that were too short. This gave it a high stall speed. Thus, the pilots came in for a landing at high speeds causing more accidents than usual.
I visited this same aircraft back in the eighties. You can even see it on google earth about 2500 feet off the SE edge of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In those days, the AFB would allow the public to drive out and camp on the lake bed to watch as one of the space shuttles came in to land (boom boom) on Runway 22!
Cool video,it’s a beautiful looking plane. I’m actually surprised more it of hasn’t been stolen. Like the tail section or the USAF on the wing. Graffiti guys give me the shits. Thanks for doing the video 👍🏼
Canadians and even some national guard were still flying these when I was in. I wonder why some metal salvage co. with a flatbed has not been out in the desert to get that big free aluminum resource hauled off to the smelter. Might as well at this point.
It's one of the century series of aircraft most were lost in Vietnam as reconnaissance birds , they were very fast aircraft set up with cameras 📸 and flashes 💥 to take high speed photos! The F-101 voodoo , the F-100 super Sabre, F-102 delta dagger, F-104 star ✨ fighter , F-105 thunder ⛈️ chief , the century series of aircraft were some bad ass planes at the time!
Stationed at Charleston AFB 64-66. Three events with F101. Young maintainer killed when his buddy disregarded warning placard in cockpit not to touch anything. Armed Forces Day '64. F101 on static display with pilot available for comments: while talking to him, saw fuel pooling off left wingtip, showed him and he disappeared for 5 minutes. When he came back, he said 'we both learned something today" that's the overflow value, it was a very hot day, so fuel expanded". Col. Christoper CO of the 444th FIS at Charleston took a new pilot up for familiarization flight. Minute after takeoff both engines flamed out. He was headed for downtown Charleston, made a climbing left turn and 'punched out' over the Cooper River. Plane plummeted into the river, the Col came down in a swimming pool and the back seater was almost hit by a pickup truck when he landed on the highway.
If only someone could put it back on wheel, repair it, and put it in a museum, such a shame that it's rusting here... (Or maybe make it fly again... 🙂, I know it would be more than a lot of work, and a lot of money, but it's such a beautiful machine)
The bullet holes from .22 rimfire are an embarrassment, but the .308 are getting into the USAF theory. It would have been up against 30 mm cannon in real world circumstances, but they are so hard to lug around the Mohave.
That plane looks like it would be a electrical nightmare to find a shorted wire . I think that plane is sitting out there for target practice ,one way or another . First flight of the F-101 was on Sept 29 1954 at Edwards AFB . Surprised no one has striped it for the huge amounts of copper wiring .
You're young, but we older folk are more cautious about safety. Climbing on anything could result in a fall. Were you alone? If so, that could be a big deal. Great video.
They were an excellent aircraft of McDonald Douglas, which eventually became the Phantom with a lot of further development. The Canadian Air Force continued to use them for a long time after they had been replaced elsewhere. The radar operation was left to the rear seat Wiso. Still a shame about the far superior AVRO Canada fighter which I believe this replaced?
I’d like to have some of that wiring. It’d be cool to build a scale model of the Voodoo and use some of the fine copper wiring on that aircraft to scratch build the wiring on the model.
