RF-101 In The Air
The USAF caption on the back reads:
K&KE 26787 – A U.S. Air Force RF-101 Voodoo flies
low over Vietnamese jungle as it nears its target.
OFFICIAL U. S. AIR FORCE PHOTO RELEASED BY THE DEPT OF DEFENSE, WASH., D.C. MAY 15,
1967.
Sleek and fast, the RF-101 looked good in the air.
In this shot, the right side window for the cameras is more noticeable. The
RF-101s roamed the skies of Southeast Asia including those around Hanoi.
During truces when North Vietnam was put off limits to aerial attacks,
RF-101s and RF-4Cs flew missions North to document the extensive North
Vietnamese activities during the truces.
The F-101 had been one of the
century series fighters designed for air defense of the North American
continent in the 1950s. The F-101 had a two-man crew with a radar operator to
help with aerial intercepts in the back seat. During the summer field trip in
1960 after my first year at the USAF Academy, I received an orientation ride
in the back seat of an F-101 out of Hamilton AFB, California.
I believe our top speed that day was about 1.6 Mach, so the F-101 was
quite a capable aircraft in its day.
