|
Description
| Manufacturer: | Convair | |
| Base model: | F-102 | |
| Designation: | GF-102 | |
| Version: | A | |
| Nickname: | Delta Dagger | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1948-Present | |
| Basic role: | Fighter | |
| Status: | Permanently Grounded | |
| Crew: | Pilot only | |
| First Flew: | 1955/06/24 | |
Specifications
| Length: | 68' 5" | 20.8 m | |
| Height: | 21' 2.5" | 6.4 m | |
| Wingspan: | 38' 1.5" | 11.6 m | |
| Wingarea: | 661.5 sq ft | 61.4 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 19,050 lb | 8,639 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 31,500 lb | 14,285 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney J57-P-25 | ||
| Thrust (each): | 17,000 lb | 7,709 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 1,000 miles | 1,610 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 600 mph | 966 km/h | 522 kt |
| Max Speed: | 825 mph | 1,328 km/h | 717 kt |
| Climb: | 13,000 ft/min | 3,962 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 54,000 ft | 16,458 m | |
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Connecticut ANG - 103rd FG, Windsor Locks | Winsor Locks | Connecticut |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Jim Farrar Jacksonville, AR | Charles, it was King Salmon where we stayed. We stopped at Bethel on the rescue planes and then went on. I have the whole article from the paper at the time. Let me know where to send it and I will get it to you.Hank passed away in August of 2001 of agent orange related cancer. He retired as a major (he had previous enlisted time). I learned this from a member of my DFC Society chapter who was a good friend of his. One of the things you up fronters did not know is that we in the back were taking boose to the sites. The club manager at King Salmon remembered me and he was the one feeding us the free drinks. You mentioned the Bob Hope show, and I was on it. We had Steve McQueen set up to fly in the co-pilots seat after takeoff, but Bob cancelled it becuause of insurance. My E-Mail is jcf102@aol.com. My phone is (501)835-0894. Get in touch. By the way the last I talked to Hank I was on an over water out of Pope and we had to divert in to Eglin due to wx. He was in C-130s in the SOS and I called him. That was in 70.
Jim Farrar 03/19/2008 @ 16:24 [ref: 20210] |
| Charles F Bramble Pahrump, NV | NOTE TO JIM FARRAR................
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP THROWING OUT THE WEIGHT FROM OUR C-123. HELPED US GET TO THE RIVER LANDING IN LOW WEATHER CONDITIONS. REMEMBER THE GUY ON ROTATION WHO LOST ALL OF HIS CUSTOM MADE RIFLES THAT WERE THROWN OUT. OH........ONE MORE THING JIM. WE SPENT THE NIGHT IN BETHEL ALASKA...........NOT KING SALMON (NAKNAK). HOHOHO!! CHARLES 01/16/2008 @ 06:43 [ref: 19313] |
| Charles F Bramble Pahrump, NV | Just an update to my last email
on the F-102. There was a Model TF 102A. It was a Combat capable 2 seat trainer. Sometimes used with VIPs who wanted their "supersonic" Flight Certificate..back when Supersonic Flt was rare. I was chosen to do VIP Flts with BOB REEVE of Reeve Aleutian Airways and later with Ed Sullivan from the same TV show. Both were nice guys. I still have a couple old photos I believe. I did have a negative experience around Xmas time in 1959 with Bob Hope who brought his show to Alaska that year. Will let it lie to respect Mr Hope and his Tour group. Would like to hear from anyone still around from the Era. There were apparently a couple of F 102 Reunions, however I missed them all. Charles F Bramble chasfb7@excite.com F 102 Squadron 31st FIS (Pilot-1956-1958) F 102 Squadron 317th FIS (Pilot)1958-1959 01/16/2008 @ 06:35 [ref: 19312] |
| Charles F Bramble Pahrump, NV | Just an update to my last email
on the F-102. There was a Model TF 102A. It was a Combat capable 2 seat trainer. Sometimes used with VIPs who wanted their "supersonic" Flight Certificate..back when Supersonic Flt was rare. I was chosen to do VIP Flts with BOB REEVE of Reeve Aleutian Airways and later with Ed Sullivan from the same TV show. Both were nice guys. I still have a couple old photos I believe. I did have a negative experience around Xmas time in 1959 with Bob Hope who brought his show to Alaska that year. Will let it lie to respect Mr Hope and his Tour group. Would like to hear from anyone still around from the Era. There were apparently a couple of F 102 Reunions, however I missed them all. Charles F Bramble chasfb7@excite.com F 102 Squadron 31st FIS (Pilot-1956-1958) F 102 Squadron 317th FIS (Pilot)1958-1959 01/16/2008 @ 06:34 [ref: 19311] |
| Jim Farrar Jacksonville, AR | Like to get in touch with Charlie Bramble. I was the loadmaster on 55-4563 when it crashed. Can't find Hank, but would like to. Do you remember how smashed we got at King Salmon that night?
Jim Farrar 10/09/2007 @ 18:48 [ref: 18148] |
| Jim Farrar Jacksonville, AR | Like to get in touch with Charlie Bramble. I was the loadmaster on 55-4563 when it crashed. Can't find Hank, but would like to. Do you remember how smashed we got at King Salmon that night?
Jim Farrar 10/09/2007 @ 18:48 [ref: 18147] |
| Larry Foster St. Petersburg, FL | As a past member of the 31st FIS, I was pleased to locate this web page. The postings of
Charles Bramble were of great interest to me, as our stories are similar. I was not a pilot at that time, however I was a member of the ground crew. Charles, I do no recall you by name, however I’m sure we’ve met on the flightline as I performed a pre and post flight inspection on your aircraft. Actually the only officer names I can remember are Col. Patton, our CO, and Capt. Showers. As many of you may recall, the 31st was re-activated at Wurtsmith in 1956, as the F-102 was new and fresh from the factory. I had actually trained at Amarillo AFB on the F-86 in late 1955 and early 1956. From there I was stationed at Wurtsmith. Never touched an F-86 again. This was long before the 31st became active, and I was assigned to base supply. That’s when I discovered that I really liked office work, and continued doing such duty after leaving the Air Force. Finally retired in 1996 and an Allstate Insurance agent in California and moved to Florida. Finally, in early December 1956, our new F-102’s arrived, led by Colonel John Patton. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Several of us heard of their arrival time and positioned ourselves somewhere beyond the end of the runway. Can’t remember how many arrived at that exact moment, could have been three or four. They were on top of us before we knew it, and about half way down the runway, pulled up and just about went out of sight. They could have very well kicked in the AB at that time. We had never seen anything quite like it before. When you see that delta wing for the first time, it makes quite an impression. I was also with the 31st when we all shipped out to Anchorage. As Charles will remember, there were three stops in Canada where the ferry pilots refueled. Edmonton, Ft. Nelson, and White Horse. I was part of the Ft. Nelson crew. Good duty, but not much else to do. Played a lot of cards. The pilots would take off from Edmonton in the early AM and always arrived at Ft. Nelson also in the morning. One morning an F-102 landed and the drag shoot did not open. It has been raining and the runway was wet and there was mud at the end of the runway. Needless to say, he could not get it stopped before he hit the soft ground, sunk in, came to a sudden stop, and as I recall, blew a tire or two. (Was that you Lt. Bramble ?) Bottom line, the pilot was stuck at Nelson for several days. Equipment was flown in, ground test were performed, retraction, etc, and finally that young pilot was finally able to continue on to White Horse. Inside story: Since we were small crews, doing everything, we were all trained on packing drag shoots. None of our shoots ever failed at White Horse, however the shoot that failed was packed by the crew in Edmonton. And they DID party a lot there. Hmmm, I wonder about that... Charles, I would love to hear from you. You did not include an email address, so, mine is Larfoster@aol.com Would also like to hear from the rest of you. Those were fun years to remember. As a side note, I have the Wurtsmith newspaper dated December 14, 1956 with the headline story of the F-102 arrival. I will post a photo of part of the front page to this web page. Please look for it below. Larry Foster St. Petersburg, FL Larfoster@aol.com 08/02/2007 @ 10:35 [ref: 17421] |
| LTC Dan Tauriello Denver, CO | I was assistant operations officer of the 64th FIS when we rotated from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, to McChord AFB, Washington, in 1957, where we converted to the F-102. Most of our transition took place at Vincent AFB, Yuma AZ, however, due to more favorable weather conditions. Several years later the 64th moved up to Paine field, Everett, Washington, where I later was assigned to the 57th Air Defense Fighter Group, as Chief of Safety, attached to the 64th for flying. I left Paine Field in 1964 for an assignment as Director of Safety at Toul-Rosieres AB, France, where we converted to the RF-4, and one year later was transferred to the 10th Tac Recon Wing as Chief of Safety for three years. I was then assigned to the 432nd Tactical Reconnaisance Wing in Udorn, Thailand as Chief of Safety, where we had two squdrons of F-4s and two squadrons of RF-4s. I was attached to the 14th TRS for Flying and flew 113 missions, 47 of them over North VietNam, some in South VietNam, and the rest in Laos.
There was a Detachment of 5 F-102s at Udorn from the Phillipines, some of the jocks there I knew from Alaska and from Paine Field. I flew the Martin Marauder B-26 in Europe during World War II, but I can state, unequivically, that the best of the 28 years I spent in the Army Air Corps and the USAF, were those years in the 64th FIS. The reason, the people; the fighter jocks, maintenence crews, squadorn staff and the higher ups. Greatest people I ever served with. Fortune Favors the Bold. Sincerely, Dan Tauriello 05/27/2007 @ 14:55 [ref: 16631] |
| C F Bramble , NV | There was no GF102. Looks like someone hit the two keys near simultaneously on their keyboard. There was a TF-102. I met Bob Reeves (Reeve Aleutian Airways and ED SULLIVAN)Both got the "SUPERSONIC" Ride in the TF>
I was an F-102 Pilot. First with the 31st FIS in Oscoda, Michigan (Wurtsmith AFB) in 1956. We received new Aircratft, checked out, then went to Anchorage in 1957. There we received the newer F-102 with Case X wings, cleaned up the EPR problems for cold weather ops ........and sat alert at different bases including Bethel, Elmendorf and others. Some of us traveled to San Diego to pickup new F-102s and ferry them in formation to Alaska.(Formation Leaders were B-57 CANBERRAS. wow... what a chore to fly formation on a B-57 Canberra. We had no choice as the new F-102s had only TACAN for Nav and there were no TACAN stations except Alaska and maybe DC. 31st CO was Casey. XO was Kurtzman. We lost a couple of good guys in Alaskan accidents. My hairiest was an Hydraulic loss. Brought her back using the RAT. It was OK until I tried to stop on the Ramp......suddenly: NO Brakes. Turned out OK. I think we won the Hughes Trophy in 1958. My colored chalk was all over a drone that was shot down. Guess I really got her. Sam Brooks and I were the JR Lts in Wurtsmith and at Elmendorf. We did most of the party entertainment at both bases. Sam was West TX boy and could fly better formation than the T-Birds. Our parties always had us singing made up songs together.......Sam on Guitar and me with my mouth harp. Our big hit was the Dancing Girls. ALL PREGNANT with the old TOP HATS to the tune of Bridge over the River Kwai. The old whistling song. Girls were really good sports. Later Playboy did a similar bit in their mag. The 317th arrived late 1958 I think. USAF made 1 BIG Squadron.......then did the downsize to 1 oversized squadron. I lost my seat and went to Base Ops to finish my tour. Became INFAMOUS at Cape Romanzoff in a C-123 Fairchild we put down on Jan 23, 1959on the Kukakelik River (SP)>? They even wrote us a song: DOWN AMONG THE BRAMBLES ON SUSARABA gultch. (HANK SUSARABA AND I). One last thing. Little known was the F-102s were peripherally involved with the (Francis Gary Powers) U2 over Flights. Would like to find the old 102 Jocks and Ground crews who knew me. Any reunions out there before these aging bones catch up with me???? Charles Bramble THERE ARE OLD PILOTS.......AND BOLD PILOTS...... BUT: THERE ARE NO OLD, BOLD PILOTS RETIRED NOW WITH 24,000 + Flt Hours 05/23/2007 @ 19:08 [ref: 16582] |
| C F Bramble , NV | There was no GF102. Looks like someone hit the two keys near simultaneously on their keyboard.
I was an F-102 Pilot. First with the 31st FIS in Oscoda, Michigan (Wurtsmith AFB) in 1956. We received new Aircratft, checked out, then went to Anchorage in 1957. There we received the newer F-102 with Case X wings, cleaned up the EPR problems for cold weather ops ........and sat alert at different bases including Bethel, Elmendorf and others. Some of us traveled to San Diego to pickup new F-102s and ferry them in formation to Alaska.(Formation Leaders were B-57 CANBERRAS. wow... what a chore to fly formation on a B-57 Canberra. We had no choice as the new F-102s had only TACAN for Nav and there were no TACAN stations except Alaska and maybe DC. 31st CO was Casey. XO was Kurtzman. We lost a couple of good guys in Alaskan accidents. My hairiest was an Hydraulic loss. Brought her back using the RAT. It was OK until I tried to stop on the Ramp......suddenly: NO Brakes. Turned out OK. I think we won the Hughes Trophy in 1958. My colored chalk was all over a drone that was shot down. Guess I really got her. Sam Brooks and I were the JR Lts in Wurtsmith and at Elmendorf. We did most of the party entertainment at both bases. Sam was West TX boy and could fly better formation than the T-Birds. Our parties always had us singing made up songs together.......Sam on Guitar and me with my mouth harp. Our big hit was the Dancing Girls. ALL PREGNANT with the old TOP HATS to the tune of Bridge over the River Kwai. The old whistling song. Girls were really good sports. Later Playboy did a similar bit in their mag. The 317th arrived late 1958 I think. USAF made 1 BIG Squadron.......then did the downsize to 1 oversized squadron. I lost my seat and went to Base Ops to finish my tour. Became INFAMOUS at Cape Romanzoff in a C-123 Fairchild we put down on Jan 23, 1959on the Kukakelik River (SP)>? They even wrote us a song: DOWN AMONG THE BRAMBLES ON SUSARABA gultch. (HANK SUSARABA AND I). One last thing. Little known was the F-102s were peripherally involved with the (Francis Gary Powers) U2 over Flights. Would like to find the old 102 Jocks and Ground crews who knew me. Any reunions out there before these aging bones catch up with me???? Charles Bramble THERE ARE OLD PILOTS.......AND BOLD PILOTS...... BUT: THERE ARE NO OLD, BOLD PILOTS RETIRED NOW WITH 24,000 + Flt Hours 05/23/2007 @ 19:02 [ref: 16581] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
