RF-101 Voodoo Units in Combat (Combat Aircraft, 127)

This book does an excellent job of covering the Voodoo during the Vietnam war. I went TDY from 18th A& E, Kadena AFB, to Udorn as a Green Python Com-Nav and Doppler technician. The Voodoo was a wonderful aircraft for avionics maintainance. All the line replaceable units were mounted on shelves and accessable through avionics bay doors or panels with DZUS quarter turn fasteners. You could replace just about anything in 10 minutes.The unreliability of the ARC-34 radio is mentioned. You could swap it out on the taxiway fast enough to save an abort.Not so the RF-4C Phantom II. The UHF radio on the Phantom was not a lot more reliable than the ARC-34. Replacing it required that the rear Martin-Baker seat pan be removed to gain access to the radio under the left hand instrument console. Almost a half a day of aircraft down time. The CP-733 Navigation computer for the ASN-56 inertial nav was under the right rear console and also required seat removal for access.As for seats: The McDonnel Escape-pack ejection seat on the Voodoo was safed by pulling down the "Head knocker" handle in the headrest. Never heard of accidental seat firing. The Phantom Martin Baker seat had a bag with 7 safing pins to make it "safe". Egress training on the F-4 involved looking at photos of human remains on hanger ceilings. When I had my egress traing for the F-4G Wild Weasel in 1979 the fatality count was impressive. Mostly maintainance people!The Voodoo a fun plane to work on. The Phantom was a poorly integrated design that somehow got the job done. Hard to believe that they came out of the same factory.I would have liked to see some coverage of the AN/APS-54 radar warning receiver, that was replaced by the APR-25/26. The APS-54 was used until 1966 or 1967. It could handle the Fire Can and the Fansong. The radar waveform was fed to the intercom as an audio warning. The APS-54 had two red warning lights on the instrument panel marked "Nose" and "Tail". I spent more time fixing APS-54 problems than my assigned job. The APS-54 had one antenna under the nose radome, and another on the rear tip of the vertical stabilizer cap. The BNC connector from the rear antenna to the stabilizer bulkhead had a habit of pulling apart. Repair usually involved standing on a step ladder on top of a Coleman "Tug" to remove the cap and repair the connector. One of the not so "fun" repair jobs.The AN/AHN2 audio recorder is mentioned. This was used to record the Radar audio from the APS-54 for debreif and training. This was a Wire recorder. The recording wire was in a cassette. Wire breakage was frequent. You had to unsnarl the mess and splice the wire, then anneal it with a Zippo lighter. Wire recorders were long obsolete at that time. This one was probably used because it was smaller than the available tape recorders.Thanks for sorting out the roles of Kadena, Misawa, the 15th TRS and the 20th TRS in Green Python.The book brought back fond memories of Kadena, Udorn, and the brave men who went in "Flying Gunless".

The USAF F-101 was originally designed as a penetrating fighter. Its most lasting version was the RF-101. Blistering speed at altitude and on the deck enabled the RF-101 to fly recce missions in a variety of environments, most notably in Southeast Asia.Author Peter Davies narrates the long development process of the aircraft that became the RF-101. Its unique configuration conferred tremendous speed, along with occasionally dangerous handling characteristics. Initial deployments were to a variety of Cold War hotspots, but the RF-101 really earned its money in Southeast Asia, flying out of bases in Thailand and South Vietnam. The author devotes the bulk of the narrative to this combat time in Southeast Asia. The RF-101 consistently delivered good results, despite mounting losses due to weather, terrain, and increasing well-armed opponents. The text is nicely supported by period photographs and modern illustrations, including the expected color plates of aircraft configurations. Well recommended to students of the air war over Southeast Asia.

My dad was a pilot during the Cuban Missile Crisis and took some of those photos. We were also stationed at Misawa and he completed his 100 missions in 1966. I recognized some of the squadrons and pilot's names that were in my dad's squadron. I knew them as well and their kids were friends of mine. Thanks for bringing the pilot's courage and skill to light in this book.

Covers an often overlooked but critical component of the air operations in SE Asia. In addition, it provides adequate coverage of RF_101 reconnaissance units and operations worldwide. The Vietnam coverage, while covering the air operations in detail, provides little detail and an understated perspective regarding the importance of the intelligence gained and the manner in which the sensor exploitation was executed. Suspect this results from the heavy reliance on CHECO reports, frequently lacking in depth and breadth, as opposed to now declassified Project CORONA HARVEST documentation which was much more in-depth and encompassed broader mission and employment considerations along with the pros and cons of the value of the extensive imagery collection provided by the RF-1-1 units.

There was a lot of stuff I have not seen in my own research on the F-101 that was informative. It was put together well and easy to read and gave a good history of the RF-101 that all Aviation Historians should have in their library. The only negatives I would have is that a few planes were ID'd in certain places and according to aircraft record cards left that questionable. Other than, great job!

Well written!

I have read many other RF-101 histories; this is best one I have read so far. Former Voodoo One-O-Wonder pilot.

Flew the F-101. History

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