F-101 Voodoo

[uniform7]

Did the F-101 Voodoo use and kind of HUD? Just to get the tongues hanging out I just got back from the 2017 Reno Air Races! They had a Harrier showing off a bit. As well as a B25, P-40, F4 Corsair and of course loads of Mustangs.
Mike G

[Bushi]

Well. I can't comment on them all... but the Canadian CF-101B's had a small 'HUD' for the pilot. typical of the day, it wasn't NEARLY as complex as those found in todays fighters.

BUT.. with the B model, it has to be remembered that the "guy in back" the "Scope Wizard" (Radar Intercept Officer) was responsible for directing the pilot towards the target using all of the radar and electronics at his disposal.

The CF-101B was not a gunslinger :-)

others may know more......

cheers
Dave

[uniform7]

I just stumbled across the Alpha F-101's yesterday and very nice with real Canadian Liveries. I usually have to do a bit of work on the panels since I have a triple monitor build as well as the single monitor so while I am at it I add sonic booms, after burners if needed etc. I have several HUD displays I use like the f-16 block as well as a few others. I was trying to find a picture of an F-101 if they used it.

[Bjoern]

Henk's FSX native conversion of Alpha's F-101 series is available in the library here or on Flightsim.

And no HUD in the Voodoo, just a gunsight.

[lazarus]

"...just a gunsight..." Haw! Beat me to it! The MG1 was a reasonably advanced and over-complected load of boat anchors, even by 1950's standards. It was essentially an auto pilot slaved to a lead-computing system and datalink (primitive!) that turned the aircraft into a SAM with a lot of extra steps. The SAGE system 'flew' the aircraft to weapons release point, then the pilot squeezed the pickle and started worrying about dodging glowing clouds. HUD's were called 'gunsights' back then, and didn't present a lot of information- mechanically scanned with a set of sheet-metal 'stencils' to present a very limited amount of information. Often, all the electrons would starve to death at worst possible time, usually the last couple of seconds of a lead-collision pass in bad weather. Gripping! MTBF's could be pretty miserable. I recall one Sabre driver who kept all the doofer turned off and used a conveniently located smudge on the windscreen or, in extremis, a china pencil mark as his gunsight. Hi tech stuff.

[uniform7]

Henk's FSX native conversion of Alpha's F-101 series is available in the library here or on Flightsim.

And no HUD in the Voodoo, just a gunsight.

That's the ones I have

[awstub]

No HUD. It had a lead computing optical gun sight, like all the other century fighters.

Did the F-101 Voodoo use and kind of HUD? Just to get the tongues hanging out I just got back from the 2017 Reno Air Races! They had a Harrier showing off a bit. As well as a B25, P-40, F4 Corsair and of course loads of Mustangs.
Mike G

[Bjoern]

I recall one Sabre driver who kept all the doofer turned off and used a conveniently located smudge on the windscreen or, in extremis, a china pencil mark as his gunsight. Hi tech stuff.

In some article or book, this was called "not unusual" over Korea and involved removing the gunsight and ranging radar altogether to give the F-86 a bit of a performance boost.

[harrybasset]

In some article or book, this was called "not unusual" over Korea and involved removing the gunsight and ranging radar altogether to give the F-86 a bit of a performance boost.

I've read similar stories where pilots claimed they would be happy to use chewing gum stuck on the windscreen as all the fancy gadgets were not needed. I think such ideas were floated to Kelly Johnson when the F-104 was a gleam in his eye. I think stripping equipment from the F-86 in Korea would have lead to balance and handling problems.

[awstub]

I have been told by a number of Vietnam era pilots that they could deliver ordinance using just a grease pencil mark on the windscreen. The detailed explanation I got was that the reference point they used was based on a particular dive angle and airspeed. One pilot told me that he even won a bet once, by doing it from the back seat.

I've read similar stories where pilots claimed they would be happy to use chewing gum stuck on the windscreen as all the fancy gadgets were not needed. I think such ideas were floated to Kelly Johnson when the F-104 was a gleam in his eye. I think stripping equipment from the F-86 in Korea would have lead to balance and handling problems.

[JensOle]

Air to air and air to ground gunnery ordnance delivery is to different ball games all together. Aircraft dedicated to the ground attack role often have much simpler sights as it is good enough for their needs (less factors needed to be "computed" compared to meeting another aircraft in an 3D environment).

Regarding reflector sight versus more advanced gyro and or radar sights, I have just read a book about late war Spitfires and the results when they got the new gyro gunsight (which was kind of a lead computing reticle sight) was like day and night. The kill percentage on each engagement improved drastically, particular for new pilots with little experience in judging lead angels etc.

Without being an expert so would I think that the need of help for aiming got bigger and bigger for the average fighter pilot as the speed double and tripled with the new generation of jet fighters. Remember to have read that the first generation of EE Lightnings has much more advanced gun sights than the later marks and had much better gunnery results. Another example is the original F-5A. It had a very simple fixed gunsight which was very hard to use for anything useful in a2a gunnery. This lead several users to install more advanced sights as the Ferranti lead computing sight on the Norwegian F-5A's.