McDonnell F-101 Voodoo

what is it?

The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a penetration fighter) for the United States Air Force's (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC). It was also adapted as a nuclear-armed fighter-bomber for the USAF's Tactical Air Command (TAC), and as a photo reconnaissance aircraft.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 12.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,825 km/htop speed
• size 23.8 tmax take-off weight
• built 807made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 72 years ago, in 1954.
• 🏎️Top speed is 14.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.5 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.1 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 2.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1954-09-29

introduced

1957

retired

1972

status

retired

number built

807

role

fighter aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation

engines

2× Pratt & Whitney J57-P-55 / J57

crew

2

length

20.6 m

wingspan

12.1 m

height

5.5 m

max take-off weight

23.8 t

top speed

1,825 km/h

range

—

ceiling

17,800 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family