{"id":279473,"date":"2026-04-09T14:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-cornfield-bomber-the-f-106-that-landed-itself\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T06:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T04:57:20","slug":"der-maisfeldbomber-die-f-106-die-selbst-landete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/the-cornfield-bomber-the-f-106-that-landed-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Der Maisfeldbomber: Die F-106, die selbst landete"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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His F-106A Delta Dart \u2014 a supersonic interceptor designed to hunt Soviet bombers at the edge of the stratosphere \u2014 had entered a flat spin. The aircraft was rotating like a frisbee, nose high, falling at thousands of feet per minute, and nothing Foust tried could break the rotation.\n\nHe did what any pilot in an unrecoverable spin is trained to do: he ejected. The canopy blew off, the rocket fired, and Foust was flung into the freezing Montana sky under a parachute. Below him, the unpiloted Delta Dart continued to fall. And then something happened that no engineer, no pilot, and no textbook had predicted.\n\nThe F-106 stopped spinning. It levelled its wings. And it flew \u2014 by itself \u2014 to a gentle belly landing in a snow-covered wheat field near Big Sandy, Montana. The engine was still running when the local sheriff reached it.\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px;color:#333\">Quick Facts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Convair F-106A Delta Dart, serial 58-0787 \u2014 \u201cThe Cornfield Bomber\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Unit:<\/strong> 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Montana<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Date:<\/strong> February 2, 1970<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Pilot:<\/strong> 1st Lieutenant Gary Foust (ejected safely)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Landing Site:<\/strong> Snow-covered field near Big Sandy, Montana<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Damage:<\/strong> Minor \u2014 aircraft repaired and returned to service<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Subsequent Service:<\/strong> Flew for another 16 years until 1986<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Current Location:<\/strong> National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Spin Nobody Could Break<\/h2>\n\nFoust was part of a training exercise that day \u2014 a simulated dogfight over the Montana high plains. During an aggressive manoeuvre, the F-106 departed controlled flight and entered a flat spin. This is the most dangerous type of spin for a delta-wing aircraft: the nose sits well above the horizon, the aircraft rotates around its vertical axis, and aerodynamic controls become essentially useless because the airflow over the wings and tail is completely disrupted.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/5\/55\/F-106A_Chase_Dart.JPEG\/960px-F-106A_Chase_Dart.JPEG\" alt=\"Convair F-106A Delta Dart in flight\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Convair F-106A Delta Dart \u2014 a Mach 2+ interceptor. Aircraft 58-0787 would earn the nickname Cornfield Bomber for the most improbable landing in aviation history. Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nFoust tried everything in the recovery checklist. Full opposite rudder. Forward stick. Throttle to idle, then to military power. The F-106 ignored all of it. The aircraft had been falling for several minutes, altitude bleeding away, when Foust made the call no pilot wants to make: he reached between his legs, grabbed the ejection handle, and pulled.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Miracle Recovery<\/h2>\n\nWhen Foust ejected, the canopy departed, the seat rocket fired, and approximately 200 pounds of pilot and equipment left the aircraft in an instant. This sudden change in weight and centre of gravity did something that all of Foust\u2019s skill could not: it shifted the aerodynamic balance just enough to break the spin.\n\nThe F-106\u2019s nose dropped. The delta wing, now flying clean without a canopy or pilot, found stable airflow. The aircraft transitioned from a tumbling death spiral into a gentle, nose-low glide. The throttle, still set to idle from Foust\u2019s last recovery attempt, kept the engine purring at just enough power to sustain a slow descent.\n\nWith no pilot to command it, the aircraft descended through the clouds, crossed the frozen Montana landscape, and touched down belly-first in a snow-covered wheat field belonging to a farmer near the town of Big Sandy. The snow cushioned the landing. The engine continued to run. The aircraft slid to a stop, largely intact, sitting upright in the field as if it had been parked there on purpose.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/c\/cf\/539th_Fighter-Interceptor_Squadron-F-106-57-2455_and_row.jpg\/960px-539th_Fighter-Interceptor_Squadron-F-106-57-2455_and_row.jpg\" alt=\"F-106 Delta Dart on the ground\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An F-106 Delta Dart. The Cornfield Bomber made a remarkably gentle belly landing with no pilot aboard, sustaining only minor damage. Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Found by the Sheriff<\/h2>\n\nA local law enforcement officer, alerted by the sound of the low-flying jet, arrived at the field to find the F-106 sitting in the snow with its engine idling, canopy missing, and cockpit empty. The scene was surreal: a supersonic interceptor, designed to fly at twice the speed of sound at 40,000 feet, had landed itself in a wheat field with less damage than many controlled landings produce.\n\nMeanwhile, Foust had landed safely by parachute several miles away, fully expecting that his aircraft had cratered into the Montana wilderness. When he learned that the F-106 had not only survived but had landed itself almost perfectly, his reaction was one shared by everyone who heard the story: disbelief.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Details the Story Usually Loses<\/h2>\n<p>Retellings compress the minutes between the spin and the ejection. Three things are worth keeping.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The drag chute made it worse.<\/strong> Before he gave up on the aircraft, Foust streamed the braking parachute normally used after landing, hoping drag at the tail would pull the nose down and break the rotation. It did not deploy properly. It wrapped itself around the tail and stayed there, and only worked loose after he had gone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The sheriff had to jump clear.<\/strong> Told by Malmstrom to wait rather than approach, he climbed up to the cockpit anyway to try to shut the engine down. The snow under the fuselage had begun melting in the heat, and the aircraft started sliding forward across the field with him on it. He got off. It travelled a few hundred feet more before the fuel finally ran out, roughly an hour and three quarters after it had landed itself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Foust flew it again.<\/strong> Repaired and returned to the fleet with the 49th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 58-0787 and its former pilot crossed paths once more: in 1979, training at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, Gary Foust strapped into the same airframe that had once flown home without him.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3M2XZEYqIpQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p>One correction to the legend while we are here: it was not a cornfield. The aircraft came down in a snow-covered wheat field. The nickname stuck anyway, and the museum still uses it.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Back in Service<\/h2>\n\nThe Air Force recovered the aircraft, assessed the damage, and made a decision that surprises people to this day: they repaired it. Aircraft 58-0787 was trucked back to a maintenance facility, given a new canopy, patched up, and returned to flying status. It served for another sixteen years, finally retiring in 1986 when the F-106 fleet was phased out of service.\n\nToday, the Cornfield Bomber sits in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio \u2014 one of the most popular exhibits in the collection. A small placard tells the story. Visitors shake their heads. And the pilot who walked away from it got to fly it again.\n\n<em>Sources: National Museum of the USAF, HistoryNet, f-106deltadart.com, Air Force Magazine, Aviation Geek Club<\/em>\n\n<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}.mf-faq-answer a{color:#5C91FF}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the Cornfield Bomber?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Cornfield Bomber was a Convair F-106A Delta Dart (serial 58-0787) that, on February 2, 1970, landed itself in a snow-covered Montana field after its pilot ejected. During a training dogfight the interceptor entered a flat spin; pilot Gary Foust ejected, and the unmanned jet recovered on its own and belly-landed nearly intact.<\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n<\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Did the F-106 Cornfield Bomber really land itself with no pilot?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Yes. After 1st Lieutenant Gary Foust ejected from his spinning F-106 near Big Sandy, Montana, the loss of his weight and the ejection shifted the aircraft's balance; it came out of the spin, leveled its wings, and settled into a gentle belly landing in a snowy field, engine still running when the local sheriff reached it.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What happened to the Cornfield Bomber afterward?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The aircraft suffered only minor damage, was repaired, and returned to service, flying for another 16 years until 1986. It is now preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, one of aviation's most famous surviving aircraft.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the Convair F-106 Delta Dart?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The F-106 Delta Dart was an American supersonic, delta-wing interceptor built to hunt Soviet bombers at the edge of the stratosphere during the Cold War. Like the never-built <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-yf-12-mach-3-interceptor-aim-47-falcon\/\">YF-12 Mach 3 interceptor<\/a>, it belonged to a generation of high-speed defenders designed to stop nuclear-armed bombers before they reached their targets.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why is a flat spin so dangerous in a delta-wing jet?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>In a flat spin the nose sits well above the horizon and the aircraft rotates around its vertical axis while falling, with airflow over the controls disrupted so they lose effectiveness. For delta-wing jets it is especially hazardous and often unrecoverable, which is why Foust followed his training and ejected, trusting his <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/harold-harris-first-emergency-parachute-jump-1922\/\">parachute<\/a> to save him.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Who was the pilot of the Cornfield Bomber?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>1st Lieutenant Gary Foust of the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, was flying the F-106 when it entered the flat spin. He ejected safely and parachuted down, later reuniting with the aircraft that had landed itself, which he would see again decades later in the Air Force museum.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Cornfield Bomber?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Cornfield Bomber was a Convair F-106A Delta Dart (serial 58-0787) that, on February 2, 1970, landed itself in a snow-covered Montana field after its pilot ejected. During a training dogfight the interceptor entered a flat spin; pilot Gary Foust ejected, and the unmanned jet recovered on its own and belly-landed nearly intact.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the F-106 Cornfield Bomber really land itself with no pilot?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. After 1st Lieutenant Gary Foust ejected from his spinning F-106 near Big Sandy, Montana, the loss of his weight and the ejection shifted the aircraft's balance; it came out of the spin, leveled its wings, and settled into a gentle belly landing in a snowy field, engine still running when the local sheriff reached it.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened to the Cornfield Bomber afterward?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The aircraft suffered only minor damage, was repaired, and returned to service, flying for another 16 years until 1986. It is now preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, one of aviation's most famous surviving aircraft.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Convair F-106 Delta Dart?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The F-106 Delta Dart was an American supersonic, delta-wing interceptor built to hunt Soviet bombers at the edge of the stratosphere during the Cold War. Like the never-built <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/lockheed-yf-12-mach-3-interceptor-aim-47-falcon\/\\\">YF-12 Mach 3 interceptor<\/a>, it belonged to a generation of high-speed defenders designed to stop nuclear-armed bombers before they reached their targets.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why is a flat spin so dangerous in a delta-wing jet?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"In a flat spin the nose sits well above the horizon and the aircraft rotates around its vertical axis while falling, with airflow over the controls disrupted so they lose effectiveness. For delta-wing jets it is especially hazardous and often unrecoverable, which is why Foust followed his training and ejected, trusting his <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/harold-harris-first-emergency-parachute-jump-1922\/\\\">parachute<\/a> to save him.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who was the pilot of the Cornfield Bomber?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"1st Lieutenant Gary Foust of the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, was flying the F-106 when it entered the flat spin. He ejected safely and parachuted down, later reuniting with the aircraft that had landed itself, which he would see again decades later in the Air Force museum.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story On February 2, 1970, somewhere over the frozen plains of Montana, 1st Lieutenant Gary Foust of the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron had a problem that no amount of skill could solve. His F-106A Delta Dart \u2014 a supersonic interceptor designed to hunt Soviet bombers at the edge of the stratosphere \u2014 had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":279483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Cornfield Bomber: The F-106 That Landed Itself | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On February 2, 1970, somewhere over the frozen plains of Montana, Captain Gary Foust of the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron had a problem that no amount\u2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/der-maisfeldbomber-die-f-106-die-selbst-landete\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Cornfield Bomber: The F-106 That Landed Itself | Afterburner - 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