The jet that never stopped changing jobs

What makes it special

Full specifications

Baseline note: the figures below describe the two-seat F-101B all-weather interceptor in its mature Air Defense Command form — two Pratt & Whitney J57-P-55 turbojets, Hughes MG-13 fire control, a rotating ventral weapons door and no gun of any kind. That is the right baseline because the F-101B was the Voodoo in numerical terms: 479 of roughly 807 aircraft built were interceptors, and they served longer than every other mark combined. Deltas for the single-seat F-101A and F-101C fighter-bombers and for the RF-101A and RF-101C reconnaissance aircraft are in grey, and the word delta is doing an unusual amount of work here. These are not trim differences between blocks of one aeroplane. They are three genuinely different aircraft flying three genuinely different wars off one airframe: a gunless, nuclear-armed bomber-killer that never fired a weapon in anger; a gun-armed, one-way tactical nuclear striker based in England; and an unarmed camera aircraft that photographed Cuba at low level in October 1962 and then flew some 35,000 sorties over South-East Asia. A specification table that blurs the three is worse than useless. Seven warnings before any number below is read. First, production totals. 807 aircraft is the figure normally quoted, but the published variant sub-totals — 479 F-101B, 166 RF-101C, 77 F-101A, 47 F-101C, 35 RF-101A and two YRF-101A — do not quite reach it, and the 231 F-101F trainers are not an addition, because 79 were new-build interceptors completed as dual-control aircraft and 152 were conversions of aircraft already counted. Anyone adding the variant column will get a different answer from anyone quoting the fleet total, and both are defensible. Second, the F-101B’s maximum speed. Mach 1.72, or 1,134 mph at 35,000 ft, is the specification figure and the one that belongs in a table; Mach 1.85 appears in descriptive accounts of the type and is best read as a demonstrated dash rather than an operational limit. Third, the ceiling. 58,400 ft is the standard USAF service ceiling; Canadian sources for the identical airframe give 54,800 ft. The gap is not an error but a difference between a clean, light test aeroplane and a combat-loaded one on a northern alert pad. Fourth, range. The 1,520-mile figure is a still-air cruise range, not a radius. An interceptor scrambled to a NORAD intercept in reheat, or a Voodoo holding on a barrier patrol, worked to a radius that was a small fraction of it, and the whole reason the type existed — long-range escort for Strategic Air Command — was abandoned in 1954–55 precisely because SAC decided that range, impressive as it was, was not nearly enough. Fifth, none of the performance numbers describes an aeroplane that was safe at the top of its angle-of-attack range. The Voodoo’s pitch-up is discussed at length below; it killed pilots, and the envelope in the manual was smaller than the envelope in the tables. Sixth, RF-101C losses in South-East Asia are given as 33 in combat within a total of 39 lost, and other tallies circulate because operational accidents, aircraft destroyed on the ground and airframes written off after recovery are counted differently. Seventh, and this is a correction rather than a caveat: Operation Queens Row was the original delivery of 66 Voodoos to the RCAF between July 1961 and May 1962, not the later exchange. The strange swap — 46 surviving Canadian aircraft handed back to the USAF in 1970–72 for 66 different, older-built but lower-time and better-equipped airframes — was Operation Peace Wings. The two are routinely conflated, and the confusion matters because a CF-101’s Canadian serial tells you nothing whatever about when it was built.

Armament & payload

The Voodoo carried a gun it rarely used, a bomb it expected never to survive delivering, and a nuclear rocket with no guidance at all

The Voodoo carried three entirely different armaments because it fought three entirely different wars, and the only sensible way to describe its weapons is to describe them separately. The F-101A and F-101C were gun-armed nuclear strikers: four 20 mm M39 revolver cannon, a single thermonuclear store on the centreline, and a low-altitude bombing system for tossing it. The F-101B was a gunless interceptor with a rotating ventral door that presented four weapons two at a time, and from 1961 its primary round was a nuclear rocket with no guidance at all. The RF-101A and RF-101C carried nothing but cameras, which is why they were the only Voodoos to see combat.

The interceptor’s armament deserves to be understood on its own terms rather than dismissed as Cold War excess. The AIR-2A Genie is an unguided rocket carrying a 1.5-kiloton W25 warhead. It accelerates to about Mach 3.3 in a two-second burn, coasts for some ten kilometres over roughly twelve seconds of total flight, and is detonated by a timer set at launch. There is no seeker and nothing to jam. The MG-13 computed the firing solution, the fire-control system fired the round and flew the escape manoeuvre automatically, and the lethal radius of about 300 m meant that aiming error of a size that would defeat any 1950s guided missile simply did not matter. Against a formation of Soviet bombers over the Canadian Arctic, in weather, at night, with a fire-control system that could not be relied upon to put a Falcon on a target, this was not madness. It was an honest engineering response to the fact that the guided weapons of the day did not work.

What it also was, was unusable anywhere near people. A Genie could only be fired over empty ground, which in the American and Canadian air-defence context meant the far north and the sea. The one live firing ever conducted, shot from an F-89J over the Nevada Test Site on 19 July 1957 during Operation Plumbbob with five volunteer officers standing bareheaded beneath the burst, was as much a public-relations exercise as a test. The political cost in Canada was enormous: the question of whether the RCAF should carry American nuclear weapons brought down a government, and the dual-key custody arrangement that resulted — the rockets remained United States property, guarded on Canadian bases by USAF munitions detachments, releasable only by joint Canadian and American decision through NORAD — is the tidiest illustration anywhere of what alliance nuclear sharing actually meant. Fits varied sharply by mark, year and operator: no F-101B carried a Genie before the Project Kitty Car modifications from 1961, Canadian aircraft carried Falcons only until the Genie became operational in June 1965, the RF-101C was unarmed but retained its centreline nuclear station, and one M39 was frequently removed from fighter-bombers to make room for TACAN.

Sourcing caveat: weapon fits changed repeatedly and retrofits were not applied fleet-wide, so almost every statement here is true of some aircraft in some year rather than all of them. Genie carriage on the F-101B dates from the Project Kitty Car modifications of 1961 and was never universal; the Bold Journey infrared head was fitted from 1963 to 1966 to most but not all airframes; Canadian aircraft were Falcon-only until June 1965; and the number of M39 cannon actually installed in a given fighter-bomber depended on whether that airframe had TACAN. Nuclear store clearances are drawn from published USAF weapon lists and should be read as what the aircraft could carry rather than what any particular squadron held.

Variants

The Voodoo was built to escort bombers, was told it could not, and spent twenty-five years doing three other jobs instead

The F-101 began as an answer to a question that stopped being asked. In June 1946 the Army Air Forces ran a penetration fighter competition for a long-range escort to accompany the coming generation of bombers, and McDonnell won it with the XF-88, first flown on 20 October 1948 and victorious in the fly-off against the Lockheed XF-90 and North American YF-93A. The programme was then cancelled in 1950, the Soviet atomic test having redirected American money towards interceptors. Korea revived the escort requirement in February 1951, McDonnell won again in May 1951 with a much larger machine carrying three times the fuel and a pair of J57s, and the aircraft was designated F-101 on 30 November 1951. Then, in 1954 and 1955, Strategic Air Command examined the aeroplane it had asked for and concluded that its range, impressive as it was, was nowhere near enough to escort a B-52 to a Soviet target. The escort mission was abandoned before the F-101 entered service. Everything the Voodoo subsequently did — tactical nuclear strike, photographic reconnaissance, continental air defence — was a use found for an aeroplane that already existed.

That is the first thing to understand about the type. The second is the pitch-up. A swept, thin, highly loaded wing sheds its lift at the tips first; the centre of lift moves forward; the nose rises; the angle of attack increases; and the process feeds itself. McDonnell knew this from Douglas D-558-2 testing and moved the tailplane to the top of the fin specifically to keep it clear of the wing wake — the origin of the Voodoo’s signature T-tail. It was not enough. At high angle of attack the stabilator went into the wake anyway, lost effectiveness at the exact moment it was needed most, and the aircraft departed. Major Lonnie R. Moore, a Korean War ace with ten victories, was killed in an F-101A pitch-up at Eglin Air Force Base on 10 January 1956, and he was not the only one. McDonnell fitted an active inhibitor that shook and pushed the stick away from the boundary, the Air Force accepted the aircraft on that basis, and the problem was reduced but, in the plain words of the record, never entirely cured. It is the defining flaw of the design and the reason the Voodoo has the reputation it has among the people who flew it.

The third thing is that the reconnaissance version, the one variant that carried no weapons at all, is the one that made history. RF-101As and RF-101Cs of the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing flew the low-level photographic missions over Cuba from 23 October 1962 that produced the imagery of Soviet missile sites at altitudes where the U-2 could not work and the pictures could not be argued with; fifteen pilots of the wing received Distinguished Flying Crosses for that fortnight. From an initial detachment to Southeast Asia in October and November 1961, RF-101Cs then flew roughly 35,000 sorties over Laos and Vietnam, acted as pathfinders for F-100 strikes, opened night reconnaissance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail under the Toy Tiger programme, and lost 33 aircraft in combat out of 39 lost in all — five to surface-to-air missiles, one to a MiG-21 in September 1967, one destroyed by a sapper attack on its airfield, the great majority to anti-aircraft artillery and small-arms fire encountered while flying straight and level so the cameras could work.

The fourth is Canada. When the Diefenbaker government cancelled the Avro CF-105 Arrow in February 1959, the RCAF needed an interceptor immediately, and the Voodoo was what was available. The transaction took two years to settle because of the nuclear question and because Canada was required to take over the funding and operation of eleven Pinetree Line radar stations as the price; the agreement was signed in June 1961. Operation Queens Row delivered 56 F-101Bs and 10 F-101Fs between July 1961 and May 1962, and 410 Squadron went operational on 13 November 1961. Then came the genuinely odd part. Between 1970 and 1972, under Operation Peace Wings, Canada handed back the 46 surviving aircraft of that batch and received 66 different ones — airframes built earlier but flown less, and fitted with the Bold Journey infrared sensors and improved fire control the Canadian aircraft lacked. Bristol Aerospace at Winnipeg moved the Canadian-specific equipment across. Twenty-two of the returned Canadian machines were converted by Ling-Temco-Vought into RF-101B reconnaissance aircraft for the Nevada Air National Guard. It is one of the few cases in aviation history of an air force trading its fleet for an older fleet and being right to do so.

XF-88 / XF-88A Voodoo (1948–1950, 2 built)

The ancestor: a smaller, straight-tailed penetration fighter with two Westinghouse XJ34 turbojets of 3,000 lbf each, first flown 20 October 1948. Disappointing at 641 mph until McDonnell-designed afterburners raised thrust to 3,600 lbf. It won the fly-off against the XF-90 and YF-93A and was then cancelled with the penetration fighter programme in 1950. The second aircraft later flew as the XF-88B with a nose-mounted Allison T38 turboprop for supersonic propeller research.

F-101A (1954–1957, 77 built)

The first production Voodoo and a single-seat tactical nuclear striker, not the escort fighter it had been ordered as. First flight 29 September 1954 with serial 53-2418, reaching Mach 0.9 on the sortie. Two J57-P-13s, four M39 cannon, one centreline nuclear store, MA-7 fire control, MA-2 LABS, 6.33 g limit. First delivery 2 May 1957 to the 27th Strategic Fighter Wing at Bergstrom, which passed to Tactical Air Command as the 27th Fighter-Bomber Wing on 1 July 1957. Only about 50 of the 77 ever reached operational units.

F-101C (1957–1958, 47 built)

The F-101A with a structure strengthened for 7.33 g, about 227 kg heavier, and a revised fuel system that raised permitted afterburner time from roughly 6 minutes to 15. Externally identical to the A. Served with the 27th and then, from 1958, with the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge, where the mission was a single tactical nuclear weapon delivered one way into the Warsaw Pact. Replaced by F-4C Phantom IIs in 1965 and 1966.

RF-101A (1956–1957, 35 built plus 2 YRF-101A)

The first reconnaissance Voodoo and the world’s first supersonic photographic reconnaissance aircraft in squadron service. Guns and radar deleted, a lengthened camera nose fitted, first unit the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Shaw Air Force Base from 6 May 1957. Deployed to Incirlik during the Lebanon crisis of July 1958 and flew over Cuba in October 1962. Withdrawn from USAF service during 1971.

RF-101C (1957–1959, 166 built)

The definitive reconnaissance mark, combining the F-101C’s strengthened 7.33 g airframe with the camera nose, and the only Voodoo variant to see combat. Ninety-six of the 166 were built on airframes originally ordered as F-101C fighter-bombers. Retained the centreline nuclear station. Last delivery 31 March 1959; last USAF aircraft retired 16 February 1971, with Air National Guard use continuing to 1975.

F-101B (1957–1961, 479 built)

The two-seat all-weather interceptor and the most numerous Voodoo by a wide margin, selected in June 1954 as an interim answer to delays in the F-102B programme after the Soviet hydrogen bomb test of August 1953. Intended to have Wright J67 engines, built with J57-P-55s. First flight 27 March 1957, first delivery 5 January 1959, eventually equipping 18 Air Defense Command squadrons. Withdrawn from active USAF service by April 1971 and passed to the Air National Guard.

F-101F / TF-101B (1957–1961, 79 new-build and 152 conversions)

The dual-control interceptor trainer, fully combat-capable and outwardly almost indistinguishable from the F-101B. Briefly designated TF-101B. The 231 figure is not additive to the 479 F-101Bs, because the new-build aircraft came off the same line as interceptors and the rest were converted from aircraft already delivered — a persistent source of arithmetic errors in Voodoo production tables.

CF-101B / CF-101F (1961–1962 and 1970–1972, 66 and 66)

The Canadian interceptors, acquired after the Arrow cancellation and flown by 409, 410, 414, 416 and 425 Squadrons from Comox, Uplands, North Bay, Chatham and Bagotville as Canada’s NORAD contribution. Falcon-armed from 1961, Genie-armed from June 1965 under dual-key custody. The entire fleet was exchanged for a different, better-equipped one in 1970 to 1972. 409 and 425 Squadrons stood down in June 1984 and 416 converted to the CF-18 in 1985.

RF-101B (1971, 22 converted)

Ex-Canadian CF-101Bs returned under Peace Wings and rebuilt by Ling-Temco-Vought as reconnaissance aircraft, the MG-13 and weapons bay giving way to a camera installation while the second seat was retained. Flown by the 192nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the Nevada Air National Guard until 1975. The only two-seat reconnaissance Voodoo.

RF-101G and RF-101H (1965–1970, 29 and 32 converted)

Air National Guard reconnaissance conversions of surplus F-101A and F-101C fighter-bombers respectively, rebuilt by Lockheed Aircraft Service with camera noses and no armament. Flown by the 154th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (Arkansas), the 165th (Kentucky) and the 192nd (Nevada) until 1979. The F-101D and F-101E, re-engined with the General Electric J79, were projected and never built.

Republic of China Air Force RF-101A (1959–1973, 8 transferred)

Eight RF-101As transferred to Taiwan from October 1959, modified with F-101C-pattern fins and intakes, the intake change removing the five-minute afterburner restriction. Used for overflights of mainland China; at least two are reported to have been shot down. The only foreign operator other than Canada, and the only one to lose Voodoos to enemy action outside South-East Asia.

Closing note on survivors and end dates. No Voodoo is airworthy and none has flown since 1987. Active-duty USAF interceptor operations ended in April 1971; the Air National Guard retired its last F-101Bs in 1981 or 1982 depending on whether one counts operational squadrons or the training unit that outlasted them, and the final flight by a United States-operated Voodoo is usually given as 14 April 1983, flown by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Burchfield. In Canada, 409 and 425 Squadrons stood down in June 1984 and 416 Squadron converted to the CF-18 in 1985; the leased EF-101B electronic-warfare aggressor was returned to the United States on 7 April 1987, and CF-101F 101006 made the last Voodoo flight of all on 9 April 1987, a delivery flight from CFB North Bay to CFB Greenwood, and is now with the Jet Aircraft Museum at London, Ontario. Survivors are numerous by Century Series standards but have never been formally counted. Over 30 Canadian and ex-Canadian CF-101s are preserved in Canada and the United States, and a comparable or larger number of USAF Voodoos survive as museum exhibits and gate guardians, so a worldwide total somewhere between 60 and 90 airframes is a fair estimate and anything more precise should be treated with suspicion. Every one of them is an original McDonnell airframe; there are no reproductions of this type and there never will be, because nobody rebuilds a titanium-and-steel supersonic twin from scratch. The first aircraft built, F-101A 53-2418, survives and is displayed at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum at McMinnville, Oregon, having been restored at Marana in Arizona; the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson holds both an F-101B interceptor and an RF-101C, which is the right way to show a type whose two halves have so little in common.

From bomber escort to NORAD sentinel

Twelve stories of the Voodoo

The Voodoo in pictures

‹›

The Voodoo in motion

A verified, high-authority video feature for the F-101 is still being selected — video coming soon. In the meantime, the photo gallery above and the stories carousel cover the aircraft in depth.

Where the Voodoo flew

The record that defines it

Only one Voodoo variant ever fought: the unarmed RF-101 reconnaissance jet. It flew the crucial low-level runs over Cuba in 1962 and thousands of dangerous sorties over Vietnam, where roughly 39 were lost. The interceptor and strike versions never fired a shot in anger, standing nuclear-armed alert for an attack that never came. The Voodoo’s proudest single moment was a speed record.

Compare the combat record of every military aircraft. Figures as of July 2026.

Everything people ask about the F-101 Voodoo

Continue the tour

Every fact, checked

• National Museum of the U.S. Air Force — F-101B VoodooOfficial specifications, development history and service record.
• This Day in Aviation — Operation FirewallDetailed account of Major Adrian Drew’s 1,207.6 mph world speed record on 12 December 1957.
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — RF-101 VoodooThe reconnaissance Voodoo and its Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam service.
• Royal Canadian Air Force — CF-101 VoodooCanada’s NORAD interceptor service from 1961 to 1984.
• HistoryNet — McDonnell F-101 VoodooDevelopment from the XF-88, the pitch-up problem and the type’s many roles.
• Air Force Armament Museum — F-101B VoodooCross-checked dimensions, armament and interceptor role.
• This Day in Aviation — F-101A milestonesFirst flight, service entry and early Voodoo history.
• FAI records databaseReference for the 1957 world absolute speed record.