The Kitty Hawk F-101C finds a good home
That fershlugginah F-101C has found a good home, where it will be honored and respected, and seen only from a distance of 3 feet through glass.
Christina Olds gave a presentation today out at Planes of Fame about her father, the great Robin Olds. Afterwards, I pulled the model from the collection and gave it to her, to display at the Robin Olds Museum up at Sonoma County Airport in northern California.
Robin's last flying command before taking over the Wolfpack in Thailand in 1966 was Wing Commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, the only operator of the F-101A/C. It was an ironic assignment for him, since the 81st's assignment was medium range nuclear strike - essentially flying in to eastern Europe/western USSR for nuclear delivery. It was essentially a one-way mission, since the target was well past the "point of no return" for the aircraft. The pilots were expected to drop their weapon, fly back as far as they could, eject, and "establish contact with indigenous resistance forces" (as if they existed!) after dropping an A-bomb on their country. The order to bail out meant the Chair Farce could claim it wasn't a kamikaze mission.
What was ironic in the assignment was that Robin Olds was one of the most passionate opponents of nuclear war in the Air Force, consistently arguing from the get-go that there was no logical explanation of nuclear war that was logical or made sense from any perspective.
As Christina told me, she's got tons of models of his P-38s and P-51s and F-4s, and no F-101. The museum also has an F4C painted up as "869".
Should you ever get a chance to hear one of her presentations, do so. She provides a look at Robin Olds that provides information about the man you wouldn't expect to be the case.
Another highly interesting story, a well build Voodoo and a great resting
place for it ! Again the right lecture for my breakfast, this place is getting
the favorite place for my morning tea !
The story of this nuclear missions with a one way ticket reminded my a
bit of a late war operation planed by the Luftwaffe, it was called "Operation Eisenhammer" the plan was to destroy soviet industrial targets well behind the frontline. The aircraft chosen for this special mission were the Mistel, Fw 190/Ju 88 combinations, some of these targets were beyond the range
of these "weapons"to return. The pilots were trained to survive behind the russian front, but this missions were never carried out, fortunate for all involved ( targets and pilots)
All the Best
Bernd
Bernd & TC...good history, men. Thanks.
Tom,
That F-101C looks pretty good to me, and that's a nice story to go with it. Saw an interesting documentary about Robin Olds, I think on the American Heroes channel (used to be the Military channel). He was quite a guy. And he was usually right in his opinions and beliefs. Your model is a fitting addition to his museum.
Great home for that model. It must make you feel as if the 10lbs. of Bondo applied/sanded was worth it!
Tom,
Great story and great model