An American interceptor just landed itself in the middle of a frozen field.
In February 1970, an F-106 Delta Dart entered an uncontrollable spin high above Montana during a mock dogfight. As the aircraft spiraled violently toward the ground, First Lieutenant Gary Foust exhausted every recovery option before ejecting from the cockpit at the last possible moment. Everyone watching assumed the supersonic interceptor would crash seconds later.
Instead, something impossible happened.
The moment Foust ejected, the F-106 suddenly stabilized on its own. The pilotless aircraft leveled out, descended slowly over the snow-covered countryside, and performed a near-perfect belly landing in an empty field with its engine still running and radar systems still active. When officials finally reached the aircraft, the cockpit was empty… but the jet was almost intact.
The Air Force would later nickname it the “Cornfield Bomber.”
But the self-landing incident was only one chapter in the strange history of the F-106 Delta Dart. Originally designed during the Cold War as America’s ultimate defense against Soviet nuclear bombers, the interceptor was built around extreme speed, advanced radar systems, and the massive SAGE defense network that could guide pilots toward enemy aircraft from thousands of miles away. Armed with nuclear-tipped Genie rockets and capable of flying above Mach 2, the F-106 represented one of the most advanced interceptors of its era.
Yet by the time it entered service, the world was already changing.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles were replacing bombers as the main nuclear threat, leaving the Delta Dart trapped between generations of warfare. The aircraft never fought in Vietnam, but it gained a legendary reputation among pilots for its speed, durability, and bizarre survivability. Even decades later, retired F-106s were still flying as unmanned drones and NASA research aircraft. One was reportedly struck by lightning hundreds of times and kept flying.
The F-106 was built to stop the apocalypse.
Instead, it became one of the strangest aircraft legends of the Cold War.
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The only pure interceptor put into operation by the US. It's younger brother, the F-102 was designed also as a pure interceptor but had done limited ground attack operations in Vietnam.
Still in the beginning, but I'm seeing a WHOLE lot of F-102s, and even TF-102As… And then, in the sections where you actually discuss the F-102, you show retired QF-106As at the point that they were being used as aerial target drones, capable of flying with or without a pilot, hence the red nose, changed aircraft codes, etc. Then, in the section showing a spin, it was an F-4 ,and both crew ejected after it departed controlled flight. Just like when you were talking about F-106 spins, you were showing an F-102 doing three/four aileron roles to the left, NOT a spin! I like to details in the info, but the film coverage SUCKS! Hammer
great video thanks
The F-106 was the first plane to have a thrust to weight ratio of of one to one. It could climb straight up without stalling. I was stati 15:07 oned at Kincheloe and Grifiss AFB with the 49 FIS
Scrambled many of these babies during my tenure in command post of 438th FIS 1964-66. Awoken many a night with sweet sound of afterburner after afterburner kicking in during exercises. Filed a flight plan for one Kincheloe Michigan to Panama City Florida with 58 minutes time enroute ( About 1120 miles).
My favorite plane of the century series.
Why are you using so much f102 footage?
A muitas das imagens é do F-102, a diferença na Cauda é marcante.
This channel typically has decent scripts, but lousy inconsistent imagery. Come on!
There was one thing the F4 proved was that if you put a big enough engine on a brick it would fly
dark the color of shit and the description of your program call it shit skies .
My Dad was assigned to the 71st FIS in Great Falls, MT when the "Corn Field Bomber" went down (landed). I clear remeber the day he came home and told us that the plane went down. Mom asked about the pilot. Dad said that he punched out and was Ok. He also said that some how the plane landed with out him. I also wonder how it became known as the Corn Field Bomber? It wasn't a corn field nor was it a bomber. I actually saw this plane at the Museum of the Air Force. They made a big deal about the incident. I was disappointed that it was displayed as a 49th FIS aircraft and not from the 71st. I understand the 49th was the last Squadron it was assigned to before it was retired from service. But the museum made such a big deal about the incident I thought it should have ben wearing the markings of the 71st'. Or at least on one side of the aircraft.
These lengthy opening stories, barely relevant to the thrust of the video, are becoming increasingly tiresome. You're not the only one doing it, but I wish you'd stop.
The 106? Phwoar, what a looker!
I love the F106. I don't like the tail of the F102 Dart
If I turn off the audio, I could swear I was watching a Twilight Zone episode.
18:39 😂😂😂
I bought a home on an airstrip that had an odd triangular shaped reinforced window incorporated into a shop wall. A little research showed it to be an F-106 windscreen half. It's staying.
F-102 tribute video, featuring almost a minute of F-106 footage
You need to fire Clint Eastwood as your narrator, or is it William Shatner with a cold?
I saw a huge f-106 R.C airplane at this little R.C. Airport in Northeast Philadelphia at Benjamin Rush Park . This thing was hand built with a real jet engine,and was really big for a R.C airplane . This was like 12 years ago but it had gps and return to home incase radio signal was lost it would fly back to where it took off and circle above until radio contact was regained and the guy flying it could land it . If radio contact was not able to be regained then after it ran out of fuel the plane deployed a big parachute that would bring it back to the ground nice and easy without damaging anything or it was supposed to do that but I didn’t see it but a few weeks later the guy was flying his Plane above the airfield trying to trim out his controls and someone flying a drone at a different location flew it over the airfield and the two crashed into each other destroying both of them. The drone might have been 1000 dollars but that planes engine alone was 5600 dollars according to the owner plus all of the other electronics he had in it cost over 15,000. The guy never found out who was flying that drone but someone who worked at the park knew who it might be but wouldn’t tell the owner of the plane his address because he didn’t know if this guy was nuts or a hot head plus he wasn’t sure if it was the one person who’s house was close to the back of the park where Parkwood begins.
"hey Gary, you better get back in it"😂😂😂😂. Awesome.
Fast ID: If the rudder is vertical it's a F-102. If it is swept aft it is an F-106.