A former hunter is put to pasture

QF-106s being replaced
by leaner, meaner Phantoms

   They didn't stand a 
ghost of a chance, but 
when they were in their 
prime, the QF-106s 
served their masters 
well.
   Formerly feared 
hunters, the Delta 
Darts in turn became 
the hunted, serving as decoys for the real thing in
skies over the Gulf of Mexico, the playground for
F-15 Eagle pilots learning to fight -- eventually --
the real thing.
   Packed with sophisticated electronic surveillance,
the Darts could even be flown by remote control as
drones, simulating enemy aircraft. Reusable, they
let hundreds of pilots become better at their trade,
even engaging in some live-fire exercises every now
and then.
   Friday, those same Darts were formally put to
pasture.
   Of the eight remaining at Tyndall, three will likely
be chopped into scrap metal, or stripped down for
use as a public display somewhere.
   Four will be shipped to the Air Force's famous
"bone yard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near
Tucson, Ariz., while the last -- its paint worn in
places, but its speed still in evidence -- was flown
by Maj. Barry Brannon to Dover, Del., where it will
spend its days in a museum, its paint restored to a
bright luster.
   There were no tears shed, no fond goodbyes for
these planes.
   Instead, said Lt. Col. Matt LaCourse, commander
of the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron, it was a matter
of moving on, keeping up with technology and the
times. The Darts, it seemed, just didn't have the
moves anymore.
   Replacement killers, QF-4 Phantoms (42 at
Tyndall and 24 at Holloman Air Force Base in New
Mexico), are leaner and meaner. They duplicate
more effectively, but only to a point, the delicate
precision of Soviet-built MiGs.
   "It's a significant event," LaCourse said. "We're
shipping out the last of the F-106s. Now, we're in
the process of de-commissioning them."
   Jim Weslowski, a public affairs specialist with the
325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall, noted the event with
some irony. He was at Tyndall when the Darts were
the training planes for pilots, then replaced by the
more familiar F-15s.
   "I was here when they brought the F-106s back as
drones," he said. That was in October 1990.
   The QF-4s, like the Darts before them, are drones,
remote-controlled targets which simulate enemy
aircraft. They can be flown completely by computer
using the Gulf Range Drone Control System or
controlled manually during takeoff and landing
using a mobile control station at the drone runway.
   Its job, said LaCourse, is to provide a realistic,
full-scale aerial target for air-to-air and
ground-to-air weapon systems evaluation,
development and testing. Because it carries
electronic and infrared countermeasures, it can fully
evaluate fighters and weapons flown and fired
against it.
   Like the Darts before them, the Phantoms are
easily recognizable because of the orange tail and
wing tips.