F-106A 59-0010, the pilot was then Maj. Paul Norton, he was also one of our 5th FIS FCF pilots. He was up with Capt. Randy Hardy who was flying 57-0236. For some reason coming out of a cloud or something they got into each other. 59-0010 obviously had tremendous damage to the nose and past area. 57-0236 had some damage to one of its elevons, both somehow returned to base. [TSgt Rich Davis collection]

F-106A 59-0010 of the 5th FIS Minot ND showing damage after a mid-air with 57-0236 on 17 Sept 79. Both aircraft recovered and both were repaired by Sacramento ALC. After a new nose was put on at Minot by a Sacramento team, 010 was FCF'd and flown to McClellan AFB for completion of the nose rework and was subsequently reassigned to Minot. I'm told that 57-0236 was reassigned to the 87th FIS, KI Sawyer AFB, MI, after repair at Sacramento ALC. In correspondence with former Minot crew chief Rich Davis and his correspondence with some of his Minot crew chief predecessors (Scott Miller), we've learned that 010 is a very lucky bird in that it apparently had survived a previous "dead-stick" landing and another incident involving a locked brake during landing that put it in the mud between the runway and taxiway. There was talk of writing it off then (75 or 76). 59-0010 served out its career at Minot, survived the QF-106 drone program, and was selected to be involved in the Eclipse Program along with sister ship F-106A 59-0130, sat in the sun at Davis-Monthan, having arrived there on 30 April 98 to become one of the last six sixes to fly and now sits on Static Display at the Aerospace Museum of California, McClellan, CA
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