Single Engine Speed Record

Set by Colonel Joe Rogers 15 Dec 1959

Other Speed Record Reference:
www.aerospaceweb.org
Erv Smalley: www.convairf-106deltadart.com

On 15 December 1959 Maj Joseph Rogers flew F-106A serial number 56-0467 1,525.93 mph (2455.68 km/k) on a straight line course 11 miles long (18km) at an altitude of 40,000 ft (12192 m) setting a new single engine speed record of Mach 2.31.

Some history books show this accomplishment being set in serial number 56-0459, but due to engine compressor stall problems, which resulted in violent yaw oscillations the backup aircraft, 56-0467 was actually used to set the record.  This record run still stands today for a single engine aircraft, which took the title away from the Russian Ye-152-1 a special test version of the MiG-21 fighter that had also been customized to set speed, altitude, and climb records.  An interesting note is 459's engine had been "tweaked" for optimal performance, while 467's had not, yet still made the record breaking run... I wonder what 459 could have done?

Facts From the "Source" (received from Mr. Harlin, 19 Jan 1999.  Thanks Mark!):
    "I am privileged to visit frequently with Col. (Ret) Joe Rogers, who set the still standing single engine speed record.  There is an interesting historical matter that I was for a long time a believer in, and others in a different way. Until a year or so ago there were two F-106s that were credited with setting that speed record, 459 which we still have an affection for, and another somewhere back East.  This came to Joe's attention somehow, and he set the record straight by pointing out that he set the speed record in 56-0467, which was unfortunately destroyed years later at EDW when the brakes caught fire.  Stories below on 0467's demise by the actual pilot and crewchief: Pilot Account, Crewchief Account
      Interesting aspects of the story are that 459 was to be used for the flight, but the intake ramps [vari-ramps] weren't working properly the day before, so the switch was made to 467 [the spare]. The switch may have been the source of the mistake in history, or maybe Joe's affiliation with that (wonderful) painting of 459 was more the cause of some misunderstanding.  I'll ask him what he thinks of all this.  [The] magazine Wings of Fame, [issue] #12 has an excellent article on the Dart by Bob Dorr. See http://www.wingsoffame.com if you're interested.   If Mr Dorr is correct and the last Dart (59-0130) flew to Davis Monthan on May 1 last year, I was a witness to the last flight. I can report that the airplane in flight commanded attention and was beautiful beyond compare to the end.  Someone put an F-16 on it's wing so that this would be clear to all. Best wishes. thanks for sharing your F-106 experiences... Mark D. Harlin"

Demise of 56-0467; Account from the Pilot (received from James Wilkinson , 11 Dec 2000)
    "Just a note to set the record straight about the demise of F-106 56-0467.  I have the dubious distinction of being the pilot who landed (?) this bird at Edwards AFB on its last flight.  Ken Robken's account of the accident (below story) is amazingly accurate with but a few minor exceptions.
    The right tire blew (all the rubber came off) just as I broke ground on take off and I had no idea that it happened until I was starting into my intercept training mission. The mobile control officer had seen the tire blow and immediately called 329th operations. At that point everyone and his sister got on the horn (radio) and started giving me advice. Talk about a circus! My ops officer, Bob Furgeson, finally called Convair to try to get some guidance as to how to handle the situation because there was no procedure in the T. O. for landing with no tire on a wheel. The decision was made to burn down fuel and go into Edwards because they had a longer runway and much better crash equipment than George.
    After burning down my fuel, I started my decent into Edwards and, in the process, discovered that I also had speed brake failure. I set up a straight in approach, touched down on the left gear (good tire and wheel) and held the right (the wheel without the tire) off as long as I could and still have enough speed to put it down gently. I pulled the emergency drag chute and it also failed. Needless to say, this thing was not slowing down quickly enough to suit me with just the left wheel brake and no chute. Fortunately I still had good nose wheel steering and some elevon control, which allowed me to keep it going straight. The foam on the runway was totally ineffective in preventing the wheel break-up and subsequent fire. It was however successful in making it very difficult to keep the pointed end of the aircraft headed the right direction.
    At the moment I gently let the right wheel down, Edwards tower started giving me a running account of what was going on behind me. In a very calm voice it went something like this: "You have sparks coming from your right wheel". "Your right wheel is breaking up". "Your right wing is on fire". "The whole back of the aircraft is on fire, get out"! Unfortunately I was still doing about 75 knots when I got that last transmission and I did not have the 0-0 ejection seat so things immediately got very busy in the cockpit. Raising the canopy at this time was no help in slowing this mobile barbeque pit down. I shut the engine and fuel off hoping it would somehow prevent a very loud noise that I was convinced I would not be privileged to hear. To this day I am not sure how I kept it on the runway as long as I did. It wasn't until the aircraft had slowed considerably that it slowly drifted off the left side of the runway. When it became obvious it was going to come to gradual stop in the desert, I started releasing my harness and generally disconnecting myself from the aircraft. The moment it stopped I was over the right side (up wind side trying to avoid jumping into or through the fire) and to this day I contend I set the worlds record for the 100yd dash after hitting the ground.

A fellow named Charlie Demarq came over from George that same day in a "B" model and took me back to the squadron. My squadron commander, little Joe Rutgers, met me on the ramp with some "medicinal" spirits, which quickly took the edge off the whole experience.
   The accident investigation board met and I told them the whole bloody story including a remark about how it took a little more effort on final approach to find the right power setting because I had no speed brakes (normally extended on final approach). From this they concluded that I must have landed too fast which in turn contributed to the wheel break-up, fire et al. At this point I saw my flying career quickly going down the tubes.  Fortunately for me this aircraft was equipped with a Convair data recorder and when the squadron tech rep (Joe something) heard about my difficulties with the board he kindly offered to provide the recorder info. It turned out that I had touched down within a couple knots of the T.O. speed for my weight so I was off the hook. Four thousand jet fighter hours later I retired without so much as having put a scratch on another bird.
    I have a couple B & W 8x10 photos of the aircraft taken just after the fire was put out and would be happy to send copies to anyone who may be interested (computer image not hard copy). In addition, I believe I still have a small reel of 35mm stop action film taken by Edwards tower of the entire sequence from touchdown to when it stopped in the desert - Jim Wilkinson , fka Jim Mueller"
 

Demise of 56-0467; Account from the Crewchief (received from Ken Robken, 17 Nov 99):
    "I am a former crew chief on the F-106 assigned to the 329th FIS, stationed at George AFB from 1960 to 1963.   Our original assignment of "Sixes" included tail numbers 90104 to 90135, with 3 B models numbers 90161, 90162 and 90164.
    I just read about the speed record sent to you by Mark Harlin on tail number 56467.  In late 62 or early 63, we were assigned 56467 to replace 90120 that flew into a mountain close to the Cuttyback firing range.  He was correct that 56467 set the speed record, but was incorrect about the demise of that aircraft.
    56467's last flight started out on a normal morning training mission at about 0930.  The aircraft blew a tire on takeoff, and the pilot (I don't recall his name, but would be able to pick him out in a lineup) said that nothing could be gained by landing the aircraft until the fuel was burned out of it, so he completed his training mission and landed it at Edwards AFB.  The fire department at Edwards foamed 5,000 feet of runway, and the pilot set the crippled tire right on the end of the foam and guided it straight down the runway.  The bird spit the tire and was riding on the rim until the wheel caught fire, broke up and sent a piece of the burning wheel through the wing.  The aircraft caught fire and burned everything aft of the intakes. The pilot jumped out of the flaming bird when he got it stopped, and suffered a bruise to his left heel.
    I was on the flightline the morning of the ill fated flight, and talked to the pilot when he returned to George AFB.  One thing for certain is that he never touched the brakes on the crippled left gear... Ken Robken"

BIOGRAPHY

COLONEL JOE ROGERS, USAF (Ret)
1959 WORLD SPEED RECORD HOLDER
 COMBAT PILOT
YF-12A/SR-71 TEST PILOT

Born on May 28, 1924 in Chillicothe, Ohio, Joseph W. Rogers began his historic aviation career when he joined the Army Air Corps on May 23, 1943. After graduating Aviation Cadet Training Class 44H at Williams Army Air Field, AZ in 1944, Rogers served as an instructor pilot  flying AT-6 Texan and BT-13 Valiant training aircraft at Minter and Merced AAF’s.

In 1946, Rogers received orders to join the 431st FBS of the 475th FBW based at Kempo, Korea  to participate in United State’s effort to reinforce U.N. forces in that nation. On November 8, 1950, the then Capt. Rogers achieved a rare MiG-15 jet kill while flying in his piston-engine F-51D Mustang named Buckeye Blitz VI. After four years of combat in the  F-51, Joe transitioned into the F-80 Shooting Star with the 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron of the 8th Fighter-Bomber Wing. By the end of his involvement in the War, Rogers logged almost 200 missions in the Korean Theater.

Back on US soil, the newly appointed Major continued his flying career with the famous 71st Fighter Squadron flying F-86A Sabre. In 1954, Rogers entered F-86D Maintenance School and later USAF’s Test Pilots School, among the students in his class were future astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. and Virgil “Gus” Grissom. After graduation, Rogers joined the F-86D Test Program, and later the F-102A/B / F-106A/B Interceptor Development Programs. During his next assignment as Project Officer for F-106 integration at Air Defense Command Headquarters, Joe was chosen for a project that changed his life.

After the Air Forces selection of the F-106 Delta Dart to make the Services latest attempt at the Absolute Speed Record, there was no question who would pilot the aircraft in this joint USAF / Convair project, Maj. Joe Rogers. On  December 15, 1959, the Major became the fastest Jet Pilot in the World after flying F-106A # 56-0467 to an average speed of 1525.95 mph. F-106 # -0467 flew the record flight after F-106A # 56-0459 experienced technical problems throughout the project. On its last flight in Firewall # -0459 became uncontrollable, fortunately Rogers was able to “settle her down” and land the aircraft. In honor of his skillful airmanship demonstrated during the "Firewall Project" Rogers received worldwide recognition and was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross, The DeLavaulx Medal, and the 25th recipient of the Thompson Trophy, an award that can be traced back to the National Air Races in 1929.

In 1960,  Lt. Col. Rogers  took command of the Air Force's largest Fighter Squadron, the 317th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron formerly based at McChord AFB, now headquartered at Elmendorf AFB, AK. Joe proved to be one of the Squadrons best Pilots flying in the F-102 Delta Dagger, this fact confirmed after winning the USAF’s Air to Air Weapons Meet, "Top Gun" award in 1963. The Fighter meet named  William Tell is a competition that pits the best Fighter-Interceptor aircrews from around the Air Force.

After a four year command of the 317th FIS, Joe was lured back to flight testing when he took command of the SR-71A / F-12A Test Force. On December 18, 1969, Joe cheated death once again. While flying a test mission with SR-71A # 64-17953, Col. Rogers and his RSO, Lt. Col. Gary Heidelbaugh experienced an in-flight explosion causing a very dangerous high-speed pitch up. Unable to regain control of the aircraft, both men were forced to eject from the aircraft.                   

In 1973, Joe was thrust back into combat in the skies of Asia as the Vice Commander of the 3rd Fighter Wing in  South Vietnam. He flew more than 40 missions, most of them in the A-37 Dragonfly and the F-4 Phantom II. Later, Rogers  served as Asst. Deputy Commander of the 7th and the 13th Air Forces in Vietnam.

In February 1975, during his final assignment as Chief of Staff for Operations at Aerospace Defense Headquarters, Joe Rogers retired from the Air Force after a 29 year career. After retirement Joe signed on with Northrop Aerospace, where he worked in the companies Fighter Division, Asian-Pacific Region, marketing F-5 Tiger & F-20 Tigershark fighter aircraft. Rogers retired after 13 years, but is still providing his valuable aviation knowledge to the company as a consultant.

Col Joe Rogers died peacefully in his home on 6 Aug 2005.

Info on F-106 Discussion Forum
Info on McChord Air Museum website
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