Lineage History F-106A 572472

Manufacturer:

Convair

Model:

F-106A

USAF S/N:

572472

Production Year:

1957

Production C/N No.:

No. Built

340 (277 A, 63 B)

Production Date:

1959-05-01

Delivery Date:

1959-12-28

Ended Service:

1969-06-19

Airframe Hours:

unknown

Units Assigned:

539th,95th

History Lineage:

May 1959 - 74th F-106 produced by Convair at San Diego CA
03 Jun 59 - To 539th FIS McGuire AFB NJ
19 Jun 67 - To 95th FIS Dover AFB DE
19 Jun 69 - Crashed, pilot Capt. Bill E. Grimes ejected, survived.

Dec 20, 1969 Article

CHUTELESS PILOT DROPS INTO MUD

DOVER-- The Air Force pilot who survived the crash of his jet interceptor Thursday plummeted into a marsh with his unopened parachute trailing behind him.

Capt. Bill E. Grimes, 27, of Bald Knob, Arkansas, nursed multiple bruises and possible back injuries at the Dover Air Force Base Hospital and informed sources at the base said he will have a recuperative period for about a month.

The F106 Delta Dart jet disintegrated upon slicing into Port Mahon Road, 8 miles north of here (Wilmington, Delaware).

The drop was described as a relatively "free fall," in which Grimes was falling at an estimated 200-miles-an-hour when he hit the marsh.

Technical Sgt. Henry A Gerlach of the 20th Military Airlift Squadron, who lives in the area, was credited with saving Grimes, whose arm and leg were protruding from the muck when Gerlach reached the scene in his car.

"I nearly his the wreckage," Gerlach said. "While I was trying to spot the parachute two other airmen arrived on the scene. We were joined by an area resident, a Mr. Perry, I think, and the four of us started out to search for the chute.

"One of the younger airmen arrived at the site about 20 or 30 yards ahead of me and I don't know if he's alive." All I heard him say, "Oh my God," and saw sticking up out of the mud was the pilot's left arm.

"When he hit the mud he made a hole and it filled up with water. We observed bubbles and I pulled his head free. When we removed his face mask, he immediately opened his eyes."

The mud may have saved his life.

AMARC Storage PCN ID No.:

QF Drone Conversion:

QF Drone ID No.:

QF Drone Shotdown:

Shotdown By:

QF Drone Lost on Nullo No.:

Deployed to Osan AB Korea:

B-1B Chase Plane:

Crash

Crew Ejected:

Crew Survived:

Crew Killed:

Pilot Front / Pilot Rear:

Capt. Bill E. Grimes

Pilot Rear:

Accident Report No:

Destroyed:

Written-Off:

Survivor:

Static Display Painted As:

Instruments - TAC Conventional:

TAC Conventional: Models produced with Tactical 'Round Eye' instruments.

Instruments - Conventional:

Conventional: Models were originally committed as TEST or BAILMENT aircraft..

Instruments - TEST-to-TACTICAL:

TEST-to-TACTICAL: Models returned to Convair and upgraded from TAC Conventional to Vertical
instruments in 1961. Fuselage cut in half at station 412 (Aft bulkhead missile bay) and a new fuselage, cockpit section,
and nose section was installed with the latest production avionics, the same as the last F-106A 590148 and F-106B 590165.
A total of 35 aircraft (28 "A" models and 7 "B" models) were converted and reassigned to various ADC units..

Instruments - Vertical, 1st Produced:

Vertical, 1st Produced: First 'A' and 'B' models produced with vertical instruments.
Tactical Vertical: Models factory produced w/Tactical Vertical instruments: late 1957 and all 1958, 1959..

F-106 Specifications

Role/Function	Fighter-Interceptor
Manufacturer	Convair Division of General Dynamics
Country	United States
Crew	'A' Model 1, 'B' Model 2
Power plant	Pratt & Whitney J-75-P-17 Turbojet
Thrust	24,500 lbs. in Afterburner
Max Speed	1,525 mph (Mach 2.31) @ 40,000 ft
Service Ceiling	53,000 ft
Wing Span	38 ft. 3½ in.
Length	70 ft 8.78in
Height	20 ft 3.3in
Weight	23,646 lb. empty, 41,831 lb max
Cost USD	$3,305,435 Initial, $4.7M after MODS
Range	2,700 mi. max fuel w/ext tanks
No. Built	340 (277 'A', 63 'B')
Armament	AIR-2A (1) AIM-4 (4) M61A1 (1)
Fire Control System	Hughes MA-1 / IBM Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) System
Ejection Seats
1st Seat	Weber Aircraft Corporation Interim seat, not Zero-Zero, inadequate for supersonic speed ejections.
2nd Seat	Convair/ICESC (Industry Crew Escape System Committee) Supersonic Rotational B-seat, called the supersonic 'Bobsled'.
3rd Seat Final	Weber Aircraft Corporation Zero-Zero ROCAT (Rocket Catapult), Zero-Zero, High-altitude supersonic ejections, retro-fitted to all aircraft.
Mfr. Model #	MK No. 8-24

Instruments - Tactical Vertical:

Last Update:

31-05-2021

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F-106 DELTA DART

Lineage History F-106A 572472