F-106A 58-0761
Previously Displayed at the US Air Force Academy, CO from 1967-1968
to McClellan AFB to salvage and be parted out

Aircraft 58-0761 is no longer there, but it was once on display at the USAF Academy in 1967-68. Unfortunately it was rolled down the "Bring Me Men" ramp by cadets once too often, suffering extensive damage, and was taken from the academy and sent to McClellan AFB to salvage and be parted out.  While on display at the academy it adorned insignias of the 94 FIS on the left side and 71 FIS on the right. 58-0761 was assigned to the 71 FIS, Selfridge AFB. On 9 Jan 1963 it was involved in a fire, suffering damage too costly to repair. It was first thought 58-0761 itself caught on fire, however a first hand account story by Lonnie Berry gave us the Rest of the Story, stating it was damaged by a 94th FIS aircraft that caught fire next to it. Sometime in the late 70's 58-0761 was removed from the Academy and shipped to McClellan AFB CA and parted out to repair other crash damaged aircraft. Why it left the USAFA: F-106A 58-0761 was rolled down the "Bring Me Men" ramp by a cadet class, and suffered extensive damage. It was eventually removed from the Academy and shipped to McClellan AFB CA to be salvaged for spare structural members to repair other crash damaged aircraft. Marty Isham talked to Colonel Conroy, his commandant, who was a plebe at the Academy in 1970, and the F-106 wasn't there anymore, so it all happened prior to 1970. Whoever pushed the six down the ramp should have been expelled!. With the “Bring Me Men Ramp”, the cadets would form up on the terrazzo from the dorm for marching and march down the ramp to the parade ground on a lower level. It's a ramp at the AFA that the Cadets marched up to or down from the parade field from the barracks. Read more about it here. 11 Apr 2008 by then USAFA Cadet Greg Varhall (Class of 1968 - now retired Lt. Col.) as emailed to Erv Smalley: "I'm USAFA '68. Don't know anything about the 'Hun” or "cadets hating the F-106" . . . "it was just there" (i.e. handy), along with the X-5. A few dozen cadets could lift the -106 and literally run with it. Great sport for Doolies! I remember one occasion when a Marine captain Air Officer Commanding overestimated his authority as he stood on our path at parade rest (marines always stand that way) with his swagger stick extended, shouting, "You Cadets! Halt!" Mistake--there was NO way we could have stopped if we wanted to once we were running with a Delta Dart on our shoulders! He was a slightly rumpled Marine when he picked himself up. And, yes, the aircraft was appropriately painted for various "spirit events”, but never because we disliked it . . . it was just there. Switching to the little X-5, the Commandant's team got tired of our moving it and had it placed in one of the courtyards at Arnold Hall, the Cadet Social Center. No way to get it out, right? Wouldn't fit through arches, right. WRONG-O! Never underestimate cadets when confronted with a challenge, especially on involving slide rules. One morning, the X-5 appeared on the terrazzo, much to the chagrin and dismay of the Comm Staff. It seems that if you knew exactly how to tilt and move it, there was ONE way you could have moved it out. Try as they could, the Comm Staff couldn't figure how to get it back through the puzzle opening, and I remember our class being charged several thousand dollars for the cost of having a crane lift it back into the courtyard. Bottom line, I am sure 58-0761 was not destroyed by malice--and, by then, the cadets probably didn't even know it had allegedly replaced an F-100, etc. I would say miscalculation (did you ever try to carry an F-106 down a 25-degree ramp late at night or consider the force vectors that I know you won't find in the Dash-1) was the cause of it's demise . . . and at least one former cadet will sorely miss its presence. Greg Varhall, Lt Col, USAF (Ret), MAIR; USAFA '68 March 2000: A partial e-mail quote from a retired USAF pilot friend of Erv Smalley's he received in March of 2000: "My buddy IP when I was a 'newby' at Willy Field was one of the AFA Cadets involved in rolling the 'Six' down the ramp & onto the parade field. Apparently it happened more than once. The cadets absolutely HATED the 'Six' because they were not consulted about its arrival. With ADC HQ in town at ENT AFB & the 'mountain' nearby, it seems that the AFA Commandant & the ADC Commander cut a deal to put the 'Six' on display at the Academy. However, the a/c previously placed there was a very early F-100 that for some reason was near & dear to the cadet's hearts. The 'Hun' was carted off to Ft. Carson (?), wrapped with explosives & blown to pieces. The cadets took their revenge on the 'Six' until they literally destroyed it....painted it pink.......rolled it down the ramp.....defaced it........etc., until it went away."

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