A fantastic, all-metal, one-of-a-kind, wind tunnel model of one version of the proposed Convair F-106X. This F-106X wind tunnel model was rescued from the Convair salvage yard (open then for 4-hours once a month to employees for home projects) in San Diego around 1963 by a Convair engineer who was able to 'free' both this and a model of an F-111. It measures 41" from tip of pitot tube to the tail, and the wingspan is 23"; both aluminum and steel are used for the model's construction. All materials and filler are original with the exception of the blue stripe/tape; no restoration has been made to the model as seen in this photo. A few screws are missing, apparently the sole minor parts deficiency. This one-of-a-kind model is of only one version of the F-106X. It is in a large 1:20 scale and was undoubtedly used in Convair's Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) at speeds up to 300mph.

The LSWT wind tunnel was located at Convair's plant (Convair Division of General Dynamics in 1961) and later donated to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. This F-106X model was also likely used in the Lewis Research Center's Transonic and Supersonic wind tunnels as described in the 1969 NASA report, TM X-52585. In this report, a 1:20 scale model of the F-106B was string mounted to study the flow field. It is worth viewing this report as the F-106B test model is very similar to the F-106X model and the method of string mounting is the same.

Original story is here at www.collectair.com/f106xwindtunnelmodel.html