"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
...

"RENABORNEY" wrote in message
...
STR reading that a total of two F-102's were lost in combat operations,
one of
which occured over NVN. l). I have not heard that it was used as an air
superiority fighter per se (kind of lacked the legs for that).

SNIP

The one lost over NVN was the one I meant when I referred to use as an
air
superiority fighter - my impression was that it was lost on a MIGCAP
mission....
And it might noy have been a MIG, maybe a SAM got it...

As for legs - isn't that what tankers are for? (At least some Deuces
were
modifed with this capability in the Sixties)

I don't know what the full story is regarding air refueling. Yes, the
F-102
could refuel using the hose and drogue method, but I don't know whether
the
probe was a pop-out type, or a fixed attachment. After going over a fair
number of photos, I can't see any external evidence of permanently affixed
probe, but then again most of the danged phots available on the web are
either from too far away or of the left side of the aircraft (the probe
was
located on the right side of the fuselage near the cockpit). If it was
fixed, then none of the photos I found of the Vietnam deployed aircraft
(including one nasty victim of a VC sapper attack at Danang) showed them
attached. There used to be an F-102 pilot that hung around here RAM; he
might be able to answer the question.

Brooks

Extracted from: http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f102_1.html

The F-102A was not equipped at the factory for midair refuelling. However,
there were some examples of the F-102A that were fitted in the field with
probe and drogue inflight-refuelling probes mounted immediately aft of the
cockpit on the right-hand side of the fuselage. These were fitted for the
purpose of ferrying aircraft from the US to Southeast Asia. The probes were
removed upon arrival. Some ANG F-102As were also fitted with these midair
refuelling probes.

This was also as I remembered hearing it from a friend of my who was on one
of the early F-102 fighter drags to SEA.

Tex