Bush's Flight Instructor Speaks Up (Ref--F-102 Air Refueling Setup)

"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