Century series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Century series aircraft were a series of early US supersonic jet fighters built for the United States Air Force during the 1950s and early 1960s. It was so named because the numbering of this series of aircraft started at F-100:
- North American F-100 Super Sabre
- McDonnell Douglas F-101 Voodoo
- Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
- Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
- Republic F-105 Thunderchief
- Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The unifying characteristic of Century aircraft was advanced performance and avionics when they were introduced. The F-100 was the first aircraft in USAF capable of exceeding the speed of sound in level flight. The F-101 was the first aircraft in USAF capable of exceeding 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). The F-102 was the first aircraft in the world to utilize area rule in its design. Three of the Century Series aircraft — F-101, F-102, and F-106 — were armed with nuclear air-to-air missiles. F-102 and F-106 were the only aircraft in USAF arsenal at the time in which a nuclear weapon was under control of a single person.
Similar advancements were made in this period by the United States Navy with the F4D Skyray and the F8U Crusader carrier-based aircraft.
The attribution of the Century Series monicker is somewhat arbitrary. The series presents a mix of fighter-bombers (F-100, F-105) and interceptors (F-101, F-102, F-104, F-106). Not included are the Republic XF-103 Thunderwarrior and the North American XF-108 Rapier prototypes, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II (briefly F-110 Spectre) fighter-bomber, or the General Dynamics F-111 and Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk strike aircraft.
See List of military aircraft of the United States.
