Ed Rasimus wrote:
Asbjörn wrote:

How about the F-101!? Fielded and tested...
Asbjorn

Name one thing that the F-101 could do signifiicantly better than
other aircraft of the period--except for suddenly departing from
controlled flight at the most inopportune moments.

Watching them as a kid around ADC bases, they *seemed* to
be able to outclimb the dueces and even the sixes (never saw
an F-104 fly until after the Voodoo's were sent off to Canada).
FWIW, they were definitely impressive (huge!) looking whether
on the ground or in the air and the roll rate was amazingly fast
for its size (wings level to 90-deg. angle-of-bank in the blink of
an eye). And a much sleeker, nicer looking twin-engined jet compared
to its younger, more capable F-4 brethren. Of course, no matter how
fast it could roll, the -101 turn radius was Boeing 727-like as the
-101 just seemed to continue flying straight regardless of
angle-of-bank 'till it reached the next county.

BTW, the -105 was equally as impressive due to its huge size, and
their long-legged gear hanging down and high angle-of-attack landing
approaches. Seemed the -101 and -105 flew the 360-deg. overhead
approaches at .9+ mach!

My vote for "best fighter for its time":
WW1-- Fokker D VII,
WW2 -- P-51D
Korea -- F-86A
Vietnam -- F-4E
Post 'Nam-to-Present -- F-15E

-Mike Marron