"Jack Linthicum" wrote in message
om...
"David E. Powell" wrote in message
ws.com...
OK. I have seen the debate over GWB as an F-102 pilot, so I was
wondering
about a couple of things.

First, was the F-102 taken out of service in the early 1970s? I have to
ask
because as a kid I remember the Guard around here flying F-106s up to
around
1990 or 1991 or so, and they were closely related to the F-102. Though I
recall them being (much) faster. Mach 1.8 vs. Mach 2.32 IIRC.

Second, if GWB was trained on the F-102, and had asked about other
planes,
would he have been assigned to the -106 or was Texas going to a
different
fighter? The program wher Guard piolts were flying in Vietnam was
mentioned,
and the USAF turning him down because the USAF was phasing out the -102.
I
guess the time needed to retrain the guy on another type would have
prohibited him making the cutoff date? Makes sense, though, and the USAF
forces in the area could have been phasing out the -102 (which was more
suited as a bomber interceptor for CONUS defense than dogfighting)
earlier
than counterparts in the US or Europe.

Third. did the F-102 have a gun or just internal missiles in a weapon
bay?
The F-106, as I recall, carried Falcon missiles (Or GENIEs*) and later
had a
20mm Vulcan cannon installed as well.

Fourth, the F-102 and F-106 just look cool. Had to say that. Good
designs,
and you can see the evolution in fuselage flow in the later design.
(Though
the previous one had those cool mini-cones at the tail.)


DEP

*There was a massive "Was GENIE a rocket or a missile" debate on another
group, which I won't get into here. I think the verdict was a rocket,
which
it was, guided missile or not.

I have a question: what was/is the policy on use of ANG airplanes? I
have seen several bios that stated George Bush used an F-102 to fly to
Florida for a plant business he was involved in. I presume he did the
usual flight plan and landed at a military installation. What would
be the policy, local or ANG, to a Guard pilot using one of the unit's
planes for something not demonstrably Guard duty? And does/did it
happen as a regular thing?

It was demonstrably Guard duty, in all likelihood. Pilots had to fly certain
hours, and often the destinations were left up to them. My brother returned
from Vietnam and flew Hueys for the ARNG; he flew down to the airport near
our house on one flight so we could come out and meet his crew and look over
the helo. On another occasion he flew a few orbits over a Little League
baseball game I was playing in. Hours were hours, unless they were scheduled
to participate in some kind of collective training event. I believe AC
pilots sometimes do the same thing, even today--there was a case a few years
back where an F-14 pilot flew back to his hometown, landed and met his
family, then departed and tragically piled it in.

Brooks