111th FIS Voodoos

As with all of my pages the thumbnails are linked to larger images.
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(1)  F-101B 57-0252 in May 1980.

(2)  F-101B 57-0270 on the flight line at Ellington AFB in August 1982.  At this time the Voodoos were being replaced with F-4C Phantom IIs and "270" was about ready to make here second trip to the "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan AFB.   During its tenure with the Texas ANG, the Voodoo wore only one basic color: Aircraft Gray FS 16473.

(3)  "270" had been sent to MASDC in 1978 only to return to active duty with the 111th in 1980.
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(4)  57-0308 on a hot August day in 1982.

(5)  57-0342 in May 1982.  She only has a little over two years of active service left at this point.  Note the "Ace-in-the-hole" emblem on the intake cover.

(6)  "342" on display at an air show at Davis-Monthan AFB in 1993.  She is starting to show signs of her decade of storage.  It is common for aircraft to be towed from AMARC to DM for display purposes.

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(7)  57-0317 in May 1980.   Earlier in the day that this photo was taken, a friend and I had toured NASA's museum just a few miles to the south.  As we were leaving Johnson Space Center this Voodoo along with another one broke overhead in the landing pattern.  The twin smoke trails and Earth shaking noise are with me to this day.

(8)  57-0347 at an open house at Bergstrom AFB, Texas in August, 1981.  The open houses at Bergstrom were always good and this one was no exception.  I parked myself in the shade under the tail and (unintentionally) took a nap, using my camera case as a pillow.

(9)  "347" in May, 1981.  Notice the "Rising Sun" inside the William Tell apple (no, don't know the reason) and the B-52 kill just forward of the burner cans.  Super Scale had a 72nd scale sheet (72-304) with this aircraft in the older scheme as illustrated on the "111th Fighter Squadron, Vietnam through Today" web page.  The later style markings for 58-0335 were available on the same sheet.
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(10)  57-0352 in August, 1982.   The Airman on stand behind tail is repacking the braking chute.

(11)  57-0370 May, 1980.

(12)  57-0393 at an air show, Offutt AFB, the summer of 1981.  That was a cold day!
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(13)  Another overcast open house!  This time 57-0427 is seen at Davis-Monthan AFB in March, 1981.

(14)  "Big Bird" on the splitter plate of "427".

(15)  58-0265 at the Holloman AFB open house in November, 1983.
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(16)  58-0273 on the ramp at Ellington AFB in August, 1982.  Modellers may want to take note that many of these photos show aircraft under maintenance, yet very few panels are open per aircraft.

(17 & 18) 58-0276 & 58-0290 awaiting another mission.  Ellington AFB, May, 1980.
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(19)  58-0311 on the Ellington flightline in August, 1981.  The weapons bay door is partially open in this shot.

(20)  58-0419 receiving some TLC on the right engine.

(21)  58-0458 in her last few months of service.  Barely visible in the shed beneath her tail are the F-4Cs that will shortly replace her.
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(22)  The fuselage markings carried on the 111th's Voodoos and carried over to the F-4s.  An "80" was added after the unit's win at the 1980 William Tell competition.  Model builders take heart; note the overspray.

(23)  The alert "barns" where many an aircraft has stood watch over the years.  On some of the other pages for the 111th different aircraft are shown in these same structures.

(24)  When the 111th of Texas, Oregon's 123rd FIS ant New York's 136th FIS turned in their Voodoos in 1982 the USAF was finished with the F-101.  She would hang on with the Canadian Armed Forces for only a few more years.

The two seat Voodoo served the Air Guard for many years, yet with one exception during that time she only came in Aircraft Gray, FS 16473.  For a brief time the 192nd TRS of the Idaho ANG operated RF-101Fs that were painted in the SEA scheme of FS 34079, 34102 and 30219 over 36622.
 

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Created January, 2002

Modified 07-24-06

Clifford Bossie