F-102 Delta Dagger for Century Jets cookup

Ken Pugh · February 11, 2009, 07:01:54 PM

The F-102 begins! I have marked out boards and begun basic cutting of wood to begin the jet. Just a reminder, check your drawings! I found that the size of the wing on my side view and top/bottom views were different. If I had cut that fuselage with the side drawing, I would have a quarter inch gap to fill. I have had so many problems with the monster Hellcat the past couple of months from inaccurate measurements/drawings that I am a little snakebit.

F-102 trivia:

In 1949, the USAF specified a new supersonic interceptor to go into service by 1954. It would be the first integrated aircraft and weapon system. During the development it was found to be an impossible demand by the USAF and overwhelming task for Convair. The F-102 was to be the "interim interceptor" with the F-102B to be the "ultimate interceptor" to come online a couple of years later. The later design was so different over the years it became the F-106 and didn't enter service until 1959.

The cheek fairings on the tail are for the area rule. They couldn't shrink the waist of the fuselage so they had to expand the front and rear sections.

When the F-102 was delivered, there were no manuals for operation of the radar, though the pilots were required to run intercepts with it and to qualify themselves operational. The F-89 boys gave some tips and the rest they figured out on their own. Techniques for tuning televisions were used to tune the display, including wiping the mode select knob vigorously.

The performance capabilities were confidential and not released to the pilots. When they read in a French magazine it could reach Mach 1.5 in a dive, they had to try it out. It worked!

The F-102 had a lot wrong with it, but so did everything made during that era. Aviation was in unknown territory and the US had to consider defense against an adversary. The lessons learned from the century jets paved the way for the F-16 and F-15 in later years. The ability of the F-102 to actually intercept a bomber was questionable, but it did provide a deterence, which was the name of the game back then.

Pics to follow when something is worth looking at.

Ken Pugh

Ken Pugh · March 10, 2009, 04:50:34 PM

The block was prepared with pins and the side view drawn on outside and inside.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2500

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2499

Test fit of pieces.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2498

I then carved in the side view.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2552

Ken Pugh

lastvautour · March 10, 2009, 08:31:43 PM

Coming along nicely. I have yet to proceed beyond printing the drawing of the F-104. Too many projects not enough time.

Lou

Ken Pugh · March 10, 2009, 11:28:19 PM

Thanks Lou,

I am still trying to wrap my mind around how to put the wings on the Starfighter and get them to come out right at 1/72 scale. I plan to do all of them, possibly including the prototypes of unbuilts, but the F-104 has me puzzled in the wing area.

Ken Pugh

lastvautour · March 11, 2009, 02:10:29 AM

I did a 1/24 scale one some years ago.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2322
I notched the wing and fuselage and just replaced the plug I took out to insert the wing from the bottom. The wing was a one piece affair with the dihedral built in. I will post some pictures as I am about to do a notch on another plane.

Ken Pugh · June 02, 2009, 08:34:42 PM

Now that my Family Life Center model is finished, progress is being made on the F-102. I have the basic form of the fuselage done. Filling and finishing is needed there. I still need some wood placed forward of the canopy so I can correct the outline.

The Case X wing has washout at the tips and I am carving the outlines of that. Hollowing out the underside and making all this thin will be entertaining. Using poplar it will be hard to carve but will not break and can be carved pretty thin.

Ken Pugh

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2814

Oceaneer99 · June 02, 2009, 09:54:52 PM

Ken, that is a really sleek 'plane. I ran across some drawings of a sleek Nord jet and have been contemplating my next project.

Garet

Ken Pugh · June 03, 2009, 07:02:50 PM

Just as I was looking at my half-carved wing I realized I had the wingtip curved up instead of the leading edge curved down. AARGH!!!! Unfortunately, flipping the whole wing over will not fix the problem. In the trash it goes. I traced out another one and will cut it out later. Time to go to bed.

Ken Pugh

Ken Pugh · June 08, 2009, 01:44:40 PM

As I was making the replacement wing, I noticed a mistake I made looking at pictures. On one page was the Case X wing where the tips curved up slightly. The next page had the Case XX wing with the leading edge of the wingtip sharply curved down. My original wing was correct with a curved up tip, but it was curved too much and didn't look right. The new wing looks better. If you decide to build an F-102 make sure you choose which wing you want to build and stick with it. The tips were curved differently and the elevons were shaped different.

This is a very sleek jet and a joy to see come together. I will post pics as soon as Ray says the gallery is ready. Can't wait to build the even more beautiful F-106.

Ken Pugh

Ken Pugh · June 16, 2009, 04:12:33 PM

The more I work on this jet the more I appreciate its beauty. There is a lot of fine shaping that needs to be done but most of the structure is in place.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2836

The upper fuselage shape is in place and the wing is attached.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2835

Wood glued on the bottom for lower fuselage shape.

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2834

Lower shape roughed-in.

Ken Pugh

John Bell · June 16, 2009, 04:21:52 PM

Hello,

Would the F-4 Phantom qualify? It was originally designated as the F-110 :<)

John Bell

Ken Pugh · June 16, 2009, 04:37:47 PM

John,

As far as a Century Jets cookup goes, it does not qualify. It was not designated by the USAF in the hundreds. Of course, we would love to follow your progress as you build! Cookups are just suggestions of build topics and a fun way for us to build as a community. Check Lou's projects, he builds all kinds of stuff outside of cookups.

I just noticed you are a new member. Welcome aboard! Build what you like and share. We'd love to see your work and talk with you about it. Also, check out our gallery if you are not already a member. There is a link for it near the top of the page. It requires a separate login/registration.

Ken Pugh

Oceaneer99 · June 16, 2009, 08:43:55 PM

Ken,

The 102 is looking nice!

I did find a book with some Century jet concepts that were (in general) not built, but I don't remember any with enough detail to make a reasonable model (though I'll double-check)

Garet

lastvautour · June 16, 2009, 10:40:49 PM

For Ken, very nice looking Dagger.

lastvautour · June 16, 2009, 11:12:03 PM

John the question of what constitutes a Century Series bird depends on where one looks. If you look hard enought, someone somewhere determined that the F-103, F-107, F-108, F-109 and F-110 Spectre all qualify depending on the literarture you read. The two Phantoms renamed as F-110 would have remained as such had the Defense Department not ordered that all Air Force, Army, and Navy aircraft be designated under a common, universal system on September 18, 1962. However, Ken interpretation is also correct in that the F-100 to F-106 (- F-103) were the only ones to make it into production. So for myself, I will eventually be making an F-108 Rapier. I think that she is a sleek looking craft that should have made it, but like the British TSR 2, Israeli Lavi and the Canadian CF-105 they did not.

Lou

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F-102 Delta Dagger for Century Jets cookup