None of the Century Series jets were designed as "classic" fighters.

Including the missions of interceptor, long range bomber escort, tac nuke delivery, they were all great airplanes for their time.
Recall that many of these were designed/developed fairly shortly post WWII/Korea.

The RF-101 held its own much as the Wild Weasel F-105 did; doing a job they were never designed
to do in the first place. I'm impressed that the aircraft designers/engineers were able to
modify and keep them in use as long as they did. For example, the Georgia ANG used 105s 'till '83 or so.

The Century Series were some of the greatest designs; the 105's "wasp waist" fuselage being
an example. A friend of mine who flew for South West described flying the "nickle" as the fastest plane on the deck;
nothing could catch it at the time. Mach 2 at altitude didn't hurt either :-)

Bob

__________________
illegitimi non carborundum

NAR# 54643 L-1

SAM# 043

AMA# 157091

VRCS# 154

A&P# 42x xx xxxx.