F-106B “Delta Dart”

The F-106 Delta Dart had a long career at Edwards AFB, where the prototype A-model made its first flight on 26 Dec 56, and where on 15 Dec 59 Col Joe Rogers piloted an F-106A to a world speed record of 1,525.695 mph, Mach 2.41. In Apr 58, the first two-seat F-106B made its maiden flight there and later served as an ejection seat test vehicle with the AFFTC’s 6511th Test Group at El Centro NAS, CA. During the 1960s, F-106s were stationed at Edwards as a detachment of the 329th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at George AFB, and this aircraft bears 329th markings because it was assigned to that unit for a short time in the early 1960s. The AFFTC Museum acquired the aircraft in 2003 after many years in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB; before that, it had flown in the drone program at Tyndall AFB, FL. Restoration was completed by the 412th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, with paint applied by the squadron’s Corrosion Control Shop.

California · United States