page_title: Convair F-106 Delta Dart
section_title: NASA research and test aircraft
hierarchical_section_title: Convair F-106 Delta Dart / Operational history / NASA research and test aircraft
caption_attribution_description: English: F-106, number 58-0787, landed almost intact in a snowy field after the pilot ejected.
context_page_description: The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last dedicated interceptor in U.S. Air Force service to date. It was gradually retired during the 1980s, with the QF-106 drone conversions of the aircraft being used until 1998 under the Pacer Six program.
context_section_description: Six F-106s were retained by NASA for test purposes through 1998. An F-106B two-seat trainer was operated by NASA Langley Research Center between 1979 and 1991. This Delta Dart was used in research programs ranging from testing supersonic engines to improving maneuverability of fighters. Between 1980 and 1986 the aircraft was modified for the purpose of lightning strike research and became known as the Lightning Strike Plane and was struck 714 times without damage. On one hour-long flight at 38,000 feet (12,000 metres) in 1984, lightning struck the research aircraft 72 times. One significant modification was the replacement of the composite nose radome by a metallic radome. Although the maximum speed of the F-106 was Mach 2.3, during the lightning experiments it was flown at subsonic speeds into clouds at 300 knots (350 miles per hour; 560 kilometres per hour) from 5,000 to 40,000 feet (1,500 to 12,200 metres). The aircraft was equipped with optical sensors which consisted of a video camera and a light detector. Data acquisition was performed with 1980s state of the art digital waveform recorders.
caption: The Cornfield Bomber, pictured here shortly after earning its nickname.
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