F-106 Delta Dart in Action

The F-106 Delta Dart is a remarkable. If relatively unheralded airplane. If its performance by present-day standards is less than amazing, its longevity certainly is, for the first F-106 rolled ofl the production line m 1956. Today, eighteen years later, the Dan is still flying, and is the only manned fignter-lnterceptor on active duty with the Aerospace Defense Command.
The idea for the F-106 was originally conceived oy the USAF Board of Senior Officers, in October, 1948. The Board had been studying the need for a new air defense fighter, and had concluded that, given the then current state of the an, the new fighter would have to be developed in two phases The first model of "The 1954 Interceptor" (as the F-106 was originally called) was the F-102A, and was dubbed "the Interim Fighter". It was scheduled to go Into service in 1956.