CF-101B Voodoo
The CF-101B Voodoo was manufactured by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri for the United States Air Force (as the F-101), and sold to Canada after the Avro Arrow program was terminated. A total of 66 Voodoos were transferred from USAF stocks consisting of 56 interceptors and 10 trainers. The CF-101, an all-weather interceptor, was operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Armed Forces between 1961 and 1987.
The Voodoo succeeded the Avro CF-100 Canuck as Canada’s defensive aircraft against the perceived Cold War threat of Soviet bombers during the Cold War years of the early 1960s to the mid 1980s. It served with Air Defence Squadrons on the east and west coast of Canada as part of the commitment to North American Air Defence. A supersonic aircraft it could carry two nuclear armed Genie rockets and two Falcon infrared missiles.
Thanks to a very appropriate bid of $1.01, in July 2009 the Museum purchased a McDonnell CF-101B Voodoo from Crown Assets. The aircraft is presently located at CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia. In April 2010 a preliminary investigation started to determine the feasibility of getting the aircraft back to Langley for display. The Voodoo is a very large fighter aircraft and it certainly will be a financial, engineering and transportation challenge to bring 063 home to Langley. However, in spite of what many years of Maritime salt air corrosion has done, as one member of the investigative team said “man built it so man can take it apart!” The team progress will be updated after a planned visit to the aircraft in the summer of 2010.
This Voodoo, RCAF number 101063, is particularly unique. In researching a book, (see www.sparksinthenightsky.com), it was discovered how unique. In 1972 it was part of the 425 All Weather Fighter Squadron team from CFB Bagotville, Quebec representing the Canadian Armed Forces in the United States Air Force William Tell air-to-air gunnery competition at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The Top Gun award of the whole meet was won, for the very first time, by a Canadian crew. Captains Lowell Butters, pilot, and Doug Danko, Airborne Intercept Navigator, succeeded in capturing the very prestigious prize.
