McDonnell F-101 Voodoo

The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a large twin-engine Century-Series jet that served the U.S. Air Force in three very different roles. It began as a long-range escort fighter for Strategic Air Command, evolved into the RF-101 photo-reconnaissance aircraft that flew dangerous low-level missions over Cuba and Vietnam, and matured into the two-seat F-101B all-weather interceptor armed with Falcon missiles and nuclear Genie rockets for the defense of North America.

Built by McDonnell and powered by two Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojets, the Voodoo was fast and heavy, capable of better than 1,000 mph. Its single-seat fighter and reconnaissance versions and its two-seat interceptor shared a sleek fuselage and high T-tail. The F-101 and its Canadian CF-101 counterparts guarded continental airspace into the 1980s, while the unarmed reconnaissance Voodoos provided some of the most valuable intelligence imagery of the Cold War.