Subject: Number One Hundred in the Series--North American F-100 Super Sabre (10 of 12)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 9 Nov 93 17:19:03 GMT

>From [email-masked]

Numerous outdated F-100Ds were modified as pilotless drones to give Air 
Force pilots and Army ground-to-air missile crews experience against 
realistic targets.  These aircraft were redesignated QF-100.  

In August of 1979, a contract was awarded to Sperry Flight Systems for 
the conversion of 9 QF-100 drones.  Two were YQF-100 development 
aircraft with added cockpit controls so that they could be flown by 
pilots for system evaluation.  Three were built to standard USAF 
target configuration, three were built to Army requirements, and one 
was a two-seat version.  The eight F-100Ds converted to QF-100 
configuration had the serial numbers 55-3610, 55-2669, 56-2912, 
56-2979, 56-3048, 56-3324, and 56-3669.  The single F-100F had the 
serial number of 56-3984.  

Following these tests, a total of 209 QF-100 conversions were made by 
Tracor/Flight Systems Division from F-100s that had been preserved at 
the Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona.  These conversions were painted 
bright red-orange and had a few extra blade antennas for the 
transmission and reception of radio signals from the 
remote-controllers on the ground.  The last QF-100 conversion took 
place in April of 1985.  

The takeoff of the QF-100 drone was directed by two ground-based 
controllers positioned at the end of the runway.  Once airborne, the 
drone was handed off to a third controller sitting in a fixed-base 
ground station.  A dual redundant system was used to get the drone to 
the mission area and to select the maneuvers.  The maneuvers were 
pre-programmed into on-board computers.  If the drone survived the 
mission, it was flown back to the handover point, where the two 
controllers at the end of the runway brought it back in for a landing.  

The first unpiloted flight of a QF-100 took place on November 19, 1981 
from Tyndall AFB in Florida.  Recently, the QF-100 has been used as a 
target in the AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) 
program.  The first AMRAAM kill against a QF-100 took place on 
September 17, 1985.  The lifetime of a typical drone was about ten 
flights before it was destroyed.  

Sources:

  North American F-100 Super Sabre, David A. Anderton, Osprey, 1987

  The North American F-100 Super Sabre, Ray Wagner, Aircraft in Profile,
  1965.

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
  Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

  Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and
  David Donald, Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.

  Post-World War II Fighters, 1945-1973, Marcelle Size Knaack,
  Office of Air Force History, 1986. 

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033