Subject: Number 102 in the series--Convair F-102 Delta Dagger (5 of 5)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 10 Dec 93 15:32:24 GMT

>From [email-masked]

In 1973, there were nearly four hundred surplus F-102As in storage at 
the Davis-Monthan facility, most of them having recently been 
withdrawn from service with the Air National Guard.  The Air Force 
decided to convert these planes into low-cost, supersonic target 
drones that could simulate the performance of enemy aircraft in aerial 
combat.  In 1973, the Sperry Rand Corporation converted six of these 
airplanes into QF-102A piloted drones for use as flying targets in 
support of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle test program.  Even though 
these aircraft were equipped with remote control electronics for 
operation from the ground, they retained conventional piloted controls 
for use in contractor-operated flights.  The first flight of the QF-102A 
was made in March of 1974.  

Subsequently, Sperry converted 65 surplus F-102A aircraft under the 
*Pave Deuce* program as true remotely-controlled drones under the 
designation PQM-102A.  In these aircraft, the pilot's seat and cockpit 
instruments were replaced by a set of remote control electronics, so 
that they could only be flown by remote pilots on the ground.  These 
aircraft were to be used in anti-aircraft missile training.  The first 
PQM-102A flew on August 13, 1974.  Later aircraft were delivered in 
stripped configuration, with all redundant systems being removed in 
order to save cost.  The first of these stripped PQM-102As was flown 
on February 17, 1977.  

The US Army acquired seven PQM-102As for use in evaluation of the 
Stinger and SAM-D (later named Patriot) surface-to-air missiles.  Most 
of the remainder were used by the USAF at Tyndall AFB and Holloman 
AFB.  

Sperry was awarded another contract in 1978 for the conversion of 66 
more surplus F-102As to PQM-102B configuration.  The PQM-102B differed 
from the A version by having remote control electronics in the nose 
instead of the cockpit so that piloted flight was possible.  A 
contract for eighty more PQM-102Bs was issued to Goodyear.  

The last PQM-102B (56-1072) was expended at Holloman AFB in 1986.  

Sources:

  General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors, John Wegg,
  Naval Institute Press, 1990.

  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.

  American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday,
  1982.

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

  The World Guide to Combat Planes, William Green, MacDonald, London, 1966

  The World's Fighting Planes, William Green, Doubleday, 1964.

  The Aircraft of the World, William Green and Gerald Pollinger, Doubleday,
  1965.

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