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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 623.7464
EAN num: 9781844154142
ISBN number: 1844154149
Label: Pen and Sword
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: 2007-01
Publishing house: Pen and Sword
Sale Popularity Level: 642685
Studio: Pen and Sword
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During the mid-1950s the United States Air Force was given its most powerful single-seat, two-engine fighter to date. The Voodoo would be deployed before the end of that decade in the tactical nuclear bomber and tactical reconnaissance roles world-wide, and in homeland defense with the two-seat, all-weather variant. In December 1957 it took the World Air Speed Record to Mach 1.6 - over one and a half times faster than the sound barrier.
This book looks at the evolution of the original design and its introduction into service. Chapters cover operations in Korea, Vietnam, the Cuban Crisis and in Europe during the Cold War years. Many first-hand accounts from pilots are included and the author's own experiences with the aircraft are given with fascinating insight.
The Voodoo was an elegant, mean-looking fighting machine that epitomized fast flying in the fifties and sixties. It continues to be a revered airplane.
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Rated by buyers 
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Two recce Voodoos raced toward the heavily defended Than Hoa Bridge -- Five Thuds had already been lost trying to take it out.
As they put the Bay of Tonkin behind them, worsening weather had driven the pair of RF-101s down from 500 to 200 ft. "Then all hell broke loose, the North Vietnamese opening up with all they had as the Voodoos scythed their way through the weeds at more than 500 knots."
Somehow, both Voodoos escaped without damage and returned to base with photos showing the bridge was still intact.
McDonnell Aircraft Corporation had indeed designed a strong, versatile jet, for the Voodoo had been originally conceived 21 years earlier as a SAC multi-role long-range bomber escort fighter.
The long-lived Voodoo was cast in three distinct missions over its operational life. In 1955, the Air Force recognized that the adaptable Voodoo was perfect for tactical recon. Gun and ammunition boxes were removed and a lengthened nose housing cameras installed -- the RF-101 was born.
The same year, the two-seat F-101 bomber interceptor was conceived. By 1957, the ADC and RCAF F-101Bs, armed with 2 Genie air-to-air rockets and 2 Falcon air-to-air mssiles were defending North America. Incredibly, each Genie rocket had a 1.5 kiloton atomic warhead!
Based in Suffolk County, England, beginning in 1957, the F-101, using its great acceleration, speed, and range, was cast in the tactical low-level nuclear bomber role.
Group Captain Nigel J.R. Walpole, RAF, is the author of "Voodoo Warriors." A jet fighter pilot himself, he took part in the 1960 USAF/RAF exchange tour, flying RF-101s out of Shaw Air Force Base.
Mr. Walpole covers lifestyles, personalities, training, innovations, deployments, evolving tactics and important operations, informing and entertaining the reader in an anecdotal style. The book contains a multitude of photographs, flying stories, interesting characters, funny episodes and humorous predicaments.
Flight Lieutenant Walpole successfully completed his very first high level photo mission over the Nevada Test Range. After checking his photos, the intelligence staff ordered a round of beers to celebrate the coming end of Walpole's succssful visit. "In fact it ended almost immediately when a senior person from Nellis, invited to view the results of the mission, was aghast to see that it had been flown by a 'foreigner' without the necessary clearances to fly over a most secret area." Flight Lieutenant Walpole was "ordered back to Shaw forthwith..."
On the more serious side, the author relates how many good men were lost flying the Voodoo.
Part One, "Cold War Contingencies," beginning with the 1958 deployment of cold war Voodoos, covers overseas operations in North Africa, Europe, Taiwan, and Japan. These chapters follow the refining of the Voodoos' mission, joint training of crews, and building NATO experience by executing overseas deployments with other air forces.
Later, in Part Two, "Conflict," the battle-ready Voodoo squadrons take part in the tense RF-101 photo reconnaissance operations during the Cuban missile crisis.
The "mother lode" of the book are the eight chapters dedicated to all aspects of the escalating and evolving Voodoo operations in South East Asia during the Vietnam War, including special coverage of the "Hanoi Hilton" prison camp.
In Part Three, "Commitment," the author salutes the valuable support crews of recce squadrons stationed in South East Asia that tirelessly processed the film, and maintained the aircraft.
Mr. Walpole pays tribute to the veteran Voodoo crews by sharing photos of various unit reunions as well as pictures of retired Voodoo aircraft on public display, in Part Four, "Commemoration."
Rated by buyers 
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It is fortunate that Nigel Walpole overcame his initial reluctance to write Voodoo Warriors because he thought himself unqualified, for he has written a great story about a fascinating airplane.
This is not a book about an airplane in the sense of a technical treatise like Aerofax or Crowood would do. But it tells the story of the F-101 beautifully, and with great detail, through the experiences of its pilots, one of whom is the author himself.
The story moves around the world, going to the various operational areas where the F-101 was based. I got a greater knowledge of the role Voodoo nuclear armed fighters would have played in the event of a war in Europe than I ever had before. Their mission would have been most probably a "one-way ticket to hell", and the bravery of their pilots is not difficult to appreciate.
Less space is devoted to the F-101B two-seat interceptor, which is the version that I saw here in the US at various times. Properly, the greater part of the book deals with the photo reconnaissance versions and operations in Southeast Asia, where the Voodoo gained its greatest fame, but at a great cost in good pilot's lives.
The F-101 has been a lesser known "Century" series US fighter, somewhat overshadowed by the F-100, F-104, F-105, and perhaps less so by the F-106. After reading this book, one gets a different perspective on this very interesting aircraft, it really is the "One-O-Wonder"!
I'm looking forward to reading more by Nigel Walpole.
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