F-102A Delta Dagger #56-1017, 48th FIS, 1960

A member of the Century Series, the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was designed to be an interceptor aircraft and act as the core of USAF air defenses in the late 1950s. The F-102 first appeared in service in 1956 with the task to intercept Soviet bombers. There was 889 F-102As manufactured when production ended in September 1958. The official name for the F-102 was 'Delta Dagger' but the most common term used was 'Deuce'.

the F-102 was the USAF's first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry both guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling. Many of the F-102s were transferred from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard by the mid-to-late 1960s, and with the exception of those examples converted to unmanned QF-102 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) drones, the type was totally retired from operational service in 1976. The follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102.

F-102A-55-CO Delta Dagger s/n 56-1017 (Case X wing) joined the USAF's 48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Langley AFB, Virginia in 1960. It did not remain with the squadron for very long, as the 48th FIS transitioned to the F-106 Delta Dart soon thereafter, but during its sojourn there, it was flown by famous astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom. Grissom flew it to stay familiar with USAF equipment, though by that time he was already assigned to Project Mercury.

*USAF 2nd FIS.
*1960: USAF 48th FIS.
*Hawaii ANG 199th FIS.
*Arizona ANG 152nd FIS.
*California ANG 196th FIS.
*Texas ANG 182nd FIS.
*5/1970: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
*Currently preserved at the South Dakota Air And Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB, SD.