F-102 in SEAC colours?

Most F-102s which were assigned to squadrons in Viet Nam were eventually painted in camoflage. Later on in the 1960s, most surviving F-102s were camoflaged. If you have photos, go from them. I recommend the F-102 "Detail and Scale" and "Colours and Markings" books by Bert Kinzey as well as Squadron's "F-102 in Europe". Colours were green 34079, green 34102 and tan 20400 over grey 36622. I have seen pictures of both case X and case XX wings so your best bet is to pick a photo and model that aircraft.

There is a good article in WINGS magazine (February 1991, Volume 21, Number 1) which discusses the F-102s in Southeast Asia. The initial deployment from Clark AB, Philippines to Don Muang AB, Thailand (near Bangkok), Danang AB and Tan Son Nhut AB, RVN came in 1964. Units involved were the 509 Fighter Interceptor Squadron (from 405 TFW) to Danang (6 aircraft). The 51 TFW?s 16 Fighter Interceptor Squadron to Tan Son Nhut (12 airplanes) but this was taken over by the 509th within a couple of weeks (six airplanes). The ultimate disposition was: 405 TFW/Detachment 4 at Don Muang RTAFB; ADVON-2 at Danang AB, RVN and

509th ADVON-3/Det 3 at Tan Son Nhut AB, RVN. The 509th detachment at Tan Son Nhut was closed late in 1968. There was also a 509th detachment at Udorn RTAFB.

The 64FIS also provided aircraft but was deactivated at Clark AB in December 1969.

Here is a partial list of tail numbers.

64th Tail codes PE

070864 xxx335 xxx362 xxx444 xxx467 xxx964

509th Tail code PK

xxx041 xxx154 xxx157 xxx200 xxx231

I also recall that some Air National Guard units in the US had the SEA camouflage but I don't know which ones.

Colours were green 34079, green 34102 and

Jessie, Are you sure about the tan being FS 20400? IIRC that was primarily used in the "Southwest Asia" scheme. I believe the tan for the F-102 (and other "Vietnam Camo" aircraft) should have been FS 30219.

Don McIntyre Clarksville, TN

Hasegawa issued a SEA camo version in one of their earlier kits The instructions are in Japanese but it gives the numbers 313, 51 and 62 with tailcode 070884. Sorry I can't help with the wing. I hope that gives you something to go on.

When F-102s were first camoflaged, tan 20400 was used. This was not standard with other SEA camoflaged aircraft, and in colour pictures it is clearly lighter than tan 30219 which I agree is the standard SEA colour. I remember this because for the longest time that tan was unavailable in model paint. Check out the C&M book for the reference.

If you work in 1/72, the Hasegawa kit's your only option, and it has case X wings. For case XX, the solution is to graft on F-106 wingtips. In 1/48, the current Revellogram/Promodeller kit has the case X wing. The first issue (in the yellow-border box) had the case XX wing, (and round wheels) but the moulds were permanently altered. It's getting hard to find now. I imagine that the same grafting of F-106 wingtips would work in this scale also but I haven't tried it.

Yes, the change was performance related; it made landing and turning much easier at the cost of a couple of knots of top speed.

While we're on the subject, is there an explanation of the Case wing types anywhere?

The SEA camouflage was the same for all aircraft. The Air Force technical order (TO 1-1-4) says the colors are: Green 34079, Green

34102, and Tan 30219 (upper surfaces) and Gray 36622 on lower surfaces.

It does not distinguish between Case X and Case XX wings.

The Case X (Case Ten) wing was the original and had a turned-up wing tip. The leading edge was slightly turned down but only outboard of the outermost wing fence. The outer edge of the elevon was parallel to the centerline. The Case XX (Case Twenty) wing started with aircraft

56-1317. This was a change on the production line and there was no retrofitting of older aircraft. The wing was cambered to include the tip. Its elevon was angled to outboard. Bert Kinzey's "F-102 Delta Dagger In Detail & Scale" has a good photographic comparison on pages 52-53. Unfortunately, I don't know why the change was made but I can only assume that it was performance related.

Thanks Rob. I bet now I know that, I won't have the right kit when the time comes to 'do' one ;)

The Florida and New York ANG also flew camouflaged F-102s. A recent re-release of the 1/48 Monogram kit has decals for the latter.

Curt

Case X wing had a reflexed tip that reduced the ability to rotate. Case XX wing had a conical cambered leading edge that increased the downward 'curl' out to teh tip. It rotated more easily and you could hold the nose wheel off longer (aero drag) on landing. It also had a very noticeable 'ground effect' as it descended through half-span height on landing that was lacking in the Case X. Case XX also cruised more economically than Case X. I flew both of them and there was no problem telling them apart via flight characteristics nor making the choice as to which one to fly. BTW I was a flight instructor/examiner and maintenance test pilot in the Deuce logging about 1500 hours in the type. Walt BJ

Thanks for that- can you please confirm does the xxx below mean same as

070? I have a low detail pic of two 'PK' machines with code numbers '13' and '379' in white.

Cheers, Ian

The xxx in the serial numbers of my earlier posts meas that I could not determine the initial numbers due to the poor resolution of the photos. You'll have to do more research to find the leading digits.