Cornfield Bomber

Cornfield Bomber
Cornfield Bomber
	The "Cornfield Bomber" after landing in a frozen Montana field, February 1970
General information
Type	F-106A-100-CO Delta Dart
Manufacturer	Convair
Owners	United States Air Force
Serial	58-0787
History
In service	1958–1988
Preserved at	National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio
Fate	On display

The "Cornfield Bomber" is the nickname given to a Convair F-106 Delta Dart of the United States Air Force's 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron which made an unpiloted landing in a farmer's field in Montana in 1970. Suffering only minor damage after the pilot had ejected from the aircraft during a training mission gone awry, the aircraft was recovered, repaired, and returned to service. It is currently on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

History

This aircraft was manufactured by Convair in 1958 and given the tail number 58-0787. It served with the 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron based at Malmstrom Air Force Base adjacent to Great Falls, Montana. During a routine training flight conducting aerial combat maneuvers on February 2, 1970, the aircraft entered a flat spin. The pilot, First Lieutenant Gary Foust,^[2]^[3] deployed the aircraft's drag chute as a last resort while attempting to recover.^[2] When it failed Foust ejected at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,600 m).^[4]

The reduction in weight and change in center of gravity caused by the removal of the pilot,^[5] coupled with the blast force of his seat rocketing out of the plane pushing the nose of the aircraft down, which had been trimmed by Foust for takeoff and idle throttle, caused the aircraft to recover from the spin. The previously set trim then helped stabilize the attitude of the plane after the initial nose down.^[5] One of the other pilots on the mission was reported to have radioed Foust during his descent by parachute that "you'd better get back in it!"^[2] From his parachute, Foust watched incredulously as the now-pilotless aircraft descended and skidded to a halt in a farmer's field near Big Sandy, Montana.^[5] Foust drifted into the nearby mountains. He was later rescued by local residents on snowmobiles.^[2]^[4]

Shortly thereafter, the local sheriff and local residents arrived at the scene of the crash. The thrust from the still-idling jet engine allowed the aircraft to slowly drift on its belly across the field after it landed.^[3] The sheriff, having contacted the air base, was informed that he should simply allow the jet to run out of fuel, which occurred one hour and 45 minutes later without further incident.^[2] A recovery crew from McClellan Air Force Base arrived on the scene and began to dismantle the aircraft, removing its wings for transport aboard a railroad flat car. The damage to the aircraft was minimal; indeed, one officer on the recovery crew is reported to have stated: If there were any less damage, he would have simply flown the aircraft out of the field.^[2]^[4]

Preservation

Following its misadventure, the "Cornfield Bomber" was repaired and returned to service, operating with the 49th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, the final Air Force unit to operate the F-106.^[2] Foust flew the aircraft again in 1979 while training at Tyndall Air Force Base.^[6] Upon its retirement, it was presented to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in August 1986, where it remains on display.^[1]^[5]

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Fact Sheets – Convair F-106A Delta Dart". National Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Grier 2009.
^ ^a ^b Van Hare, Thomas (February 2, 2013). "The Cornfield Bomber". Historic Wings.
^ ^a ^b ^c "58-0787 Pilot-less Landing". f-106deltadart.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Skaarup 2003.
^ Kurtz, Nicholas (October 9, 2013). Cornfield Bomber (Video). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: National Museum of the United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19 – via DVIDS.

Bibliography

Grier, Peter (April 1, 2009). "Gary, You Better Get Back In It!". Air Force Magazine.
Skaarup, Harold A. (2003). Ohio Warbird Survivors 2003: A Handbook on Where to Find Them. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-27304-1. OCLC 53112511.

External links

Short documentary on the Cornfield Bomber on AVweb
National Museum of the Airforce videos page, with pilot interview
Cornfield Bomber video from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on YouTube

48°10′40″N 110°06′53″W / 48.17778°N 110.11472°W / 48.17778; -110.11472

[museum-1] "Fact Sheets – Convair F-106A Delta Dart". National Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved 13 July 2016.

[FOOTNOTEGrier2009-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Grier 2009.

[HW-3] Van Hare, Thomas (February 2, 2013). "The Cornfield Bomber". Historic Wings.

[F-106-4] "58-0787 Pilot-less Landing". f-106deltadart.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2010.

[FOOTNOTESkaarup2003-5] Skaarup 2003.

[6] Kurtz, Nicholas (October 9, 2013). Cornfield Bomber (Video). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio: National Museum of the United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19 – via DVIDS.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber (February 1970) Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 (March 1970) ALM Flight 980 (May 1970)* Trans International Airlines Flight 863 (September 1970) Wichita State University football team plane crash (October 1970) Southern Airways Flight 932 (November 14 1970) Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26 (November 27 1970)
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash (January 1971) Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash (May 1971) Hughes Airwest Flight 706 (June 6 1971) Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 (June 7 1971) Pan Am Flight 845 (July 1971) Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 (September 1971) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (See D. B. Cooper, November 1971)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 (March 1972) Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 (May 1972) American Airlines Flight 96 (June 12 1972) Prinair Flight 191 (June 24 1972)* Lake Winnebago mid-air collision (June 29 1972) Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 (July 5 1972) Delta Air Lines Flight 841 (July 31 1972) Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident (September 1972) Southern Airways Flight 49 (November 1972) United Air Lines Flight 553 (December 10 1972) Chicago–O'Hare runway collision (December 20 1972) Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (December 29 1972) Puerto Rico DC-7 crash (December 31 1972)*
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash (February 1973) Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 (July 23 1973) Delta Air Lines Flight 723 (July 31 1973) TWA Flight 742 (August 1973) World Airways Flight 802 (September 8 1973) Texas International Airlines Flight 655 (September 27 1973) Pan Am Flight 160 (November 3 1973) National Airlines Flight 27 (November 3 1973) Iberia Flight 933 (December 1973)
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 (January 6 1974) Pan Am Flight 806 (January 30 1974)* Delta Air Lines Flight 523 (February 1974) Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 (September 1974) TWA Flight 514 (December 1 1974) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231 (December 1 1974)
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 (Janaury 1975) Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 (June 1975) Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 (August 1975) Overseas National Airways Flight 032 (November 1975)
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 (April 5 1976) American Airlines Flight 625 (April 27 1976)* Air Manila Flight 702 (June 1976) TWA Flight 355 (September 1976)
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 (January 1977) Southern Airways Flight 242 (April 4 1977) Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 (April 12 1977) Encino helicopter crash (August 1977) Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash (October 1977) Air Indiana Flight 216 (December 13 1977) United Airlines Flight 2860 (December 18 1977) Vieques Air Link crash (December 19 1977)*
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 (March 1 1978) United Airlines Flight 696 (March 13 1978) National Airlines Flight 193 (May 1978) Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 (September 25 1978) Air Caribbean Flight 309 (September 26 1978)* Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217 (December 4 1978) TWA Flight 541 (December 21 1978) United Airlines Flight 173 (December 28 1978)
1979	TWA Flight 841 (April 1979) American Airlines Flight 191 (May 25 1979) Downeast Airlines Flight 46 (May 30 1979) Air New England Flight 248 (June 17 1979) American Airlines Flight 293 (June 20 1979) American Airlines Flight 444 (November 1979)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that either took place in a U.S. territory, or in adjacent waters thereof. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 (July 1970) occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands