F-101B Voodoo

Recently, we caught up with David Wigley (past Mr. Top Gun champion), who was showing his newest project at the recent AMA Expo East at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. He had his master plug on display for his upcoming 1/6-scale McDonnell Aircraft F-101B Voodoo. David’s turbine-powered Voodoo will be 138 inches long and will have a 79-inch wingspan. The plug has a massive amount of surface details that will be molded into the surfaces of his tooling molds, which Dave will use eventually to lay up his fiberglass airframe parts. Here are some of your comments.

Jim Gavel: Wow! I’ve always been a fan of the big ol’ Voodoo. It made an impression with me at airshows, with afterburner flame shooting out of the back and the accompanying big "Boom!" Mind you, it had to go out of sight to turn around, but who cares? The look, the speed, and the sound were worth the wait!

Michael Cox: It’s about time someone tackled a model of the F-101B. This airplane was the best we had to defend the mainland United States during the Cold War. I worked on and had a chance to fly in one during my time at Hamilton AFB (1963–66). In my opinion, it was very advanced for its time. One of the F-101Bs I worked on is still at the Castle AFB museum in California. Great project.

James M Cardi: I had the pleasure of attending the 2018 AMA Expo East and got to see the black beast in person. It is truly a work of art, to say the least. Love it.

Ron Buran: I had the pleasure of logging about 1,000 hours of pilot time in the B-model Voodoo from 1961 to ’65, and feel the Voodoo (especially the B-model) has not received its fair share in the Century Series jet fighter history. David’s model looks like a “Mini-Me” Voodoo. I hope I have the opportunity to meet David at one of his 101 outings.