McDonnell's F-101 Voodoo series was in many ways the most interesting of the 'Century Series' fighter programmes of the 1950s, partly because the type's design and intended mission changed radically several times during a 40-year career. Of all the widely differing sub-types that evolved from the original F-101 A 'penetration fighter', the RF-101 tactical reconnaissance fighter was the most useful to the USAF. The aircraft also performed some of the most challenging reconnaissance missions ever flown. Although it gained a reputation for being a difficult aircraft to handle because of its weight and tendency to 'pitch-up' due to its high-mounted tailplane, the Voodoo's supersonic speed and newly-developed camera suite enabled it to conduct vital low-altitude photo-reconnaissance missions over heavily-defended target areas. In 1961 the RF-101 was the first USAF combat aircraft to see action in Southeast Asia, remaining until 1970 when it was replaced by the slower but more sophisticated RF-4C Phantom II. Within NATO, the RF-101C was a pivotal reconnaissance platform for 11 years from 1958, and US-based RF-101 units provided crucial intelligence data during the political crises in Lebanon and Taiwan (1958), Cuba (during the 1962 Missile Crisis) and the Dominican Republic (1965). RF-101 As delivered to Taiwan made numerous clandestine flights over communist China between 1959 and 1965. Book jacket.