The story of the only RF-101 ever downed by a North Vietnamese MiG
In 1961, the RF-101 became the first USAF combat aircraft to see action in the Vietnam War. It remained in service there until 1970, when the slower but more advanced RF-4C Phantom II replaced it.
The Voodoo’s supersonic speed and camera equipment made it well suited to essential low-level photo-reconnaissance missions over heavily defended areas.
Throughout the conflict, the railway running northwest from China into North Vietnam was under near-constant surveillance and attack. RF-101Cs carried out most of the photographic missions needed to monitor traffic entering the country.
Peter E. Davies recounts in RF-101 Voodoo Units in Combat that Maj. Bobby Ray Bagley, considered one of the RF-101’s most skilled pilots, was assigned to photograph part of the rail route during a Route Package 6 mission on September 16, 1967. Flying RF-101C 56-0180 of the 20th TRS/432nd TRW from Udorn RTAFB, Bagley faced antiaircraft fire during his photo runs. He completed them near Thanh Son and Nghia Lo, then began climbing to 24,000 feet for the return flight to Udorn.
Ace status
With the photographs secured, Bagley turned for home, though the ECM pods may have reduced his speed. By then, Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF) radar had detected his Voodoo, and at 1055 hours two MiG-21F-13s from the 921st Fighter Regiment were launched from Noi Bai Air Base to intercept him. Nguyen Ngoc Do and Pham Thanh Ngan accelerated to Mach 1.4 behind the RF-101C, which was cruising over Son La at about 4,000 feet above them. Ngan fired an R-3S missile, striking Bagley’s aircraft and earning the VPAF pilot ace status.
Maj. Bagley had requested an extension to his Southeast Asia tour so he could continue flying the RF-101C. After ejecting from the damaged aircraft, he landed in the hills about 60 miles southwest of Yen Bai. He was soon captured and, before being imprisoned in Hanoi, was repeatedly tortured by NVA troops and local villagers.
Released in 1973, Bagley returned to Shaw AFB and eventually retired as a colonel.
Another Voodoo mission on the same day
A second Voodoo mission was flown that same day to replace the photographs lost with Maj. Bagley’s aircraft. Capt. Patterson, who had previously been shot down by an SA-2 on June 21, 1967, was assigned the task. His RF-101C, serial number 56-0181, sustained heavy damage from antiaircraft fire over the railway target area, forcing him to eject near Ban Ban in northern Laos, about 150 miles from Udorn. A search-and-rescue helicopter soon picked him up. Patterson attributed the damage to ground fire, but MiG-21F-13 pilot Nguyen Ngoc Do claimed he had destroyed the Voodoo with an R-3S missile, thereby earning ace status.
Although Bagley’s aircraft was the only Voodoo ever brought down by a MiG, its loss led to RF-101Cs being withdrawn from most missions over the high-threat areas of Route Package 6 in North Vietnam. These areas included Hanoi, Haiphong, Thai Nguyen, and several MiG bases.
Three USAF reconnaissance aircraft were lost on September 16. In addition to the two RF-101Cs, an RF-4C Phantom, serial number 1164-1037, of the 16th TRS/460th TRW, failed to return from a night mission over southern North Vietnam. The aircraft had departed from Tan Son Nhut Air Base, and both crew members remain listed as missing in action.
RF-101 Voodoo Units in Combat is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photos by U.S. Air Force
