Century series
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The Century series aircraft were a series of early US supersonic jet fighters built for the United States Air Force during the 1950s and early 1960s. It was so named because the numbering of this series of aircraft started at F-100:
- North American F-100 Super Sabre
- McDonnell Douglas F-101 Voodoo
- Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
- Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
- Republic F-105 Thunderchief
- Convair F-106 Delta Dart
Unlike previous series aircraft these were all capable of sustained supersonic flight while level — no dive was necessary to exceed Mach 1. Similar advancements were made in this period by the United States Navy with the F4D Skyray and the F8U Crusader carrier based aircraft.
Although numbered 100+, the F-111 Aardvark and F-117 Nighthawk do not properly belong to the Century Series, as neither is in the truest sense a fighter (and the latter was developed more than 20 years after the last Century Series aircraft).