06/20/2026
Interesting.
On February 2, 1970, during a training mission over Montana, U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Gary Foust’s F-106 Delta Dart entered a flat spin. Recovery attempts failed, including a drag chute that wrapped around the tail, so Foust ejected at around 14,000–15,000 feet.
The changes in the aircraft’s weight, balance, and configuration caused by the ejection may have allowed it to recover, while its existing trim settings helped stabilize it. The now-unmanned jet stabilized into a controlled glide, flew onward, and made a gentle belly landing in a snow-covered field near Big Sandy, Montana.
It suffered relatively minor, repairable damage and skidded to a stop, after which its engine continued running until fuel exhaustion. The aircraft was later recovered, repaired, and returned to service, becoming famous for its extraordinary accidental landing without a pilot on board.
It became known as the “Cornfield Bomber,” although Foust later said he was unsure who created the nickname, since it had landed in a wheat field and the F-106 was an interceptor, not a bomber. He joked that “Wheatfield Fighter” would have been more accurate.
It is now preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Ohio.
