hello

Does this plane ever exist, and if yes, when was it cancelled, assuming it was cancelled?



"Switchblade"

Considering the existance of the B-2, F-22 and F-35, it doesn't seem that this thing would ever be funded.

What are the chances of this thing existing, and ever being declassified, if it is actually a real half-black project? The concept looks useful.

highsea

It was just a concept. If it was a real "black project", Northrup would never have applied for a patent on the design.

There's a reason why no one has tried to produce a new VG wing AC in the last 25 years.

__________________
My baby called me up. She said- Why don't you ever take me out? Pick me up in your brand new car....You shake the short change from the old fruit jar...

hello

What's that reason?

highsea

Actually there's several reasons, but it all boils down to the fact that they just aren't practical anymore.

TillerNOS

It Existed alright...in the movie "Stealth"

hello

Huh? I though the "Stealth"(the movie) plane was the fake F/A-37 Talon.

hello

Can you explain these resaons in a bit more detail? I know they have a maintainance hassle, and maybe they decrease stealth(?), but what else?

highsea

It all comes down to cost vs. capability. The gearboxes needed are heavy and expensive to manufacture, they eat up a lot of weight and internal space that could otherwise be used for fuel, weapons, ECM, or whatever.

The entire mechanism is very complex, your underwing stores have to be on rotating pylons, etc. The pivot point is a very high fatigue point, so service life is reduced and center barrel/wing maintenance is increased many times over compared to fixed geometry wings. The flight control software has to adapt the aspect angle based on flight conditions, which just adds another level of complexity.

If you want to know where the Tomcats were parked on the flight deck, just look for the puddles of oil.

VG winged AC are jacks of all trades, masters of none. You really have to have a compelling reason to field them, and that reason just isn't there today. It's more practical to have purpose-built AC that are optimized for specific tasks, imo.

I realize there are people that disagree with me on this.

Don't take this wrong, I love the cats, bones, and varks, lol, they are just awfully damn expensive to field for the capabilities they bring to the table, especially considering the options available to us these days.

hello

Ok, thanks for the information, Highsea. So it seems this is another non-existant fighter-bomber program to replace the F-111, like the FB-22, which is a little closer to reality, and the A-6 replacement, the A-12 Avenger, which was a catastrophe and the cause of the SuperHornet. In the end, the old F-15-based backup, the E is the one taking the 'vark's role.

Captain Drunk

No but this aircraft exists.....the RF-19.

I bear my testimony because, I had this book, “Encyclopedia Of Modern Military Aircraft” by Michael Taylor which had an A-to-Z alphabetical listing of all aircraft companies and photographs of their planes. Under the “L” section was this plane referred to as “Lockheed CSIRS RF-19”. You can see a real picture of quite a strange looking plane unlike anything else – all curves no straight edges, flying in a clear blue sky banked it’s top side air intakes facing you, but you can’t see the pilot, the cockpit glass has a translucent glow like F-16’s Have Glass. It’s all-black surface texture with the light grey USAF insignia on it looks quite like the F-117 but size a lot smaller. To bad I gave away that book to a friend, it was a late 1980s edition. I would have scanned that F-19 pic and posted it here then.

My guess is that perhaps this F-19 was a concept / prototype for stealth research on curvy shaped wings – that produce less sonic boom, but wasn’t feasible enough to be actually used as a fighter / bomber with required bomb load, range, speed, etc. but which the US nonetheless still wanted to keep secret before anyone else duplicated the design.

Attached Images

rf19.JPG (48.4 KB, 102 views)

Captain Drunk

Another quite unknown plane, which had no real designation – NASA’s HiMAT, Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology vehicle which was on the cover of David Mondy’s “All Color World Of Aircraft”.

Attached Images

himat.jpg (72.1 KB, 102 views)