|
|
Lynn,
I saw a lot of the YF-23 in this movie set. The ruddervators, the
windshield, the leading edge devices, lots of believable stuff on this one.
Too bad they didn't go for both the F-22 and 23.
The YF-23 was not so much pricey as it was a totally different logic
than the F-22. The F-22 was more maneuverable in close in dogfighting
situations and that is the primary reason it was selected instead.
The YF-23 was designed to never have to bother with dogfighting. It is a
truly stealth airplane (as opposed to the semi-stealth F-22) designed to be
able to whack enemy fighters in the same way the F-117 or B-2 makes bombs
seem to magically appear out of nowhere. The YF-23 is rumored to be faster
than the F-22 as well. The enemy fighter pilot would have just suddenly
found himself in a ball of fire with no "bogies" on his radar, on his
infra-red or in sight. He would never have known the F-23 was there. At
least that's how it works on paper...
Of course that was what they thought when the first F-4s were delivered
to Vietnam without an internally mounted gun. They figured there would be no
reason to dogfight with the advanced missiles of the day. I guess they did
learn something. How can you get positive ident on something without looking
at it? So much for stealth. Now we have a dogfight on our hands, and I'd far
prefer to have the F-22s 2D thrust vectoring and higher maneuverability over
the now-useless stealthiness (and lack of an internal gun) of the F-23 in
that situation.
The F-36 can hover, but not the Air Force version. Only the Marine
version will have V/STOL capability. In exchange for the weight and internal
space taken by the forward lift fan, the Navy is swapping a heavier airframe
(to withstand carrier landings) and more fuel. The Air force is going for
lots more fuel and retaining a very light airframe.
Yeah, I love Dayton. I usually get up there every couple of years on
museum business. The scale of the place is just unfathomable.
I actually think the F-22 up there is a test aiframe like the B-2 they
put on display a year ago. Mike C.
----- Original Message ----- From: <Lehanover@aol.com>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 3:58 PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Fw: F/A-37 -Hollywood!
In a message dated 12/20/2004 1:01:19 PM Central Standard Time,
micallahan@worldnet.att.net writes:
<< Yeah, I was very suspect of the droop nose and the big windshield
myself. Not only that, why in the world would this "pilot" have her name
on
the side of a prototype and why doesn't it have the usual twelve foot
tall
letters of the model number (YF/A-37)? Forward swept elevons? I don't
think
so. The clincher was the bottom pic with the guys in the foreground
manning
a big movie camera. Mike C.
>>
Not so fast there boys. That is an Air Force camera team. It won't be an
"F"
anything until after acceptance testing is completed. It will be a YF
something until then.
The canopy is the new Buckey strand reinforced Pyrex glass structure. The
nose raises up to streamline at cruise (mach 3.8 without AB) it droops for
landing like the Concord. The forward swept horizontals and the lack of
verticals is
part of the shock wave management system. The rudder works split strakes
at
the wing tips to replicate rudder feel. There are rudder pedals so you can
overpower the computers for air shows and such. Normally the feet are in
stirrups
in the front of the seat pack.
The whole nose is the escape pod. Developed and tested to 40,000 feet by
Rutan's Scaled Composites people. The escape pod is flyable and has a
range of 50
statute miles. Powered by powdered nitril rubber and nitrous. It has auto
pilot and will auto track to the nearest friendly area before deploying
the chute.
A picture of this thing got out, so they made up the movie story to cover
it.
Now DOD has to front the movie to throw off the bad guys. It's been flying
between Tonopa and Groom Lake every night for a year.
There is a guy on that mountain every night with a 16" reflector telescope
who says a C-5 leaves there at dusk and this thing lands blacked out
around
midnight. His guess is that they either take it close by to launch it, or
they can
launch it right out the back door of the C-5. Pretty cool stuff.
The one on the carrier was the third airframe. The first was the
structures
test frame so it got bent and vibrated through two lifetimes. It will be
repaired and shipped to the AF Museum In Dayton next year. Although it can
launch
from a carrier it is not what the Navy wanted. So the Naval version will
have
more wing area and a slightly lower cruise speed, and carry more ordnance.
Air
frame three is all Air Force
The first flight test airframe is back at Lockheed Burbank for repairs
after
a fueling fire in October. This will be the follow on to the F-36, the one
that can hover. The F-36 replaces the F-22 that just formed its first
squadron.
Some folks say this one can not only hover, but can leave unimproved
locations
with full fuel and ordnance load,
by using dropable assist rocket motors in tubes along side the lift fans.
Same fans as the F-36.
During this carrier event they were just firing those rockets one at a
time
and filming the effect on the airframe from the epoxy based nonskid
surface
that is used on all carriers. Also they placed various support equipment
nearby
to see what effect that would suffer.
How do I know this?
I don't. I just made it up.
If you felt real proud there for a minute,
Keep right on feeling proud.
This kind of stuff is in the works right now. The looser in the flyoff
that
the F-22 won is now at the Air Force Museum and it has the rudders laid
down
almost flat just like the movie plane. The YF-23 I believe. It is just
beautiful. Long and snake like. And it flew real well. Just a bit too
pricey.
The F-36 really does hover, and is the replacement for the F-22.
There is an F-22 at the Museum also. The one that crashed I suspect. Worth
the trip to Dayton. One of the top three airplane museums on earth.
This and much more, is coming soon to an air show near you. God bless
America.
Lynn E. Hanover
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
>> Homepage: http://www.flyrotary.com/
>> Archive: http://lancaironline.net/lists/flyrotary/List.html
|
|