F-89 Scorpion

Infobox Aircraft
name=F-89 Scorpion
type=Interceptor
manufacturer=Northrop Corporation


caption=USAF F-89H Scorpion.
designer=Jack Northrop
first flight= 16 August 1948
introduced= September 1950
retired= 1969
status=Retired
primary user= United States Air Force
more users=
produced=
number built=1,050
unit cost=US$801,602 (F-89D)Knaack 1978] US$988,884 (F-89H)
variants with their own articles=The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an early American jet-powered all-weather interceptor. It has the distinction of being the first combat aircraft armed with nuclear weapons, (the Genie rocket) for air-to-air use.

Design and development

The Scorpion stemmed from a 1945 United States Army Air Forces Army Air Technical Service Command specification ("Military Characteristics for All-Weather Fighting Aircraft") for a jet-powered night fighter to replace the P-61 Black Widow.Davis and Menard 1990, p. 4.] Bell Aircraft, Consolidated-Vultee, Douglas Aircraft, Goodyear, Northrop and Curtiss-Wright all submitted proposals.

Northrop submitted four different designs including a radical flying wing but settled on the N-24, a slim-bodied aircraft with a cantilevered mid-mounted wing and two Allison J35 turbojet engines with afterburners. It was to have radar and a crew of two, with an armament of six 20 mm cannon in a unique trainable nose turret. One of the unusual aspects of the design was the use of Northrop's "Deceleron", a combination aileron/dive brake/flap that could be accomodated in the slim wing design.The unique feature added to the prototype during development was to become a Northrop trademark, still used today on the B-2 Spirit. Contracts for two prototypes were issued in December 1946, while Douglas with their XF3D-1 Skynight and Curtiss for their XF-87 Blackhawk prototypes also were awarded development contracts.

The initial XP-89 prototype made its first flight on 16 August 1948, with test pilot Fred C. Bretcher at the controls. For much of the testing period, Curtiss's entry had been the front-runner for the contract, but a competition fly-off with its main competitors, the Northrop design proved superior.Davis and Menard 1990, p. 5.]

Operational history

Production was authorized in January 1949, with the first production F-89A entering USAF service in September 1950. It had AN/APG-33 radar and an armament of six T-31 20 mm cannon with 200 rounds per gun. The swiveling nose turret was abandoned, and 300 US gallon (1,100 L) fuel tanks were permanently fitted to the wingtips. Underwing racks could carry 16 five-inch aerial rockets or up to 3,200 lb (1,455 kg) of bombs.

Only eight F-89As were completed before the type was upgraded to F-89B standard, with new avionics. These had considerable problems with engines and other systems, and soon gave way to the F-89C. Despite repeated engine changes, problems persisted, compounded by the discovery of structural problems with the wings that forced a refit of 194 -A, -B, and -C models.

The major production model was the F-89D, which first flew 23 October 1951 and entered service in 1954. It removed the cannon in favor of a new Hughes E-6 fire control system with AN/APG-40 radar and an AN/APA-84 computer. Armament was two pods of 52 2.75 in (70 mm) "Mighty Mouse" FFAR rockets, for a total of 104. A total of 682 were built.

Proposed re-engined F-89s, designated F-89E and F-89F, were not built, nor was a proposed F-89G that would have used Hughes MA-1 fire control and GAR-1/GAR-2 Falcon air-to-air missiles like the F-102 Delta Dagger.

The subsequent F-89H, which entered service in 1956, had an E-9 fire control system like that of the early F-102 and massive new wingtip pods each holding three Falcons (usually three semi-active radar homing GAR-1s and three infrared GAR-2s) and 21 FFARs, for a total of six missiles and 42 rockets. Problems with the fire control system delayed the -H's entry into service, by which time its performance was notably inferior to newer supersonic interceptors, so it was phased out of USAF service by 1959.

The final variant was the F-89J. This was based on the F-89D, but replaced the standard wingtip missile pod/tanks with 600-gal fuel tanks and fitted a pylon under each wing for a single MB-1 Genie nuclear rocket (sometimes supplemented by up to four conventional Falcon air-to-air missiles). The F-89J became the first and only aircraft to fire a live Genie as the John Shot of Operation Plumbbob on 19 July 1957. There were no new-build F-89Js, but 350 -Ds were modified to this standard. They served with the Air Defense Command, later renamed the Aerospace Defense Command (ADC), through 1959 and with ADC-gained units of the Air National Guard through 1969.

A total of 1,050 Scorpions of all variants were produced.

Variants

;XF-89:First prototype.;XF-89A:Second prototype.;F-89A:First production version, 8 built.;F-89B:Second production version with upgraded avionics.;F-89C:Third production version with new engines.;F-89D:Main production version with removed cannon and new Hughes E-6 fire control system with AN/APG-40 radar and an AN/APA-84 computer, 682 built.;YF-89E:One off prototype to test the Allison YJ71 engine.;F-89F:Proposed version with new engines, never built.;F-89G:Proposed version equipped with Hughes MA-1 fire control and GAR-1/GAR-2 Falcon air-to-air missiles, never built.;F-89H:Version with E-9 fire control system, six GAR-1/GAR-2 Falcon missiles and 42 RRAF rockets.;F-89J:Last production version developed from F-89D by replacing the standard wingtip missile pod/tanks with fuel tanks and fitted a pylon under each wing for a single MB-1 Genie nuclear rocket, 350 rebuilt from F-89D.;DF-89A:F-89As converted into drone control aircraft.;DF-89B:F-89Bs converted into drone control aircraft.

Operators

;USA
*United States Air Force
*Air National Guard

urvivors

There are 19 complete F-89s currently on display in the United States.;F-89B s/n 49-2434:On display at the USAF History and Traditions Museum at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas.;F-89D s/n 52-1862:On display at the Heritage Park, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska painted in the historic markings of 53-2433. [ [http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1068429] ] ;F-89D s/n 52-1959:On display at the Air Force Test Center Museum, Edwards Air Force Base, California.;F-89D s/n 53-2463:On display at the Museum of Aviation, Warner Robbins Air Force Base, Georgia.;F-89D s/n 53-2494:On display at the home base of the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard, inBurlington, Vermont.;F-89H s/n 54-0298:On display at Dyess Linear Air Park, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.;F-89H s/n 54-0322:On display at the Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.;F-89H s/n unknown, displayed as 53-2677:On display at the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota.;F-89J s/n 52-1911:On display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.;F-89J s/n 52-1927:On display at the Castle Air Museum, Atwater, California.;F-89J s/n 52-1941:On display at the Peterson Air & Space Museum, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.;F-89J s/n 52-1949:On display at the March Field Air Museum, March Air Reserve Base, Riverside, California.;F-89J s/n 52-2129:On display at the Air Power Park and Museum, Hampton, Virginia.;F-89J s/n 53-2463;F-89J s/n 53-2465:On display at the home base of the 119th Fighter Wing, North Dakota Air National Guard, Fargo, North Dakota.;:On display at the home base of the 120th Fighter Wing, Montana Air National Guard, Great Falls, Montana. This jet fired the live Genie described above.;F-89J s/n 53-2610:On display at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.;F-89J s/n 53-2674:On display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona.; [http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Northrop%20F-89J.asp F-89J s/n unknown, marked as 32536 on the tail] :On display at the AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

pecifications (F-89D)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet

crew=2
length main=53 ft 10 in
length alt=16.4 m
span main=60 ft 5 in
span alt=18.4 m
height main=17 ft 6 in
height alt=5.3 m
area main=606 ft²
area alt=56.3 m²
empty weight main=24,200 lb
empty weight alt=11,000 kg
loaded weight main=42,250 lb
loaded weight alt=19,200 kg
max takeoff weight main=46,800 lb
max takeoff weight alt=21,200 kg
engine (jet)=Allison J35-A-35A
type of jet=afterburning turbojets
number of jets=2
thrust main=5,600 lbf
thrust alt=24.9 kN
afterburning thrust main=7,400 lbf
afterburning thrust alt=32.9 kN
max speed main=636 mph
max speed alt=553 knots, 1,020 km/h
range main=1,367 mi
range alt=1,188 nm, 2,200 km
ceiling main=49,200 ft
ceiling alt=15,000 m
climb rate main=8,360 ft/min
climb rate alt=42.5 m/s
loading main=69.7 lb/ft²
loading alt=340.4 kg/m²
thrust/weight=0.35 (3.4 N/kg)
rockets=
** 104× 70 mm (2.75 in) "Mighty Mouse" folding-fin aerial rockets
** 16× 127 mm (5 in) aerial rockets on underwing racks "or"
bombs=3,200 lb (1,500 kg)

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
*Avro CF-100
*F-94 Starfire
*Sud Aviation Vautour
*Yakovlev Yak-25
lists=
*List of military aircraft of the United States
*List of fighter aircraft
see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Davis, Larry and Dave Menard. "F-89 Scorpion in action" (Aircraft Number 104). Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1990. ISBN 0-89747-246-2.
* Knaack, Marcelle Size. "Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems, Volume 1, Post-World War Two Fighters, 1945-1973". Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1978. ISBN 0-912799-59-5.
* Swanborough, F. Gordon. "United States Military Aircraft Since 1909". London: Putnam, 1963. ISBN 0-87474-880-1.

External links

* [http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p89.html Joe Baugher F-89 pages]