McDonnell Douglas X-36

X-36
X-36 in flight
Role	Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas
First flight	17 May 1997
Status	Retired
Number built	2[1]

The McDonnell Douglas X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft was a subscale prototype jet designed to fly without the traditional tail surfaces used on most aircraft.

Design and development

Planform of the X-36

The X-36 was built to 28% scale of a possible fighter aircraft, and controlled by a pilot in a ground station virtual cockpit with a view provided by a video camera mounted in the nose of the aircraft.

For control, a canard forward of the wing was used as well as split ailerons and an advanced thrust vectoring nozzle for directional control. The X-36 was unstable in both pitch and yaw axis, so an advanced digital fly-by-wire control system was put in place to stabilize the aircraft.

First flown on May 17, 1997, it made 31 successful research flights. It handled very well, and the program is reported to have met or exceeded all project goals. McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in August 1997 while the test program was in progress. So the aircraft is sometimes referred to as the Boeing X-36.

The X-36 possessed high maneuverability that would be ideal for use as a fighter. Despite its potential suitability, and highly successful test-program, there have been no reports regarding the X-36's development as of 2010.

Survivors

• One X-36 is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. It arrived on July 16, 2003, the same day as the Boeing Bird of Prey.^[2] It is displayed in the Museum's Research & Development Gallery.^[3]
• Another X-36 is displayed inside the Air Force Test Flight Center Museum at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Specifications (X-36)

Data from Designation Systems^[4] American X-Vehicles^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: none
• Length: 18 ft 2.5 in (5.55 m)
• Wingspan: 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
• Height: 3 ft 1.5 in (0.95 m)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,250 lb (560 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Williams International F112 turbofan , 700 lbf (3.1 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 234 mph (375 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 20,500 ft (6,100 m)
• Thrust/weight: 0.56

See also

• List of experimental aircraft

Related developments

• Boeing X-45

Comparable aircraft

• Boeing Bird of Prey

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Jenkins, Landis, and Miller 2003. p. 46.
2. ^ "Boeing Bird of Prey and X-36 Inducted into Air Force Museum". Boeing, July 16, 2003.
3. ^ NASA/Boeing X-36. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
4. ^ Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) X-36. designation-systems.net, January 9, 2006.

• Jenkins, Dennis R., Tony Landis, and Jay Miller. SP-2003-4531, "American X-Vehicles, An Inventory—X-1 to X-50". NASA, June 2003.

External links

• NASA fact sheet on the X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft
• "X-36 Tailless Prototype Fighter Completes Phase 1 Flight Testing". McDonnell Douglas, July 8, 1997.