Rockwell XFV-12

Infobox Aircraft
name=Rockwell XFV-12
type=VTOL fighter
manufacturer=Rockwell International


caption=
designer=
first flight=
introduced=
retired=
produced=
number built=2
status=Cancelled 1981
unit cost=
primary user=United States Navy
more users=
developed from=
variants with their own articles=The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic United States Navy fighter.

Concept

The XFV-12 which combined the Mach 2 speed and AIM-7 Sparrow armament of the F-4 Phantom II in a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter for the small Sea Control Ship which was under study at the time. On paper, it looked superior to the subsonic Hawker Siddeley Harrier attack fighter. It used a thrust augmented wing conceptcite web|url=http://www.airbornegrafix.com/HistoricAircraft/Prototypes/XFV12.htm|title=Airbornegrafix.com|work=Rockwell XFV-12|accessdate=2007-01-13] in which exhaust would be directed through spaces in a wing opened up like venetian blinds to increase available lift, somewhat like Lockheed's unsuccessful XV-4 Hummingbird. Such arrangement restricted weapons carriage to under the narrow fuselage and 2 conformal missile mounts. Its canards were extremely large, with almost 50% of the area of the wings, making it effectively a tandem biplane. The 30,000 lbf (130 kN)-class afterburning turbofan engine had enough thrust to lift the weight of the 20,000 lb (9070 kg) aircraft. It was modified to further increase thrust for vertical lift. The rear engine exhaust was closed and the gases redirected through ducts to ejector nozzles in the wings and canards for vertical lift.

Design

In 1972, the United States Navy in issued a request for proposals for a next generation V/STOL fighter/attack aircraft. The XFV-12A, despite its concept being considered risky compared to that of the Harrier, was selected for development.cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/xfv-12.htm|title=GlobalSecurity.org|work=XFV-12|accessdate=2007-01-13]

To reduce costs, the nose from an A-4 Skyhawk and intakes from the F-4 Phantom II were used. Engine rig testing began in 1974. Free-flight model tests conducted at the NASA Langley full-scale wind tunnel showed that the projected thrust augmentation levels were highly optimistic, and that the aircraft would most likely be incapable of vertical flight on the thrust available. However, the model's configuration did prove suited for conventional flight.

Development

Ground testing of the XFV-12A began in July 1977, and the aircraft was officially rolled out at the Rockwell International facility in Columbus, Ohio on 26 August. Due to increasing costs, construction of the second prototype was abandoned.

Tethered hover tests of the XFV-12A were conducted in 1978. Over the course of six months, it was determined that the XFV-12A design suffered from major deficiencies with regard to vertical flight, especially a lack of sufficient vertical thrust. Lab tests showed that 55% thrust augmentation should be expected, however differences in the scaled-up system dropped augmentation levels to 19% for the wing and a mere 6% in the canard. While the augmenters did work as expected, the extensive ducting of the propulsion system degraded thrust, and in the end the power-to-weight ratio was such that the engine was capable of vertically lifting only 75% of the weight of the aircraft it was mounted in.

Following the tests, and with the program suffering from cost overruns, the Navy decided that the XFV-12A was not worth further development, and cancelled the aircraft in 1981. Aviation Week would later publish an article with drawings of an even more ambitious proposal to fit a similar wing to the huge C-130 Hercules, but the plan never made it off the drawing board.

Of the two prototypes built only one (#601) was operational. The second craft (#602?) was never completed.Fact|date=May 2007

pecifications

aircraft specifications

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

crew=1
length main=43 ft 11 in
length alt=13.4 m
span main=28 ft 6 in
span alt=8.69 m
height main= ft in
height alt= m
area main= ft²
area alt= m²
empty weight main=3,890 lb
empty weigtht alt=1,760 kg
loaded weight main=19,500 lb
loaded weight alt=8,850 kg
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=

engine (jet)=Pratt & Whitney F401-PW-400
type of jet=afterburning turbofan
number of jets=1
thrust main= lbf
thrust alt= kW
afterburning thrust main=30,000 lbf
afterburning thrust alt=kW

max speed main=Mach 2.2-2.4
max speed alt=
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
range main= nm
range alt= mi, km
ceiling main= ft
ceiling alt= m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
thrust/weight=1.5

guns=1x 20 mm M61 Vulcan gatling cannon, 639 rounds
missiles=2× AIM-7 Sparrow carried under fuselage and 2 AIM-9L Sidewinder AAMs or 4 AIM-7

ee also

aircontent
related=
* A-4 Skyhawk
* F-4 Phantom II

similar aircraft=
* AV-8 Harrier II
* Dassault Mirage IIIV
* Hawker Siddeley P.1154
* VFW VAK 191B
* XV-4 Hummingbird
* Yakovlev Yak-141

lists=
* List of fighter aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States
* List of VTOL aircraft

see also=

References

*

External links

* [http://steeljawscribe.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/image/xfv-12a.jpgLine illustration of the Rockwell XFV-12]