British Aerospace EAP

infobox Aircraft
name = EAP
type = Private venture demonstrator fighter
manufacturer = British Aerospace



caption = EAP at Loughborough University
designer =
first flight = 8 August 1986
introduced =
retired = 1 May 1991
status = Retired
primary user = BAe
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles = Eurofighter Typhoon

The British Aerospace EAP was a technology demonstrator aircraft developed as a private venture in the 1980s and which eventually formed the basis for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

History

In 1982, British Aerospace (BAe) exhibited a mockup of the Agile Combat Aircraft (ACA) at the Farnborough Airshow as well as the Paris Air Show in May 1983. The ACA combined several years of private venture research by BAe, costing around £25 million, with similar studies done by MBB (in the TKF-90 project) and Aeritalia. Plans were made by the three companies to produce two technology demonstrator aircraft based on ACA under the name "Experimental Aircraft Programme".

The British Government announced it would make a financial contribution to the EAP but a lack of funding from the West German government meant that the planned second airframe was cancelled. The sole EAP aircraft (serial "ZF534") first flew on 8 August 1986. The UK Ministry of Defence would eventually invest almost £80m in the EAP, the rest funded by BAe.

The EAP aircraft was built within the development facility (No. 2 Hangar) at British Aerospace, Warton; and comprised three major fuselage structures; front, centre & rear. The front fuselage contained many innovative structures in carbon fibre composites and aluminium lithium alloy. The centre and rear fuselage structures being more conventional with a modified Tornado fin being used. The right hand wing assembly, manufactured at the Samlesbury plant of BAe, was a co-bonded carbon fibre composite assembly proving new tooling and manufacturing techniques which were put to good use later on the Eurofighter programme. The left hand wing assembly was manufactured at the Corso Marche facility of Alenia in Turin. The foreplanes were manufactured in carbon composite at Preston/Samlesbury; and detail design and manufacture of the windscreen and canopy assemblies by Aerostructures Hamble on the south coast.

The Experimental Aircraft Programme was designed to research technologies to be used for a future European combat aircraft. The EAP was fitted with a variety of advanced electronic equipment, including three CRT displays and a HUD similar to the F-16's. A pair of Turbo-Union RB199-104 afterburning turbofans, powerplant of the Panavia Tornado ADV provided power.

Initial definition of what became the Eurofighter project started soon after the EAP project was initiated. Without the research from ACA and EAP, the Eurofighter would not have been possible. While the similarity between the EAP and the Eurofighter/Typhoon is striking there are some important differences; the cranked delta wings of the EAP have been replaced with a straight delta, the size of the fin has been reduced dramatically and the rectangular intake of the prototype has been replaced with a "smiling" configuration.

The EAP aircraft was retired from service on 1 May 1991, and is currently located in the display area of the Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering department of Loughborough University. It is used to show the Aeronautical Engineering students the components of a fighter jet. Its port wing has been removed at the root to effectively show both the aerofoil cross-section and some of the internal components. Several other components have been removed from the aircraft for the purpose of viewing.

pecifications (EAP)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= jet
ref=
crew= one, pilot
capacity=
length main= 55 ft 1 in
length alt= 16.80 m
span main= 34 ft 5 in
span alt= 10.50 m
height main= 19 ft 0 in
height alt= 5.80 m
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main= 21,900 lb
empty weight alt= 9,935 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 40,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 18,145 kg
more general=
engine (jet)= Turbo-Union RB199-104
type of jet=jet engine
number of jets=2
thrust main= 16,000 lbf
thrust alt= 71.3 kN
thrust original=
afterburning thrust main=
afterburning thrust alt=
max speed main= Mach 2.27
max speed alt= 1,500 mph, 2,414 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=
ceiling alt= 60,000ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
Eurofighter Typhoon
similar aircraft=
sequence=
lists=
see also=

External links

* [http://www.vectorsite.net/aveuro.html EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON from Greg Goebel's AIR VECTORS]
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=737 British Aircraft Directory entry]