Re: The RCS: Voice Transcript

From: Pat Flannery (flanner_at_daktel.com)
Date: 08/17/04 

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 02:24:16 -0500

Peter Stickney wrote:

>
>Yabbut, what's important for the Area Rule is teh change in
>cross-sectional area. With such a small, thin wing, it really doesn't
>add much, and the fuselage is actually pretty close to a Sears-Haack
>Body. (Think Rifle Bullet)
>

They thought enough about it to incorporate into the F-104 of very
similar layout though.

> I wonder about the base drag, though.
>Reviewing teh NACA reports on teh X-3 that are on the NACA and Dryden
>Tech Reports Servers shows that predicted adn measured drag were
>actually very close.
>

The engine intakes were supposed to be a serious source of drag for the
aircraft; they don't look very good for separating the boundary layer
the way they are designed.

>Of course, if logic had reigned, they'd have let Kelly Johnson stick
>J47s into the F-90 (XF-88 competitor.) If you look at a photo of the
>F-90's rear end, the tailpipes of its itty-bitty J34's only take up
>half of the engine bay. Tge F-90 was a real loe-drag airplane, too -
>Given its size, and the lack of power, it moved pretty good. (But
>couldn't climb for beans)
>

Same with the XF-88 original "Voodoo" design. Given the state of the art
in regards to the jet engines of the era and their fuel consumption
versus thrust to weight ratio, the whole long range fighter escort
project was pretty much doomed from the get-go, no matter how clever the
designers were.

> With a developed F-90 with real engines,
>The AIr Force would have bought them instead of the F-101, or, for
>that matter, the F-105 or teh Air Force F-4. Of course, there would
>have been no F-104, either.
>

She still looks bulky and draggy in the fuselage though...but of course
Blackhawk had no complaints with his:
http://www.cufon.org/comics/1950/Blackhawk85.jpg
...of course this is the guy who found the Grumman Skyrocket's forward
view acceptable:
http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Grumman-Skyrocket/skyrocket.htm
Which is more than the Navy ever did...
In fact, he seemed to have a real fondness for aircraft with very
limited visibility from their cockpits; here Bell has given him a
hand-me-down to fly, to go with his Grumman and Lockheed discards:
http://www.e-comsultant.net/comics/images/Blackhawk-34.jpg ;-)

Pat

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