Top 10 Experimental aircraft should have gone in Full Production

[jhungary]

There are many military aircraft using today, by different nations and different era. There are A LOT MORE Behind the scenes of those who got picked and those who didn't, i want to make a thread today to show my choice of top 10 Experimental Aircraft should have put in Full production

The criteria of selection are Aircraft that did not mass produce in commercial stage and have a finished and test flighted prototype. Let see what should have been or would have been....

Number 10 : Joint Convair NB-36 (United States) and Tu-95LAL (Soviet Russia)

Category : Nuclear Powered Heavy Bomber.

Number built : 1 (Each)

First Flight : Sept 17, 1955 (NB-36) N/A (TU-95LAL)

Comment : Although you can say it's a dream to put a Nuclear Reactor on a fighter plane or smaller plane like that, it's not a distant dream to put a nuclear reactor on a Strategic bomber. As you may know the role of Strategic bomber is to fly a really long distant and deliver the payload, it's obivious if such act (Putting a Nuclear reactor onboard) is successful, the bomber command can eliminate the need for tanker aircraft, which often expose the location of the Heavys.

Due to the cost override, the US was the first one to stop experimenting NPA (Nuclear Powered Aircraft Technology) and the only flight that NB-36 was done with is to carry a live Nuclear Plant onboard without connecting to any Engine, so close yet so far. One can really imagine if they were to develop it, what will be like today.

Number 9 : Junkers Ju 287 (Luftwaffe)

Category : Jet Powered Bomber

Number built : 2.5 (2 full prototype, 1 hull)

First Flight : August 8, 1944

Comment : Being the first one to start using Jet Engine in WW2 (Aand the first jet fighter was actually intented for Bomber use) the German was ahead in aircraft design during the whole war. With the Me262 servicing in 1944/1945, what German need is a Jet power bomber even the fastest of the fast Allied Air Force cannot shoot them down, answer is Ju 287. With 515 Km/h cruise speed and 580 max speed, it was 100 KM/h faster than anything Allied have almost the same with the fastest Allied Fighter in WW2 (The Mustang)

The downfall of this aircraft is also the downfall of Nazi Germany in WW2. IT simply too little, too late.

Number 8 : Su-37 (Russia)

Category : supermaneuverability fighters

Number Built : 2

First Flight : April 2, 1996

Comment : Being a supermaneuverability fighter, it's done thing that people don't expect them to do and with a large airframe, it's done thing that people think it's impossible to do, yet it did it, the aircraft is Su-37.

The story of Su-37 start with the little brother Su-35 when the need for thrust vectoring increased over the generation of fighter technology. With Su-35 itself can use thrust vectoring, the building, or rather converting of Su35 to Su37 only show what can be achieve on a large frame. So what can it archieve? Su-37 successfully demostrate ability to 360° somersault, a super cobra and high angle of attack (AoA) sustained flight. This is never through can be done by a large frame like Su-35/Su-37 alike. However, Russia inclined to upgrade the current version of Su-35 and Su-27 and also the development of 5th Gen PAK-FA than continue development of Supermaneuverability fighter.

Number 7: X-29 (USA)

Category : Aerodynamic and Fly-by wire testbed.

Number built : 2

First Flight : December 14, 1984

Comment : Today's Jet does not look like an areoplane, mostly and partly have to give thanks to this testbed aircraft. The design of the very plane is NOT sustained airborne operation. Yet the inflight computer is so strong that it make 40+ correction in flight per second to keep the aircraft airborne. It lead the way into high maneuverability jet fighter without aerodynamical design (Such as Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale.

Although i have to acknowedge that building this fighter in mass does not help anything with anyone, this is still my 7th choice of what should have been in today jet airforces.

Number 6 : IAI Lavi (Israel)

Category : Multirole fighter

Number Built : 3 (2 full prototype, 2 hull, 1 incomplete hull)

First flight : December 31, 1986

Comment : A normal Gen 4 multirole fighter, not any different than the Eurotyphoon and Rafale or the JAS Gripen, the only different is this one is on Israeli, they are home grown and they are the first or second home make planes by IAI (third if you count the reverse engineer French planes).

What it literally was suppose to be Israeli answer to sell sufficient and independ from Outside Import (from Country such as US and France) It would also mean export market for the Israeli (I guess if they make it and put it up for sale, several airforce would be interested to it). Yet, it not to be, come down by political pressure from US and ever increasing cost (Also a factor fro mthe US) so USA single handedly killed this planes off.

 

[jhungary]

Number 5 : Rockwell-MBB X-31 (US-Germany)

Category : Thrust-Vectoring Testbed

Number Built : 2

First flight : October 11, 1990

Comment : Being the first on the line to test the Thrust Vectoring system, it retain some highly successful data collect from this plane, which helped development on several US/Germany planes. The First and foremost is the F-22 which engine technology is directly related and studied from the X-31

The X-31 have served it purpose and it retire gracefully and it should be the way they were, further investment could make this a trainer for advance Thrust Vectoring technology used on today planes, but the American says enough is enough....

Number 4 : High Alpha Research Vehicle (USA)

Category : Testbed (TV/AoA) on F-18

Number Built : 1

First flight : Unknown (April 1987)

Comment : Based on the Navy jet F/A-18 Hornet, this is a test bed design especially for NASA, responsible for High Angle study, this particular plane are armed with 2 Thrust Vector Engine and have a better stable flight and roll than any plane in US service.

Phase One include unmodified flight
Phase Two include Thrust Vector mod and flight management flight
Phase Three include Strake Mod and stable flight study in High AoA

The corresponding data are all collected and the aircraft stop it's function after phase 3. The problem with this is, it was a modification from a Normal F/A-18, i would be glad to see it evolve into naval service F/A-18 but that is not to be, as the Navy replace the current F-18 to the Superhornet....

Number 3 : Mikoyan Project 1.44 (Russia)

Category : 5th Generation Interceptor Jet Fighter

Number Built : ?? (Estimate 1 or 2 with 1 Full flight prototype and 1 hull)

First Flight : Feberury 29, 2000

Comment : Russian Answer to the F-22 raptor, which every bit of the Project 1.44 design is a correspondent to the F-22 threat. The fighter is a sleek interceptor which capable for quick climb rate and high ceiling operation (above 70,000 ft) the fighter was suppose to be the asnwer of the F-22 to the West.

In reality, the project is gone and now status is unknown. Along with the Su-47, it have become the biggest mystery of Russian Air Force. One may think Russia lack the funding to finance both Su-47 and this, it may be true then but now we see the funding of PAK-FA, maybe the Russian Air Force wanted a change, nobody knows.

Number 2 : Northrop YF-23 (USA)

Category : 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft (US ATF Project)

Number Built : 2

First flight : Auguest 27, 1990.

Comment : YF-23 is the main rival of YF-22 (Later F-22) which both belong to the ATF project. in the end, everybody know F-22 is the winner but the Air Force does not say much on why they choose YF-22 other than YF-23. There will always be a question of what will be the USAF if they choose YF-23 instead of YF-22. Guess noone would really know the answer.

There may be a come back for YF-23 tho, with the new Stealth fighter bomber being consider based upon the YF-23 (Called FB-22) and we should see if they think there is a use for YF-23 afterall.

Number 1 : Sukhoi Su-47 (Russia)

Category : 5th generation fighter

Number Built : 4

First Flight : September 25, 1997

Comment : This plane will always be my love, and this will probably always be the biggest mystery of all regarding why this is not into full production. Flight tested and ready to roll on 2000 to combat the F-22 already in serice with the United States. THis is one of the most elegant plane design i have ever seen.

This plane however, suffer the same fate as with the other project proposed by MiG (Project 1.44) and were never materialized on production, instead Russian devote more resource to develope the T-50 (Which is the PAK-FA test plane) and put on effort in that instead of this. This plane, on my heart, is the number 1 plane i would love to see it into full production one day, imagine a few squad of this flying over combat, it would scale people by just the look. But i guess this will be a story no one ever knows........

Comment welcome or you can post your own top 10 or you can discuss mine.

 

[Esc8781]

This one never made it being created though...

The A-12 Avenger ii

 

[Last Hope]

This should have.

 

[Chanakyaa]

This List Misses the Best : The Avro Arrow !!
Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Aircraft using FBW as early as 1950s !!

 

[Mech]

@jhungary

Can you explain the rationale for including forward swept wing configurations into your list ?

 

[Esc8781]

Horton 229

 

[jhungary]

This one never made it being created though...

The A-12 Avenger ii

A-12 were never in flight test phase so i did not included them..... At least i think they were never tested.... The requirment of my list is must have working prototype and passed flight test phase...

This should have.

YMC-130H is a test for production version MC-130H.....Same reason i did not include it with X-35 which is the production version of F-35....

This List Misses the Best : The Avro Arrow !!
Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Aircraft using FBW as early as 1950s !!

Yeah, Avro CF-105 lost out to nuclear bomber as they already have competitable aircraft of the time, the Mig 25. I would ranked it 11 or 12. Maybe after XB-28, i said maybe..

Can you explain the rationale for including forward swept wing configurations into your list ?

You mean the Ju- 287, X-29 or Su-47?

The Ju-287 is in the list becuase of its ahead of time design, and the probability it have to alter the war outcome if the production of that plane is speeded up. Again, in the end, i have to say the Ju-287 is a little too late like the Me-262 for the actual WW2 we see.

I like the X-29 because they were build as father of fly-by wire (Well, not father but hold certain degree of History, plane don't need to look like a plane to fly after the introduction of X-29). The are the king of aerodynamic (By king i mean they defied it) the porblem is, while there are no design before and after the X-29 using forward Swept wing in US Arsenal so, unlike X-31, it would not work well as a trainer. But the problem is that almost all aircraft developement after the birth of X-29 are somehow related to the X-29 and it's fly-by management computer is actually the core of many planes comes afterward. I think it deserve a place in my top -10

I don't think i need to justify for Su-47 again.........right?