Bell D-188A

{{Short description|Proposed American fighter (cancelled 1961)}}

{{More citations needed|date=July 2009}}

{{Infobox aircraft

|name=D-188A
(XF-109 / XF3L)

|image=Bell XF-109.jpg

|caption=Artist's concept of the XF-109 in flight

|type=VTOL fighter

|manufacturer=Bell Aircraft Corporation

|designer=

|first_flight=

|introduction=

|retired=

|status=Canceled 1961

|primary_user= United States Air Force

|more_users= United States Navy

|produced=

|number_built=1 mockup

|unit cost=

|variants=

}}

The Bell D-188A (unofficial military designations XF-109/XF3L) was a proposed eight-engine Mach 2–capable vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) tiltjet fighter that never proceeded past the mock-up stage.

Development

In 1955, Bell Aircraft was requested by both the USAF and the US Navy to develop a VTOL/STOVL supersonic, all-weather fighter-bomber and defence interceptor. The project was highly ambitious and was designed to fulfill a multitude of roles for two different services. The aircraft was designated the Model 2000, and was offered in two different versions – the D-188 for the Navy and the D-188A for the Air Force. Bell had rather optimistically called the Navy version the XF3L-1 and the Air Force version the XF-109, although neither of these designations were official.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} In 1959, Bell teamed with Convair to form a joint weapon systems management team in order to push the XF-109 program.[https://archive.org/stream/Aviation_Week_1959-02-09#page/n11/mode/1up Industry Observer]. // Aviation Week & Space Technology, February 9, 1959, v. 70, no. 6, p. 23. On 5 December 1960, Bell publicly showed off the design as the XF-109 – the Air Force version, as the Navy had lost interest the year earlier, however in the spring of 1961, the US Air Force canceled the program and no examples were built.

=Designation=

The military designations were not official and were speculative on the part of Bell.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} The Navy's XF3L-1 was not assigned, but would have been the D-188's designation had the aircraft been built, as this was the next in the US Navy's number series. The Air Force XF-109 designation had previously been assigned to a proposed Convair F-106B variant, however, had subsequently been left blank and Bell assumed – if the D-188A had been built – that this would have been assigned to the aircraft. Many reference works refer to the D-188A by its assumed experimental series number, but in fact the XF-109 designator was never assigned.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

Design

The aircraft was unconventional, and consisted of a long, thin, area ruled fuselage with a large fin and all-moving stabilators in the tail. The single seat cockpit was in the extreme nose and the small-span wing was mounted high on the fuselage. At the ends of each wing were pods that contained two turbojets each. These pods were designed to swivel through an arc of 100° (horizontal to 10° past vertical) to allow for both horizontal and vertical flight. To take off vertically, the pods were rotated to direct the engine's thrust downward, while for horizontal flight the pods were rotated back to the horizontal. The pods were capable of directing thrust slightly forward as well for enhanced landing maneuvers. In addition to the four wing engines, four engines were also mounted in the fuselage – two in the rear directed out of two separate tail ducts, and two liftjets directly aft of the cockpit and positioned vertically to aid in VTOL operation, exhausting out of two ventral ducts. The D-188A featured an engine bleed system to assist in vertical lift and maneuvering. Bleed air from the fuselage engine compressors would have been directed to a pair of thrusters in the nose and two more in the tail to aid in pitch, roll and yaw movements.

Armament would have consisted of two 20mm cannon in the fuselage, an internal weapons bay and eight wing hard points for missiles and other ordnance.

Specifications (D-188A, as designed)

{{Aircraft specs

|prime units?=imp

|ref=National Museum of the USAF factsheet.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2379|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531135641/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2379|url-status=dead|title=Fact Sheets Bell XF-109|archive-date=May 31, 2010}}

|crew=1

|length ft=62

|length m=18.90

|span ft=23

|span in=9

|span m=7.24

|height ft=12

|height in=9

|height m=3.89

|wing area sqft=194

|wing area sqm= 18.02

|empty weight lb=13800

|empty weight kg= 6,260

|gross weight lb=23917

|gross weight kg=10849

|max takeoff weight main=

|max takeoff weight alt=

|eng1 name=General Electric J85-GE-5

|eng1 type=turbojets

|eng1 number=8

|eng1 lbf=2600

|eng1 kn=11.6

|max speed mach=2.3

|range nmi=2000

|range miles=2300

|range km=3900

|combat range miles=1350

|ceiling ft=60000

|ceiling m=18000

|climb rate main=

|climb rate alt=

|wing loading main=

|wing loading alt=

|thrust/weight=0.87

|guns=4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon

|rockets=108 × 2.75 in (70 mm) rockets

|bombs=4,000 lb (1,800 kg)

}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

=Bibliography=

{{refbegin}}

  • Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. Minnesota, US: Specialty Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-58007-111-6}}.
  • Townend, David R. Clipped Wings – The History of Aborted Aircraft Projects, Markham, Ontario, AeroFile Publications, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-9732020-4-5}}.
  • [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/original-docs/f-109.pdf Designation system]
  • [http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/missing-mds.html "Missing" USAF/DOD Aircraft Designations]
  • [http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/f109.html F-109]

{{refend}}