Grumman G-118
{{Short description|Proposed American interceptor}}
__NOTOC__
{{Infobox aircraft
| name= G-118
| image=
| caption=
| type= Fighter aircraft
| national_origin=
| manufacturer= Grumman
| designer=
| first_flight=
| introduction=
| retired=
| status= Not builtAngelucci, 1987. p. 251.
| primary_user= United States Navy (intended)
| number_built=
| developed_from=
| variants=
}}
The Grumman G-118 (sometimes called the XF12F, though this was never officialButtler p. 126) was a design for an all-weather missile-armed interceptor aircraft for use on US Navy aircraft carriers. Originally conceived as an uprated F11F Tiger, it soon evolved into a larger and more powerful project. Although two prototypes were ordered in 1955, development was cancelled the same year in favor of the F4H Phantom II before any examples were built. Grumman's next (and last) carrier fighter would be the F-14 Tomcat, ordered in 1968.
Design
The Grumman Design 118 was a two-seat, twin-engined, rocket augmented, carrier-based all-weather supersonic fighter aircraft. It had a 45° swept wing, a "T-tail" empennage, two small folding ventral fins, and a landing gear of tricycle configuration. For ejection, the tandem crew were encapsulated and ejected downwards. It also featured a boundary layer control system to improve low speed handling.
The G-118 was to be powered by two J79-GE-3 engines, with accommodations for the more powerful J79-GE-207 engines each producing 18,000 lbf of afterburning thrust. Similar to the contemporary Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III, it was designed with an additional throttleable liquid-fueled rocket engine using a mixture of JP-4 fuel and hydrogen peroxide oxidizer which produced 5,000 lbf of thrust.{{cite web |title=Standard Aircraft Characteristics: Design 118 |url=http://www.alternatewars.com/SAC/Grumman_Design_118_SAC_-_12_December_1955_(Tommy).pdf |publisher=Grumman |access-date=22 December 2018 |date=12 December 1955}}
Armament stores would have been under the fuselage in two semi-recessed hardpoints for the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile and an internal weapons bay for an additional AIM-7 or three AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.
Specifications (G-118, as designed)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref= and Standard Aircraft Characteristics
|prime units?=kts
|genhide=
|crew=2
|length ft=57
|length in=7
|span ft=43
|span in=11.69
|height ft=14
|height in=10
|wing area sqft=595
|empty weight lb=26,355
|gross weight lb=37,366
|max takeoff weight lb=51,216
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=J79-GE-3
|eng1 type=after-burning turbojet engines
|eng1 lbf=10000
|eng1 lbf-ab=15600
|eng2 number=1
|eng2 name=throttleable
|eng2 type=rocket engine
|eng2 lbf=5000
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=
|max speed mach=2
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|range km=
|range miles= 1556
|endurance=
|ceiling m=18,288
|ceiling ft=60,000
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=62.8
|wing loading note=
|more performance=
|rockets=2 x AIR-2 Genie unguided nuclear rockets or
|missiles=
- 3 × AIM-7 Sparrow III missiles
or - 2 × AIM-7 Sparrow and
- 3 × AIM-9 Sidewinder
|avionics=
}}
See also
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft |title-link=Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft |location=London |publisher=Aerospace Publishing}}{{Full citation needed|date=August 2023}} (Magazine)
- {{cite book |last= Angelucci |first= Enzo |title=The American Fighter from 1917 to the Present |year=1987 |location=New York |publisher=Orion Books }}
- {{cite book |title=World Aircraft Information Files |title-link=World Aircraft Information Files |location=London |publisher=Bright Star Publishing}}{{Full citation needed|date=August 2023}} (Magazine)
- {{cite book |last= Buttler |first=Tony |year= 2008 |orig-year=First published in 2007 |title=American Secret Projects: Fighters & Interceptors 1945-1978 |location=Hinckley, England, UK |publisher=Midland Publishing |isbn=978-1-85780-264-1 }}
- {{cite magazine |last=Pelletier |first=Alain J. |date=May–June 2000 |title=Grumman That Never Was: The XF12F—A Tomcat That Never Was |magazine=Air Enthusiast |issue=87 |pages=10–11 |issn=0143-5450}}
- {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Michael J. H. |year=1989 |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |location=London |publisher=Studio Editions}}
External links
- {{Commons category inline|Grumman military aircraft}}
{{Grumman aircraft}}
{{USN fighters}}
Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States