Posted on 08/19/2016 8:03:30 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Northrop Grumman’s entry for the T-X competition was publicly revealed on 19 August in Mojave, California.
Dubbed the Model 400, the Northrop bid is powered by a single GE Aviation F404-102D engine with 17,200lb-thrust, according to the US Federal Aviation Adminitration’s aircraft registration database.
Scaled Composites, the Northrop subsidiary devoted to rapid prototyping and flight testing, registered the aircraft on 16 June 2015, but the design was kept under wraps for several more months.
Images of the aircraft on Twitter show an aircraft with a prominent, single vertical fin and a nose section similar to the T-38.
Northrop revealed a model of the T-X concept to a small group of journalists in mid-December last year during a tour of the company’s plant in nearby Palmdale.
Northrop is one of four competitors vying to replace the company’s venerable T-38C as the US Air Force’s advanced jet trainer.
Raytheon is proposing the T-100 variant of the twin-jet Leonardo M346 Master. Lockheed Martin is offering a modified version of the Korea Aerospace/Lockheed single-engined T-50 Golden Eagle. Boeing has partnered with Saab to offer a clean-sheet design, which has not been revealed.
The USAF plans to buy more than 300 T-X aircraft over the next decade. A draft request for proposals was released to industry last month.
During the shuttle era, I believe the T-38’s had their controls modified to simulate shuttle controls and feel.
Thanks for the ping. That is a sleek little bird.
It’s one of the perks of the job.
Was the F5 ever used in combat
> “Northrop designed the T-38, the F-5 was derived from it.”
Actually, Northrop hired an independent consultant to design the T-38. He was Edgar Schmued. You may have heard of him as the designer of the P-51 Mustang and the F-86 Sabre. He also did preliminary design work on the F-100 Supersabre before he left North American. After he left them (over a design dispute with management), he set up an independent design consulting company. The T-38 was one result.
Did anyone notice...
* Fuselage aft of air inlets does a lot of swoops etc all the way to the Vertical Tail Dorsal Fin, Composite Skin?
* Wing looks thick, not an F5 Airfoil is my guess
* Look at the discontinuity between the LEX and the main wing, interesting, a place were a vortex could form and energize flow.
* Notice the anhedral of the Stabilators.
* Love to know if the fuselage is still is wasp-waisted for lower transonic and supersonic drag.
I need to look at my old renderings of the F-5 etc for hints of more changes....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_T-37_Tweet
Looks like the T-37 Tweet was retired from active service on 31 July 2009.
Used to watch the A-37 Dragonfly take off from Willow Grove (PA) NAS in the late 1980s.
I did not know of the follow on designs of Edgar Schmued thanks....
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