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<i>It didn't work out either, but it looks cooler than the F-35B.</i>

<b>Rockwell XFV-12 </b>

Rockwell International's XFV-12A was a supersonic fighter/attack "Thrust Augmenter Wing" concept. The design used a modified 30,000 lb <i>(about 16,000 lb dry)</i> thrust Pratt & Whitney F401 engine <i>(the "original" F-14B engine).</i> For vertical lift, a diverter valve in the engine exhaust system blocked the nozzle and directed the gases through ducts to ejector nozzles in the wings and canards for vertical lift. An auxiliary engine inlet for use in vertical flight was located immediately behind the cockpit. The prototype aircraft used parts from the A-4 and F-4; the fuselage was 44 ft long with a 28.5 ft wingspan and a 12 ft canard span. Operational vertical take-off weight was expected to be 19,500 lb <i>(vs. F-35B approx 35,000 lb)</i>, with a maximum speed of over Mach 2 anticipated by Rockwell <i>(vs. M=1.8 for F-35B)</i>. Engine rig testing began in 1974, aircraft ground testing in July 1977. Only one of two contracted aircraft were completed. Differences from the lab models to the full scale system caused the actual augmentation to be only 19% for the wing and 6% for the canard. The thrust available for vertical flight <i>( about (1.06+1.19)/2 x 16000 = 18,000 lb)</i> was insufficient to permit powered-lift flights. The aircraft never made it into the air - not even for a test flight under conventional power. Lift improvement testing and plans to modify the ejector/augmentor system were discontinued in 1981 due to cost overruns and waning Navy V/STOL interest.<i> (History repeating? Let's hope not.)</i>

<img src="http://www.airbornegrafix.com/HistoricAircraft/Prototypes/xfv12_3view.jpg" border=0>

<img src="http://www.airbornegrafix.com/HistoricAircraft/Prototypes/xfv12_taxiway.jpg" border=0>

<img src="http://www.airbornegrafix.com/HistoricAircraft/Prototypes/xfv12_rear.jpg" border=0>

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"It didn't work out either, but it looks cooler than the F-35B."

LOL

"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier."

Kipling-

hey stress what was the radar cross section on those wings lol.