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Showing results for tags 'XP-86'.
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John R recently asked about details of the XP-86 so I thought I would post what I have. It's a convoluted story and it may take some time, but to cover the XP-86 I need to start with the closely-related FJ-1 Fury. Yes, the FJ-1 was a tubby, straight-winged object, but for a while so was the first version of the Sabre. Though a bit messy, this drawing is the earliest one I've found for the XFJ-1 prototype Fury (North American Aviation (NAA) Model NA-134). It's a 13 October 1944 NAA drawing for a proposed "JP Shipboard Fighter" (JP being "jet powered"). I've highlighted a few key items and appended a few dimensions on this version. Notable are two items which did not make it on to the FJ-1 Fury: the wing-mounted dive brakes (also planned for the XP-86); and the folding wings (line/dotted line shows angled wing fold top/bottom joint). Frontal view shows that a ventral tank was planned (again, not taken up in production). Also note that there is no dihedral on the tailplanes: Side view from same drawing set of October 1944: Assigned the NAA Model number NA-134, this NAA artist's impression dates from 4 October 1944 and reflects the drawings above. I won't go into the FJ-1 in any detail, but for comparison the following 3-view shows that the production FJ-1 Fury was generally smaller than the initial October 1944 proposal: So to start with the XP-86. In 1944 the USAAF had issued a design request for a medium-range day fighter, and NAA submitted a version of its NA-134 (FJ-1) on 22 November 1944, and this design was given the NAA model number NA-140. The NA-140 was very similar to the NA-134, but this early model shows that already the NA-140 had gained a 'lip' to its engine intake and retained the less tubby lines of the "Shipboard Fighter" drawings. NA-140 would be designated XP-86 by the USAAF. But towards the end of WW2, swept-wing data started coming in from NACA and also from captured German files, which led NAA to look at a redesign of the NA-140 with swept wings. Different aspect ratios ("AR" on the wind tunnel model drawing below) were looked at for the mainplanes. This one is from 23 April 1946, when a straight fin and tailplane was still part of the design: And finally, by 15 October 1946 a fairly definitive version had been arrived at: More in the next instalment: maybe some good ideas for "what ifs" here?