Search the Community

With 2 week to go I'm going to try and see if I can blitz build this last entry which will fill out the first 4, or five if you count my X-1 I did in the main Gallery, of m y Edwards X's. So here we have Lindbergs excellent offering(yeah right) of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto. Like most of Lindbergs kits and kits of the 50's/60's in general, not much in the way of detail but it does come with a pair of Westinghouse J34 engines, But with this build I'm going to focus, with the time left, on a better cockpit, with the downward firing bang seat( like XF-103) and a better detailed landing gear. So On with the Show!

Hi guys, this is my entry for this group build, the Lindberg Douglas X-3 Stiletto. The X-3 was designed for high speed research and was intended to reach speeds up to Mach 2 but also to test low-aspect-ratio wings, and the application of titanium in aircraft structures. The most prominent aspect of the X-3 was its shape. Being optimized for speed, it was extremely slender with a very long nose and just screamed 'speed', sitting idle on the ramp. Actually, it looked like coming straight out of a science-fiction movie. Unfortunately, real performance did not match its racy look. The intended engines (Westinghouse J46) never met their thrust requirements, so it was decided to install the much less powerful Westinghouse J34 which were unable to propel the aircraft past Mach 1. The highest ever recorded speed was Mach 1.208 in a dive, well short of the intended goal of Mach 2. Being severely underpowered and challenging to fly as a result, the X-3 did not enjoy a long career. The construction of a second machine was stopped and after a near-loss on 27 October 1954 due to 'roll inertia coupling', the first prototype made just another ten flights before being retired. While the X-3 failed to provide the expected aerodynamic data for high-speed flight, it still provided valuable data. The collected data of the small, low-aspect wing were put to good use by Lockheed when designing the F-104 Starfighter. The kit, first released in the 1950s, is quite typical for its time: Low parts count, no wheel wells, no cockpit (a pilot is supplied tough) and raised (albeit fine) details. Still, the general shapes are sound and additional details will be added using good old scratch building and some aftermarket: Complete Cockpit to be added (scratch) New wheel wells to be added (scratch) New main wheels (ResKit TBM Avenger wheels) Intake trunking to be added (scratch) Exhausts to be added (scratch) A lot of other small stuff (rescribing, adding various vents, intakes, ...) Replacement of the original decals from various sources (roundels, logos, ...) Only some very minor work was already done on the kit, so it should not violate the 25% rule. Quite a few things to do. So I hope all of you will be my guests in this journey 'toward the unknown' Cheers Markus

This model's lost in the earthquake of February 2010 (8.8 richter). . . . . Thanks for watching. . . . . . . . .keep in touch