Convair XF-92A Dart
Even as early as August 1945, the same month World War II ended, the US Army Air Force was considering the applications of supersonic jet aircraft, and issued a requirement for a point-defense supersonic interceptor, capable of reaching 50,000 feet in four minutes. Consolidated Aircraft (shortly to become Convair) won the competition with a swept-wing design using a mix of a single turbojet surrounded by four rockets, but wind tunnel testing showed it to neither have the performance the USAAF required or the stability it needed for safe flight.
Convair engineers then turned to a German scientist, Alexander Lippisch, who had been brought to the US after the war. Lippisch had been experimenting with delta winged aircraft, which he believed would combine the best effects of low-speed handling with supersonic flight, as a delta wing would be free of the instability caused by transonic speeds. Lippisch had drawn up a delta-winged aircraft, the P.13, but it had never been built. Convair took Lippisch’s design, made a number of changes in retaining the earlier design’s propulsion and moving the cockpit out of the tail onto the fuselage to improve visibility. To save money, Convair used parts from other aircraft, such as the main gear from a FJ-1 Fury, nose gear from a P-63 Kingcobra, and the engine of a P-80 Shooting Star. The USAAF accepted the design as the XP-92 Dart, but due to production delays, by the time the first prototype was ready in April 1948, the now-independent US Air Force had no need for a point-defense interceptor and the renamed XF-92 project was cancelled as a fighter, but allowed to go forward as a strictly experimental aircraft.
After initial flight testing by Convair, the XF-92 was sent to Muroc Dry Lake, California, where it was handed over to the USAF and NACA, where it would be flown by the “first class” of test pilots in those days: Charles “Chuck” Yeager and Scott Crossfield. In his first flight in the Dart, Yeager was able to achieve supersonic speed in a dive, but what surprised everyone was when he came into land. Noticing that his airspeed was decreasing but that the XF-92 was not approaching a stall, Yeager pulled the nose higher and higher. The Dart still refused to stall, and Yeager’s landing speed was only 67 mph, a full 100 mph slower than Convair had intended. By accident, Yeager had discovered the technique of high-alpha maneuvers and the use of the delta wing as an airbrake—the former was something aircraft designers would rediscover forty years later with the use of canards and leading-edge extensions. Crossfield, for his part, noted the delta wing’s deficiencies, namely its tendency to pitch upwards in high-G turns. This was solved by adding wing fences to the XF-92, a practice followed in the F-102 Delta Dagger that would be Convair’s next step after the Dart.
Though the XF-92 pioneered the idea of delta-winged fighters and contributed much to aviation research, its handling left much to be desired and it was universally despised by the pilots who had to fly it. After Crossfield finished testing for NACA, it was retired in 1953 and eventually made its way to the National Museum of the USAF, where it remains today.
This model represents the sole XF-92A prototype, 46-0682. As it was throughout its career, it is painted overall white for visibility purposes.
Convair XF-92A Dart
Even as early as August 1945, the same month World War II ended, the US Army Air Force was considering the applications of supersonic jet aircraft, and issued a requirement for a point-defense supersonic interceptor, capable of reaching 50,000 feet in four minutes. Consolidated Aircraft (shortly to become Convair) won the competition with a swept-wing design using a mix of a single turbojet surrounded by four rockets, but wind tunnel testing showed it to neither have the performance the USAAF required or the stability it needed for safe flight.
Convair engineers then turned to a German scientist, Alexander Lippisch, who had been brought to the US after the war. Lippisch had been experimenting with delta winged aircraft, which he believed would combine the best effects of low-speed handling with supersonic flight, as a delta wing would be free of the instability caused by transonic speeds. Lippisch had drawn up a delta-winged aircraft, the P.13, but it had never been built. Convair took Lippisch’s design, made a number of changes in retaining the earlier design’s propulsion and moving the cockpit out of the tail onto the fuselage to improve visibility. To save money, Convair used parts from other aircraft, such as the main gear from a FJ-1 Fury, nose gear from a P-63 Kingcobra, and the engine of a P-80 Shooting Star. The USAAF accepted the design as the XP-92 Dart, but due to production delays, by the time the first prototype was ready in April 1948, the now-independent US Air Force had no need for a point-defense interceptor and the renamed XF-92 project was cancelled as a fighter, but allowed to go forward as a strictly experimental aircraft.
After initial flight testing by Convair, the XF-92 was sent to Muroc Dry Lake, California, where it was handed over to the USAF and NACA, where it would be flown by the “first class” of test pilots in those days: Charles “Chuck” Yeager and Scott Crossfield. In his first flight in the Dart, Yeager was able to achieve supersonic speed in a dive, but what surprised everyone was when he came into land. Noticing that his airspeed was decreasing but that the XF-92 was not approaching a stall, Yeager pulled the nose higher and higher. The Dart still refused to stall, and Yeager’s landing speed was only 67 mph, a full 100 mph slower than Convair had intended. By accident, Yeager had discovered the technique of high-alpha maneuvers and the use of the delta wing as an airbrake—the former was something aircraft designers would rediscover forty years later with the use of canards and leading-edge extensions. Crossfield, for his part, noted the delta wing’s deficiencies, namely its tendency to pitch upwards in high-G turns. This was solved by adding wing fences to the XF-92, a practice followed in the F-102 Delta Dagger that would be Convair’s next step after the Dart.
Though the XF-92 pioneered the idea of delta-winged fighters and contributed much to aviation research, its handling left much to be desired and it was universally despised by the pilots who had to fly it. After Crossfield finished testing for NACA, it was retired in 1953 and eventually made its way to the National Museum of the USAF, where it remains today.
This model represents the sole XF-92A prototype, 46-0682. As it was throughout its career, it is painted overall white for visibility purposes.