SF-121_v_c_o_TPMBK (ca. 1978, unnumbered poss. Vought photo)
"Vought Corporation has conducted a conceptual design study and aerodynamic analysis of a Vertical Attitude Takeoff and Landing (VATOL) fighter/attack aircraft. The "Superfly" VATOL configuration is illustrated...The salient features are the close coupled canard-delta wing planform and the two augmented turbofan engines fed by fixed ramp inlets. Axisymmetric gimballed nozzles and wingtip reaction jets provide attitude control in vertical attitude hover and transition. Conventional landing gear permit short takeoffs from ships or normal runway operation. Extensive use of composite materials make a single engine vertical landing capability a feasible design goal.
The SF-121 configuration was synthesized to objective performance guidelines. The principal sizing constraints were:
- Supersonic Intercept mission radius = 150 NM (278 km) at Mach 1.6
- Sustained load factor = 6.2 g at Mach 0.6 10,000 feet (3,048 m)
- Single engine thrust/weight = 1.03 with afterburner.
The resulting point design has a VTO weight of 23,375 pounds (10,603 kg), a wing aspect ratio of 2.3 and a wing reference area of 354 square ft (32.89 square meters). The SF-121 is capable of short takeoffs with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kg) overload in 400 feet (122 m) . The combat performance objectives were exceeded by a wide margin.”
And from the abstract:
"A conceptual design study was performed of a vertical attitude takeoff and landing (VATOL) fighter/attack aircraft. The configuration has a close-coupled canard-delta wing, side two-dimensional ramp inlets, and two augmented turbofan engines with thrust vectoring capability. Performance and sensitivities to objective requirements were calculated. Aerodynamic characteristics were estimated based on contractor and NASA wind tunnel data. Computer simulations of VATOL transitions were performed. Successful transitions can be made, even with series post-stall instabilities, if reaction controls are properly phased. Principal aerodynamic uncertainties identified were post-stall aerodynamics, transonic aerodynamics with thrust vectoring and inlet performance in VATOL transition. A wind tunnel research program was recommended to resolve the aerodynamic uncertainties."
Both above are excerpts from the "STUDY OF AERODYNAMIC TECHNOLOGY FOR VSTOL FIGHTER/ATTACK AIRCRAFT - PHASE I FINAL REPORT" published by the Vought Corporation in 1978, available (for now) at:
ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19790001857
Additional discussion, to include graphic extracts from the above document, to include my photo, with correction, at:
www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/vought-ltv-sf-106-and-sf...
Credit: SECRET PROJECTS Forum website
My sincere thanks to Rolf Schmidt (see/read below), allowing for the corrected description above. I'll retain my following lackadaisical & woefully wrong initial description to retain context for our discourse in the comment section below:
“The Short Take-Off and Landing/ Maneuver Technology Demonstrator (STOL/MTD) Joint Test Force completed the first phase of F‑15 STOL tests. The goal of the program was to demonstrate that an F-15 fitted with new technologies could land without navigational aid from the ground, on a bumpy field only 1,500 feet in length and 50 feet wide at night, in bad weather, with a 30-knot crosswind.
In 1975, Langley Research Center began to conduct sponsored programs studying two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles; government and industry studies of non-axisymmetric two-dimensional (2-D) nozzles in the early 1970s had identified significant payoffs for thrust-vectoring 2-D nozzle concepts. In 1977, Langley started a system integration study of thrust-vectoring, thrust-reversing, and 2-D nozzles on the F-15 with McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC). In 1984, the Flight Dynamics Laboratory, the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division awarded a contract to McDonnell Douglas for an advanced development STOL/MTD experimental aircraft. The aircraft used in the STOL/MTD program has flown several times since the successful STOL/MTD program completion in 1991 that used thrust vectoring and canard foreplanes to improve low-speed performance. This aircraft tested high-tech methods for operating from a short runway. This F-15 was part of an effort to improve ABO (Air Base Operability), the survival of warplanes and fighting capability at airfields under attack.
The F-15 STOL/MTD tested ways to land and take off from wet, bomb-damaged runways. The aircraft used a combination of reversible engine thrust, jet nozzles that could be deflected by 20 degrees, and canard foreplanes. Pitch vectoring/reversing nozzles and canard foreplanes were fitted to the F-15 in 1988. NASA acquired the plane in 1993 and replaced the engines with Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines with Pitch/Yaw vectoring nozzles. The canard foreplanes were derived from the F/A-18's stabilators. Prior to August 15, 1991, when McDonnell Douglas ended its program after accomplishing their flight objectives, the F-15 STOL/MTD plane achieved some impressive performance results:
- Demonstrated vectored takeoffs with rotation at speeds as low as 42 mph
- A 25-percent reduction in takeoff roll
- Landing on just 1,650 feet of runway compared to 7,500 foot for the standard F-15
- Thrust reversal in flight to produce rapid deceleration
Above paraphrased from:
www.aftc.af.mil/News/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-...
Credit: Air Force Test Center (AFTC) website
Check out what’s going in the image, like the one coming in for a landing…I think. It’s completely vertical! Like the crazy shit the soulless Soviet/Russian bastards used to demonstrate at air shows. Then there’s the starboard quarter elevator/platform, or whatever it’s called…in a vertical position…with an F-15 STOL/MTD attached! Huh? And…is the approaching aircraft coming in to land on the similarly vertical port elevator/platform??? I mean, it looks to be headed right for it. If so, I suppose the arresting cable acts like the wire on the back of wall art. 😉
As if all of that crazy stuff wasn’t enough, this beautiful work is apparently by the hand of a female artist, Patricia (Tricia) Martin. Outstanding! Possibly a Vought artist.
Indirect confirmation of the above is found in her respectful April 18, 2022 recollection of fellow Vought artist Howard Ernest Hicks, upon his passing:
“I worked with Howard and Brenda for many years. He was an exceptional artist and interesting character. He entertained with handstands and bagpipe music while his artwork nurtured the reputation of our entire team. He also gave joy to hundreds of retirees with his exit caricatures and promoted many charitable actives. In one notable year, his art work was part of the promotion of our food drive, collecting 955,000 cans for the community.
Patricia (Tricia) Martin”
Above at/from:
www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/howard-hicks-obituary?i...
Credit: “Legacy” website
Finally, at the same site, from an April 16, 2022 post, possibly by another Vought artist:
“Brenda, I´m sorry for your loss. Howard was a good mentor to me early in my career at Vought. What an illustrator he was! I will miss him.
Regrettably, I will be on company travel on Monday, so I will not be in attendance.
-take care,
Paul
Paul Nagata”
SF-121_v_c_o_TPMBK (ca. 1978, unnumbered poss. Vought photo)
"Vought Corporation has conducted a conceptual design study and aerodynamic analysis of a Vertical Attitude Takeoff and Landing (VATOL) fighter/attack aircraft. The "Superfly" VATOL configuration is illustrated...The salient features are the close coupled canard-delta wing planform and the two augmented turbofan engines fed by fixed ramp inlets. Axisymmetric gimballed nozzles and wingtip reaction jets provide attitude control in vertical attitude hover and transition. Conventional landing gear permit short takeoffs from ships or normal runway operation. Extensive use of composite materials make a single engine vertical landing capability a feasible design goal.
The SF-121 configuration was synthesized to objective performance guidelines. The principal sizing constraints were:
- Supersonic Intercept mission radius = 150 NM (278 km) at Mach 1.6
- Sustained load factor = 6.2 g at Mach 0.6 10,000 feet (3,048 m)
- Single engine thrust/weight = 1.03 with afterburner.
The resulting point design has a VTO weight of 23,375 pounds (10,603 kg), a wing aspect ratio of 2.3 and a wing reference area of 354 square ft (32.89 square meters). The SF-121 is capable of short takeoffs with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kg) overload in 400 feet (122 m) . The combat performance objectives were exceeded by a wide margin.”
And from the abstract:
"A conceptual design study was performed of a vertical attitude takeoff and landing (VATOL) fighter/attack aircraft. The configuration has a close-coupled canard-delta wing, side two-dimensional ramp inlets, and two augmented turbofan engines with thrust vectoring capability. Performance and sensitivities to objective requirements were calculated. Aerodynamic characteristics were estimated based on contractor and NASA wind tunnel data. Computer simulations of VATOL transitions were performed. Successful transitions can be made, even with series post-stall instabilities, if reaction controls are properly phased. Principal aerodynamic uncertainties identified were post-stall aerodynamics, transonic aerodynamics with thrust vectoring and inlet performance in VATOL transition. A wind tunnel research program was recommended to resolve the aerodynamic uncertainties."
Both above are excerpts from the "STUDY OF AERODYNAMIC TECHNOLOGY FOR VSTOL FIGHTER/ATTACK AIRCRAFT - PHASE I FINAL REPORT" published by the Vought Corporation in 1978, available (for now) at:
ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19790001857
Additional discussion, to include graphic extracts from the above document, to include my photo, with correction, at:
www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/vought-ltv-sf-106-and-sf...
Credit: SECRET PROJECTS Forum website
My sincere thanks to Rolf Schmidt (see/read below), allowing for the corrected description above. I'll retain my following lackadaisical & woefully wrong initial description to retain context for our discourse in the comment section below:
“The Short Take-Off and Landing/ Maneuver Technology Demonstrator (STOL/MTD) Joint Test Force completed the first phase of F‑15 STOL tests. The goal of the program was to demonstrate that an F-15 fitted with new technologies could land without navigational aid from the ground, on a bumpy field only 1,500 feet in length and 50 feet wide at night, in bad weather, with a 30-knot crosswind.
In 1975, Langley Research Center began to conduct sponsored programs studying two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles; government and industry studies of non-axisymmetric two-dimensional (2-D) nozzles in the early 1970s had identified significant payoffs for thrust-vectoring 2-D nozzle concepts. In 1977, Langley started a system integration study of thrust-vectoring, thrust-reversing, and 2-D nozzles on the F-15 with McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC). In 1984, the Flight Dynamics Laboratory, the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division awarded a contract to McDonnell Douglas for an advanced development STOL/MTD experimental aircraft. The aircraft used in the STOL/MTD program has flown several times since the successful STOL/MTD program completion in 1991 that used thrust vectoring and canard foreplanes to improve low-speed performance. This aircraft tested high-tech methods for operating from a short runway. This F-15 was part of an effort to improve ABO (Air Base Operability), the survival of warplanes and fighting capability at airfields under attack.
The F-15 STOL/MTD tested ways to land and take off from wet, bomb-damaged runways. The aircraft used a combination of reversible engine thrust, jet nozzles that could be deflected by 20 degrees, and canard foreplanes. Pitch vectoring/reversing nozzles and canard foreplanes were fitted to the F-15 in 1988. NASA acquired the plane in 1993 and replaced the engines with Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines with Pitch/Yaw vectoring nozzles. The canard foreplanes were derived from the F/A-18's stabilators. Prior to August 15, 1991, when McDonnell Douglas ended its program after accomplishing their flight objectives, the F-15 STOL/MTD plane achieved some impressive performance results:
- Demonstrated vectored takeoffs with rotation at speeds as low as 42 mph
- A 25-percent reduction in takeoff roll
- Landing on just 1,650 feet of runway compared to 7,500 foot for the standard F-15
- Thrust reversal in flight to produce rapid deceleration
Above paraphrased from:
www.aftc.af.mil/News/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-...
Credit: Air Force Test Center (AFTC) website
Check out what’s going in the image, like the one coming in for a landing…I think. It’s completely vertical! Like the crazy shit the soulless Soviet/Russian bastards used to demonstrate at air shows. Then there’s the starboard quarter elevator/platform, or whatever it’s called…in a vertical position…with an F-15 STOL/MTD attached! Huh? And…is the approaching aircraft coming in to land on the similarly vertical port elevator/platform??? I mean, it looks to be headed right for it. If so, I suppose the arresting cable acts like the wire on the back of wall art. 😉
As if all of that crazy stuff wasn’t enough, this beautiful work is apparently by the hand of a female artist, Patricia (Tricia) Martin. Outstanding! Possibly a Vought artist.
Indirect confirmation of the above is found in her respectful April 18, 2022 recollection of fellow Vought artist Howard Ernest Hicks, upon his passing:
“I worked with Howard and Brenda for many years. He was an exceptional artist and interesting character. He entertained with handstands and bagpipe music while his artwork nurtured the reputation of our entire team. He also gave joy to hundreds of retirees with his exit caricatures and promoted many charitable actives. In one notable year, his art work was part of the promotion of our food drive, collecting 955,000 cans for the community.
Patricia (Tricia) Martin”
Above at/from:
www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/howard-hicks-obituary?i...
Credit: “Legacy” website
Finally, at the same site, from an April 16, 2022 post, possibly by another Vought artist:
“Brenda, I´m sorry for your loss. Howard was a good mentor to me early in my career at Vought. What an illustrator he was! I will miss him.
Regrettably, I will be on company travel on Monday, so I will not be in attendance.
-take care,
Paul
Paul Nagata”