I am wondering, on this ugly aircraft, (which should fly as a rocket), since it was for the Navy, it would need to land on carriers. For carrier aircraft they keep the landing gear short, so that it stays strong and can withstand the shocks of the controlled crash called a landing. That said, with those two long fins on the bottom, they must fold upwards for landing and take-off, or else the landing gear has to be quite long, which would be contrary to the Navy's normal conditions. What's up? I did think the F-8U Crusader was a plane of beauty though. I believe John Glenn set a trans-continental speed record in one in the late 50's or early 60's, in the pre-Phantom and pre-NASA days, I beleive.
I have not seen any one mention this. I read somewhere that on the A-12/F-12A, that with the nose chines cut back 6' for this single seat fighter, (that was suppose to carry nuclear tipped hypersonic missiles; those Hughes missiles ended up in a variation on the F-14 Tomcat)with the chines cut back for the radar, the plane had severe oscillations, and so on this version of the aircraft, there was a center line dorsal fin, on the bottom of the airframe that would fold down after take-off to give the plane more stability. It folded back up for landing. I have photographs of the F-12 with the fin both up and down in flight. It was an interesting concept, as I recall. The plane was to race towards Soviet bomber formations, and fire the missile. The missile would go into the middle of the formation and detonate, blowing all of the bombers out of the sky. The missile had a range of 200 miles. Which fuel was in it and can we have some? Surely it must be old technology now.
On the SR-71, the nose chines went all the way to the point of the nose on the radome, and so the stability was recovered and the lateral fin was not necessary. At least this is what I recall.
I have not seen any one mention this. I read somewhere that on the A-12/F-12A, that with the nose chines cut back 6' for this single seat fighter, (that was suppose to carry nuclear tipped hypersonic missiles; those Hughes missiles ended up in a variation on the F-14 Tomcat)with the chines cut back for the radar, the plane had severe oscillations, and so on this version of the aircraft, there was a center line dorsal fin, on the bottom of the airframe that would fold down after take-off to give the plane more stability. It folded back up for landing. I have photographs of the F-12 with the fin both up and down in flight. It was an interesting concept, as I recall. The plane was to race towards Soviet bomber formations, and fire the missile. The missile would go into the middle of the formation and detonate, blowing all of the bombers out of the sky. The missile had a range of 200 miles. Which fuel was in it and can we have some? Surely it must be old technology now.
On the SR-71, the nose chines went all the way to the point of the nose on the radome, and so the stability was recovered and the lateral fin was not necessary. At least this is what I recall.
