Beyond The Sprues
Modelling => Ideas & Inspiration => Engineering Dept. => Topic started by: Nexus1171 on October 27, 2014, 07:56:19 AM
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I remember that there were at proposals for at least some kind of Crusader variant/derivative, or an F8U-3 with a RR Conway in it: It had a provision for a centerline store consisting of either a nuclear bomb, a fuel-tank or a gun-pack.
I'm curious if these were compatible with our F8U-3
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There's some info in the Ginter book on the F8U-3. It was a 1957 proposal for a strike version for the RAF (in advance of the GOR.339 requirment that lead to TSR.2) offered jointly by Chance Vought and Rolls-Royce. It seems to have been pretty sketchy: the only hard details were the Conway engine and a 2000lb "special store" (i.e. a nuke) semi-recessed under the rear fuselage. Everything else was vague statements about UK systems and weapons.
If the RAF had been in the market for this class of aircraft, it's hard to imagine them picking this over the F-105 or the Hawker P.1121. Had an import been acceptable, then the Thud would have been a low-risk off-the-shelf buy, whereas if a new development was indicated then the "Strike-Crusader" would have needed as much high-risk new avionics as an all-British project. As it was, the RAF thought it wanted something bigger, which lead to the TSR.2 debacle. RN plans in 1957 had strike being done by the Buccaneer and intercept by the SR.177, the latter surviving the infamous White Paper before being cancelled at the end of the year when a German order failed to materialise.
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There's some info in the Ginter book on the F8U-3.
Yeah, that's the book...
It was a 1957 proposal for a strike version for the RAF (in advance of the GOR.339 requirment that lead to TSR.2) offered jointly by Chance Vought and Rolls-Royce. It seems to have been pretty sketchy: the only hard details were the Conway engine and a 2000lb "special store" (i.e. a nuke) semi-recessed under the rear fuselage. Everything else was vague statements about UK systems and weapons.
Yeah, it doesn't specify much about the design and any differences from our F8U-3 and their design.
I'm curious with the arrangement if it was possible to carry the 2,000 pound store and mount the arresting gear: Admittedly there was a mention of a Phase I Upgrade (p. 37) which did include a similar store: It also included a 36" radome so I'm not sure how much similarity there was to the F8U-3 production design as intended as the bigger antenna would result in a redesigned inlet and large section of the lower fuselage.