F-18 Hornet and Super Hornet Ideas and Inspiration

[GTX_Admin]

When Australia set up their production line for F/A-18s in the mid 1980s it was hoped that Singapore and New Zealand would purchase Australian-built Hornets.  There is some whiffing ideas there...maybe even add in a RMAF Single Seat Hornet.

[ChernayaAkula]

Now that's interesting. 

"F/A-18 Super Hornet Is Now Undergoing Ski Jump Launch Trials For The Indian Navy"
LINK to article.

Article also yields an interesting picture of an F/A-18 "Legacy" Hornet undergoing ski-jump trials in the late 1980s.

[M.A.D]

Now that's interesting. 

"F/A-18 Super Hornet Is Now Undergoing Ski Jump Launch Trials For The Indian Navy"
LINK to article.

Article also yields an interesting picture of an F/A-18 "Legacy" Hornet undergoing ski-jump trials in the late 1980s.

I know this picture well ChernayaAkula and was always fascinated as to the reason for its trial (as in who was the potential customer that may have wanted a ski-jump capable Hornet, let alone who was intending to build a STOBAR carrier of the period? Or was it the USMC that might have been toying with the notion of land-based ski-jump assisted take off???)
I'm also wondering if the trial extended to greater angles of the ski-jump, as it appears to be quite a shallow angle (I think from memory the given ski-jump is 6% or 9%)


Ah, yes, with a quick check on the net, I found this:

When a ski-jump with a 9 degree exit angle is used, the takeoff roll of an F/A-18 Hornet can be cut in half

I'm guessing the USN must have flirted with the notion of ski-jump operations at some time, for the even trialed the Grumman F-14 Tomcat take off's......


MAD

[M.A.D]

Ok, probably already known and appreciated by many, but the Tomcat ski-jump trials were actually conducted in 1982 because:

.... the F-14 flew 28 times from a ski-jump but never achieved maximum take-off capability because of single-engine operating concerns.

Dam, and here I was hoping the USN were seriously looking at alternative carrier ideas....😯😉
MAD

[Geoff]

I did read that The Shah wanted to pick up the development costs of the F-18L, but was blocked by the Carter government.
(Saw it on social media - but was attributed to New York Times).

[GTX_Admin]

I didn't realise Ilmavoimat F/A-18s had the same (or similar) spotlight as RCAF CF-188s:

[apophenia]

I didn't realise Ilmavoimat F/A-18s had the same (or similar) spotlight as RCAF CF-188s:

I can't find my notes right now but, years back when Canada was reducing its CF-18 fleet to 65, Finland bought some airframes for spares. Some of those spares have been incorporated into Ilmavoimat Hornets. The best-known example was the 'Franken-Hornet' HN-468 - a two-seater rebuilt by Patria out of a Canadian single-seat forward fuselage. (I say 'was' because HN-468 crashed in 2010.)

[perttime]

The spotlight was ordered for Finnish Hornets from the beginning. Swiss Hornets have it too.

[apophenia]

The spotlight was ordered for Finnish Hornets from the beginning. Swiss Hornets have it too.

And something new is learned! Cheers perttime 

[GTX_Admin]

Swiss Hornets have it too.

You're right - odd that I have never noticed that before.  Nor has it been something widely reported I suspect.

[Rickshaw]

Interestingly the Germans have decided to retire their Tornados and instead by F-18E and Gs.

[Kerick]

Last I heard Germany couldn’t get half a squadron of Tornadoes up and running at the same time anyway.

[GTX_Admin]

[GTX_Admin]

[dy031101]

A while ago I came across the attached thumbnail.

I was unable to follow up for any concrete into, but I seem to recall a description calling it a post-NACF Northrop project (I could be wrong).

Could someone please identify this one?  Thanks in advance.

[GTX_Admin]

Do you have a bigger version?

[dy031101]

Do you have a bigger version?

Unfortunately no. *Banging Head*

Actually, check that, I finally found one after going through my browser history.

This configuration is said to be under the designation N386-21, as a low-end companion to the Advanced Tactical Fighter.

Though I am surprised that they'd consider a .50 cal. for the gun (a notional twin-barrel model, but still).

And it kinda looks like a certain unrelated in-service fighter from the side......

[perttime]

Advanced Low Cost Fighter, it says.
There were many ideas floated in between F-5 and YF-17. I don't recall seeing this one before ^

edit:
A response on secretprojects says:

"1988 study for a low cost fighter. See Flying Wings and Radical Things by Tony Chong"

[ScranJ51]

Hey GTX - notice anything wrong with the RNZAF image?




The Kiwi is facing the wrong way (as is the Kangaroo on the Hornet in the AWM Development Project video).   

[GTX_Admin]

Not my image so I deflect blame...

[apophenia]

... check that, I finally found one ...

A rough translation of the Farcebook link would be something like this:

Some people assume that Taiwan's IDF [Indigenous Defense Fighter] was designed with the assistance of Northrop. This rumour has survived, turning into a common error. In my youth, the outside world knew that Taiwan was designing a fighter but was unsure of how to go about it. Because the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation was authorized by Northrop to produce the F-5E, the media speculated that Northrop had assisted with the design of the IDF.

In fact, the book "Taihai Xiangying - IDF R&D Story" by Yang Baozhi states that the IDF was designed by General Dynamics in order to combat the market potential of the Northrop F-20 [which was refused to Taiwan]. This is the official history.

But reality is always stranger than fiction. When the ATF project (leading to the F-22) was underway, the  US Air Force considered developing a Light-Weight Fighter [LWF] to match it. One study for ATF was the Northrop N360 concept with twin-engines and vectoring nozzles in place of a horizontal tail. Later, Northrop modified the N360 design into the single-engined N386 concept. But, in later iterations, Northrop reverted to twin engines - adopting two lower-powered TFE1088 engines. Since the TFE1088s lacked vectoring nozzles, the N386-21 had to be fitted with a conventional horizontal tail. This configuration - with two AIM-120 missiles on recessed belly mounts - was designated N386-21. Also known as the Advanced Low-Cost Fighter, the N386-21 did not attract a US Air Force order, ending further development.

It'd be nice to know more about that 1988 Advanced Low-Cost Fighter study. By the late '80s, most Northrop 'N' numbers are classified. Both the N-360 and N-386 are new to me.

[M.A.D]

Hey, does anybody have drawnings for the P-610? interested in profiling it.

Yes, just thought the same thing after re reading this topic.....

Hope this gives you food for thought!

MAD

[apophenia]

Hey, does anybody have drawnings for the P-610? interested in profiling it.

I found two 3-views of the P-610 over on Secret Projects. Like all such concepts, the P-610 was a series of designs ... not one fixed layout.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/northrop-p-530-p-600-p-610-yf-17-design-evolution.448/

My personal fav is the wildly impractical looking single-intake P-610 

[GTX_Admin]

With talks that the Tunisian Air Force might be interested in the Kuwaiti F/A-18s, I wonder if we might see a Hornet in this sort of scheme soon:

[GTX_Admin]

This shot makes the intakes almost look like they are a kit bash whiff add-on: