FLIGHTS OF FANTASY: The Boeing/Lockheed A/FX

[McColm]

Hi Guys,
Has anyone built this in plastic or resin form?

 

[Lampshade111]

I really love all of your work whole thing, especially the paint job on that USAF one. Any thoughts of doing a single seat variant, possibly with a somewhat larger nose area? It just looks like you can't jam anything in there currently.

As far as a name goes, I like that Shadowcat suggestion, but Grumman would have to be involved. Perhaps Spectre, which if I am not mistaken was going to be the name of the USAF Phantom II?

 

[Stargazer]

As far as a name goes, I like that Shadowcat suggestion, but Grumman would have to be involved.

Well, not necessarily. Think of the Lockheed Polecat, for instance.

Perhaps Spectre, which if I am not mistaken was going to be the name of the USAF Phantom II?

No, WAS! The YF-110A carried the name SPECTRE officially before the designation was changed to YF-4A and the name became PHANTOM II.

Also, "SPECTRE" was said to be used for the YF-19A secret fighter, whose existence has never been officially acknowledged (the official stories used to discard the "F-19" designator have generally been accepted as true, although to me they seem like lame attempts at covering up... well, personal opinion, I won't even begin to discuss the subject here!).

 

[Lampshade111]

Thanks for the info, did the USAF elect to change it back to F-4, or were they forced to by the 1962 tri-service designation scheme? If it was the latter I imagine some airmen were a bit upset that their fighters relationship to a Navy aircraft was even more clearly evident.

 

[Stargazer]

This was done with the aim of harmonizing aircraft types across the different services.

As an aside (how could I possibly forget?) the name "SPECTRE" is of course quite officially used for Lockheed's AC-130 gunship versions of the HERCULES.

 

[Steve Pace]

The YF-110A Spectre became the YF-4C Phantom II; YRF-110A became YRF-4C.

The F-110As as tested were borrowed USN F-4Bs (formerly F4H-1).

 

[PNorwood]

This was done with the aim of harmonizing aircraft types across the different services.

That is what the entire purpose of the tri-service designation scheme was for

 

[Triton]

I wonder if the A/FX would have received the designation A/F-14 or A-14 from the Department of Defense rather than an F or F/A designation because of the emphasis of the attack role for this aircraft. I presume that A/F-13 or A-13 would not be used because of superstition regarding the number 13.

 

[thunderwarrior]

From the blog "The DEW Line" .... something about the Lockheed A/F-X concept ....
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2013/04/af-x.html

 

[Sentinel Chicken]

So funny story about my illustrations of the Lockheed/Boeing A/FX.

I was showcasing some of my prints at a local IPMS show, including some of my A/FX work. This guy is browsing my tables, sees the A/FX prints, his eyes get as big as quarters and he runs out of the room. He comes back ten minutes later with one of his friends saying, "Look dammit, it's the A/FX we worked on!!!"

Turns out he and his friend were on the A/FX at Lockheed Fort Worth and when it was canceled, they were told everything was classified and don't talk about it *or else*. They were moved over to what became JSF. They asked me where I found about the A/FX design and I told them it was readily found on the Internet these days. I told them there were some elements of the design I had to take an educated guess when it come to some details and they told me "You guessed real good".

Yep, they bought some of my A/FX prints, too.

 

[Scott Kenny]

This one I've always wanted to do but I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I'm thinking of montage print of this aircraft design in different squadron markings/operators. I will have a preview of such a montage print of this plane at my table at Scalefest on May 31.

This is the Lockheed/Boeing A/FX. Back in the 1980s the Navy was looking for a replacement for the F-14 Tomcat and that was the NATF- Naval Advanced Tactical Fighter, which was basically a YF-22 with swing wings. When the A-12 Avenger got cancelled in 1991, the Navy decided that the NATF made a better basis for stealthy strike aircraft and reshifted the program into the A-X program. About the same time the USAF was looking at an F-111 replacement and the two programs were merged into the A/FX which would have been for a multi-role two seat strike aircraft based on the older NATF/A-X design.

This is best known of the design submissions, from a joint effort by Lockheed and Boeing. The other submission came from a joint effort by Rockwell and Northrop.

About 1993 or the A/FX got cancelled as the budgets were too tight. But the program's engineers and design work became the JAST program (Joint Affordable Strike Fighter) which eventually morphed into the current JSF program.

So in my universe, I have both Intruder VA squadrons and Tomcat VF squadrons getting redesignated VFA units for the A/FX. Both communities would be used to twin crew flight operations. Kinda makes me wonder if this would have been a high end asset on the carrier deck with the F/A-18 being the low end asset.

I had done these last year but never got around to posting them. Got more of 'em coming as time allows.......

Gorgeous!

Never seen any of the A/FX aircraft, where have you found drawings or other pictures of them?

 

[Antonio]

Never seen any of the A/FX aircraft, where have you found drawings or other pictures of them?

The forum search engine can help you

 

[flateric]

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/navy-ax-and-a-f-x-projects.2150/