Fairchild Hiller (Republic Aviation) FX fighter project (rival to the F-15)

[kocovgoce]

fx-6 version is very similar to lifting body concept

 

[apparition13]

fx-6 version is very similar to lifting body concept

It looks to me like they took the F-105 fuselage, put separated engines on it for damage resistance from their experience with the 105 in Vietnam, and linked the engines with a wide, flat fuselage. Then stick a couple small swing wings or fixed wings on the sides of the engines.

 

[Scott Kenny]

It looks to me like they took the F-105 fuselage, put separated engines on it for damage resistance from their experience with the 105 in Vietnam, and linked the engines with a wide, flat fuselage. Then stick a couple small swing wings or fixed wings on the sides of the engines.

IIRC that was more or less the design brief. With the catch that the newer engines were getting a lot shorter courtesy of more compression per stage. J79 was ~half the length of J75, and F404 was half the length of J79!

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Mockup of Fairchild Hiller Republic Aviation Div.’s entry in the Air Force’s F-15 air superiority fighter competition will soon be moved from its Farmingdale, N. Y., design bureau to a company facility in the Washington area. The company has been studying the idea of mounting the aircraft’s twin jet engines in wing pods to keep fuselage area free for armament stores. Company believes that to win the competition, a design will need a growth or follow-on capability as a strike fighter or close—support aircraft.

AWST 16 Jun 1969