McDonnell-Douglas Model 199 FX - design and development of the F-15

Nice pics Mark, and great to hear about the donation. Will wait for more awesomeness :) 45 years..... geez, it's older than me... just....
 

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Greetings All -
We recently received a treasure trove of goodies in a donation from a retired McAir engineer - some great F-15 design material that I'll post when I get the chance to scan them.

Hmmm...... I don't think we've seen it yet? :)
 
F-15 Satan

See the attached memo for a list of the names proposed for the F-15 in 1971. "Eagle" isn't on the list. While "Demon", "Goblin" and "Ghost" are discounted because of associations with other aviation products, the writer seems unaware that McDonnell had already named a product "Goblin" - the XF-85, one of the ugliest and least successful Fs ever, certainly not something that should inspire a namesake.
s-l1600.jpg
 
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Moved some posts from F-15 Projects topic. F-15 Projects topic is for F-15 derivatives post service entry.
 
The problem with Falcon was they didn't put "Fighting" in front of it. ;)

IIRC, Eagle came from the NAA submission.
 
I do hope there's some illumination on the acronym base for Fiend. It must have been truly terrible to warrant a mention.
 
Can I ask if anyone knows where in the 'McDonnell Douglas Model 199 FX design stage, did the USAF get the notion of the '99-1 kill ratio'??

Regards
Pioneer
 
Some more NASA photos of the early F-15 with ventral fins.
 

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Yes this was seen in some of the artwork previously posted dating to 1970:
xd4c-70678-mar-16-70-jpg.82433

xd4c-76152c-dec-15-70-jpg.82439

xf-15-early-design-cutaway-jpg.97214
 
As the design gelled, you start seeing the genesis to the eventual F-15. The leading edge flap is interesting - the F-102 wing evolved with the change of its fixed leading edge camber which improved its performance both in cruise and in maneuvering. It looks to me that it was taken one step further by making it variable.

The single engine version (Model 199-104) has a lot of Sukhoi Su-15 looks to it...

Enjoy the Day! Mark
As I recall the computer configuration analysis said the diamond delta wing was optimal, and the F-15 wing was refined with good old engineering experience.
 
What happened to the wing? October '68 it's the contract defintion bid configuration after they spent a year deciding it was the way to go, but by December it's not even in the contract defintion studies.
 
What happened to the wing? October '68 it's the contract defintion bid configuration after they spent a year deciding it was the way to go, but by December it's not even in the contract defintion studies.
Not sure what you mean - go back to #14 in this thread and you can see the decision tree that led to the wing as built. That was refined with a different cropped tip during flight test and at the same time, the horizontal stab got a saw tooth to address loading.

Enjoy the Day! Mark
 
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What happened to the wing? October '68 it's the contract defintion bid configuration after they spent a year deciding it was the way to go, but by December it's not even in the contract defintion studies.
Not sure what you mean - go back to #14 in this thread and you can see the decision tree that led to the wing as built. That was refined with a different cropped tip during flight test and at the same time, the horizontal stabe got a saw tooth to address loading.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

mcdonnell-douglas-f-15-wing-wind-tunnel-analysis-jpg.75670

Indeed! You can see the starting point was two diamond wings and this was refined to the proposal wing.
 
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"tip fold studies"? Was the F-15 anywhere close to exceeding hardened shelter dimensions?
 
Intriguing. They are not folding a lot of wing, it's not like it would let you move the aerodynamic center back to a more forward position in supersonic flight (a la XB-70). Similarly, it's not a whole lot of wing area to accomplish much of anything for other purposes either.

IIRC, there were other studies for in-flight wing tip folding, for some reason i'm picturing a Fairchild or Vought project of the same era or slightly earlier vintage. In that case, i think there was a very visible teardrop-shaped fairing that ran chordwise where the hinge was, and the amount of folding span involved was larger.
 
Intriguing. They are not folding a lot of wing, it's not like it would let you move the aerodynamic center back to a more forward position in supersonic flight (a la XB-70). Similarly, it's not a whole lot of wing area to accomplish much of anything for other purposes either.

IIRC, there were other studies for in-flight wing tip folding, for some reason i'm picturing a Fairchild or Vought project of the same era or slightly earlier vintage. In that case, i think there was a very visible teardrop-shaped fairing that ran chordwise where the hinge was, and the amount of folding span involved was larger.

Yes, you're remembering the Vought V-382 Strike Fighter that was designed to fold the wingtips when in low level flight for higher wing loading, better ride quality.
 
@Sundog Right on, i would have never been able to remember the model!:D
For the V-382, the penalty of the wing fold would have already been partially absorbed by the need for carrier stowage. It's more puzzling to see a land-based fighter adopt it...
 

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Always wondered why the F-111s had the extension (ejector?) but the Tomcats didn't.
 
Always wondered why the F-111s had the extension (ejector?) but the Tomcats didn't.
Always wondered why the F-111s had the extension (ejector?) but the Tomcats didn't.
Yes, it's basically an ejector. I suspect weight may have been one problem and reaction time to power changes would be another. If you're cruising, it's one thing, but if you need fast nozzle changes for rapid power changes, a convergent-divergent nozzle works better.
 
Always wondered why the F-111s had the extension (ejector?) but the Tomcats didn't.
Always wondered why the F-111s had the extension (ejector?) but the Tomcats didn't.
Yes, it's basically an ejector. I suspect weight may have been one problem and reaction time to power changes would be another. If you're cruising, it's one thing, but if you need fast nozzle changes for rapid power changes, a convergent-divergent nozzle works better.

f-111-historic-aviation-memorial-museum.jpg
 
Yes - unlike the photo, the painting doesn't seem to show any attachment between ejector ring and aircraft.
 

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