North American F-108 Rapier

sferrin

ACCESS: USAP
Senior Member
Joined
3 June 2011
Messages
17,232
Reaction score
8,819
In the book "Valkyrie - North American's Mach 3 Superbomber" they indicate that North American continued developement of the F-108 even after it was cancelled. They have a "1960" configuration that is a little puzzling. Either the canopy and windows shrunk considerably or the aircraft as a whole grew. Also in the drawing the afterburner detail is a bit different. That in itself isn't unusual except that it's different than all the rest. (Kinda wondering if it grew a LOT and those are GE4s :eek: ) Anyway I'm wondering if anybody has any info on the final developement of the F-108. Thanks.
 
sferrin,

Airpower Vol 34 No. 9 Sept 2004 has an extensive article on the XF-108 including numerous drawings of the design as it developed/evolved. I will try to scan you a copy if you would like.

Regards,

Greg
 
That would be great. sferrin#xmission,com. :)
 
sferrin said:
In the book "Valkyrie - North American's Mach 3 Superbomber" they indicate that North American continued developement of the F-108 even after it was cancelled.

Part of the reasoning behind that was because the LRI requirement still remained, even though the XF-108 had been cancelled. Eventually the LRI requirement was to be filled by the F-12B. Of course, the worst SecDef in US history had something to say about that.
 
This is an interesting point raised by Scott Ferrin (sferrin) - the 1960 evolution of the F-108 seems to be MUCH larger, based on the size of the canopies.
 

Attachments

  • F-108 1960(1).jpg
    F-108 1960(1).jpg
    146.4 KB · Views: 3,596
Just tracked down the nozzle diameter of the GE4 and it was 89.5" (from a post here) and the drawing shows about 88" and given the accumulated error between drawing versions, scanners, etc. it seems a good possiblity. On the other hand the GE4 didn't power on until 1968 so it could just be "it'll have an engine about so big".
 
Hi,

I have two drawings to F-108,one with two addition tail fins and one main fin and the second
with one main tail fin.
 
From FlugWelt 2/1960, a drawing that probably shows a very early layout.
 

Attachments

  • NA-F-108-Entwurf.JPG
    NA-F-108-Entwurf.JPG
    30.4 KB · Views: 2,537
For sale at Boeing Photo Store -

'Three Views of the North American F-108 Rapier'
http://pictopia.com/perl/gal?process=gallery&gallery_id=3328&provider_id=237&ptp_photo_id=boeing:302948&sequencenum=24
F-108 Rapier Cutaway Drawing
http://pictopia.com/perl/gal?process=gallery&gallery_id=2966&provider_id=237&ptp_photo_id=boeing:238682&sequencenum=24

Why I'm not Roma Abramovich?
 
From FlugWelt 2/1960, a drawing that probably shows a very early layout.

Mmmmm, could be "disinformazija", the wing leading edge angle seems not trisonic.
 
From the same series..

http://pictopia.com/perl/gal?process=gallery&gallery_id=3328&provider_id=237&ptp_photo_id=boeing:1596103&sequencenum=0

If he's really landing, I'd advise him to make sure the nose gear gets all the way down first.
 
flateric said:
For sale at Boeing Photo Store -

Seems kinda pricy. Anyway, I got scans of these some years ago. Given that Boeing is selling 'em, I'll not post high-rez complete versions, but here's a glimpse at the F-108 cutaway....
 

Attachments

  • f108.jpg
    f108.jpg
    199.9 KB · Views: 2,060
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 8) 8) 8) 8)

Post some more previews of different parts and I'll fire up Photoshop ;)
 
overscan said:
Post some more previews of different parts and I'll fire up Photoshop ;)

I'm pretty sure the Boeing Ravenous Buglawyer Beasts of Litigation would hurt me if I did that...

Anyway, this is what Boeing had in their F-108 PR art folder a few years back. I know they wnat to *eventually* scan and make available *everything* they have, so *someday* these should all be available via Boeings store. Don't ask me when, though...
 

Attachments

  • f1082.jpg
    f1082.jpg
    368.7 KB · Views: 2,245
Here some additional stuff...(post-2)
 

Attachments

  • F-108.jpg
    F-108.jpg
    125.1 KB · Views: 1,409
  • 24-0ct-58.jpg
    24-0ct-58.jpg
    158.4 KB · Views: 1,336
  • may-58.jpg
    may-58.jpg
    42.1 KB · Views: 932
Here some additional stuff...(post-3)
 

Attachments

  • 1960.jpg
    1960.jpg
    76.2 KB · Views: 809
  • jun-59.jpg
    jun-59.jpg
    70.3 KB · Views: 733
  • sep-58.jpg
    sep-58.jpg
    63 KB · Views: 653
  • mar-56.jpg
    mar-56.jpg
    40.1 KB · Views: 719
  • N-126.jpg
    N-126.jpg
    65.5 KB · Views: 777
Justo, you are aware of forum rules, right?

Posts should have their sources named, and scans from published books should be small.
 
Wow, thats a cool video.

I always loved the XF-108. Always reminded me of a Mach 3 version of the Arrow. Designed to the same basic concept, they even resembled one another.

I wish we could see more of the video, though.
 
The narrator sounds like the same narrator from the "Wings" series shown on The Discovery Channel back in the late '80s / early '90s (in the USA). This may be a clip from one of those on another a/c.


saturncanuck said:
Wow, thats a cool video.

I always loved the XF-108. Always reminded me of a Mach 3 version of the Arrow. Designed to the same basic concept, they even resembled one another.

I wish we could see more of the video, though.
 
Yes, after listening to it again, I agree.

Still, I want to see more of the video.

frank said:
The narrator sounds like the same narrator from the "Wings" series shown on The Discovery Channel back in the late '80s / early '90s (in the USA). This may be a clip from one of those on another a/c.


saturncanuck said:
Wow, thats a cool video.

I always loved the XF-108. Always reminded me of a Mach 3 version of the Arrow. Designed to the same basic concept, they even resembled one another.

I wish we could see more of the video, though.
 
Merged some existing topics. This is early version of NAA F-108 supplied by Tony Buttler liberated from another topic.
 

Attachments

  • NAA LRI.jpg
    NAA LRI.jpg
    19.1 KB · Views: 3,529
Here's another variant of the above NAA WS-202A, with wingtip tanks, different canards and larger ventral fins.
 

Attachments

  • NAA WS-202A Early.jpg
    NAA WS-202A Early.jpg
    62.5 KB · Views: 3,565
Close up of the F-108's FCO's (Guy in Back) weapon select panel

The original pic was a bit unfocused...Found this in five so called boxes of F-108 material at Archives II. So many "this is cool, but we have decided it's classified so sucks to be you" fun defeaters...
 

Attachments

  • F108Arm.jpg
    F108Arm.jpg
    94.2 KB · Views: 1,033
While I was at the Archives with a bunch of guys, I found a booklet detailing the Mockup Inspection for the F-108.

I scanned in all of the photographs in it at 600 DPI and saved them in TIFF.

Here they are resized down to 1500 pixels width and saved in JPEG so they won't break the forum.

First up, the General Glamour Shots.
 

Attachments

  • F-108 Glamour 4.jpg
    F-108 Glamour 4.jpg
    313.9 KB · Views: 516
  • F-108 Glamour 3.jpg
    F-108 Glamour 3.jpg
    274.2 KB · Views: 766
  • F-108 Glamour 2.jpg
    F-108 Glamour 2.jpg
    263.2 KB · Views: 1,075
  • F-108 Glamour 1.jpg
    F-108 Glamour 1.jpg
    333.6 KB · Views: 1,143
The Electronics Mockup.
 

Attachments

  • F-108 Electronics 1.jpg
    F-108 Electronics 1.jpg
    308.5 KB · Views: 448
  • F-108 Electronics 2.jpg
    F-108 Electronics 2.jpg
    269 KB · Views: 442
  • F-108 Electronics 3.jpg
    F-108 Electronics 3.jpg
    304.1 KB · Views: 443
The GAR-9 (AIM-47) Falcon.
 

Attachments

  • GAR-9 Shot 1.jpg
    GAR-9 Shot 1.jpg
    248.5 KB · Views: 429
  • GAR-9 Shot 2.jpg
    GAR-9 Shot 2.jpg
    222.2 KB · Views: 425
  • GAR-9 Shot 3.jpg
    GAR-9 Shot 3.jpg
    246 KB · Views: 464
Pilot's Cockpit Mockup.
 

Attachments

  • F-108 Pilot 2.jpg
    F-108 Pilot 2.jpg
    324.1 KB · Views: 668
  • F-108 Pilot 1.jpg
    F-108 Pilot 1.jpg
    292.4 KB · Views: 646
Fire Control Operator (FCO) aka RIO aka GIB Seat.
 

Attachments

  • F-108 FCO 1.jpg
    F-108 FCO 1.jpg
    287.1 KB · Views: 610
  • F-108 FCO 2.jpg
    F-108 FCO 2.jpg
    246.2 KB · Views: 582
  • F-108 FCO 3.jpg
    F-108 FCO 3.jpg
    263.5 KB · Views: 553
First is the Cockpit Module Mockup which contained the Pilot/FCO seats I showed earlier.

Next is a vision mockup that could swing up and down to show people how much the pilot could see at different angles of attack.
 

Attachments

  • F-108 Cockpit Mockup Module.jpg
    F-108 Cockpit Mockup Module.jpg
    242.6 KB · Views: 531
  • F-108 Vision 1.jpg
    F-108 Vision 1.jpg
    232.9 KB · Views: 560
  • F-108 Vision 2.jpg
    F-108 Vision 2.jpg
    237.6 KB · Views: 694
ohhh, what a beauty! thanks, thanks, thanks!
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom