Northrop pre-ATF and ATF studies

overscan (PaulMM) said:
There's a top view only in Tony Chong's - Flying Wings and Radical Things P223
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Actually, in the Northrop NAD roadmap it seems there's a side view of it under the "Ongoing Northrop Vehicle Designs" box. The top view, when lined up with the top view provided by Tony Chong, matches near perfectly. Unless it's a side view of another project? Perhaps related to the Missileer?
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Well spotted. It looks 100% consistent.

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Going through my files I found this incredibly nice high res drawing of the Northrop N-371 that @BillRo sent me, I don't ever seem to have posted.
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John B. [John Binden - Admin] drew it but I cannot remember what AFT stood for - perhaps Advanced Fighter Technology. It also has the ubiquitous delta wing after we were warned off the diamond wing by the YF-23 team. Prior to coming to Northrop, John did the configuration for the ATR-42.
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According to Tony Chong this was the last "ATF" study by the 'white world' team.
 
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overscan (PaulMM) said:
Going through my files I found this incredibly nice high res drawing of the Northrop N-371 that @BillRo sent me, I don't ever seem to have posted.
View attachment 719413



According to Tony Chong this was the last "ATF" study by the 'white world' team.
Click to expand...
It looks like those engines are non-reheated or am I mistaking? I recall Northrop did a series of studies for such aircraft somewhere.
 
BillRo said:
The guys called this design "Christmas Tree". It was originally done by Tom D., but Darold Cummings' (Config Manager) name is on the drawing.
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Posted by Darold Cummings on LinkedIn ...
In August of this year I created the following post on my DP-21 "Christmas Tree" stealthy fighter design. "After the YouTube video "The YF-23 is Back" was released, I received a DM asking about the "Christmas Tree" ATF fighter design. Interesting story! I was hired by Bob Sandusky in 1982 to be the Chief Configurator for the Northrop ATF program (YF-23). In early 1983 Bob said that Northrop had tried to develop a "4-spike" (like the B-2) fighter, but it couldn't be done, since a flying wing fighter was not possible. I told him I could design one, and he said to give it a try. The only way to accomplish this was with a series of highly swept (55 degree) surfaces over the entire length of the aircraft. The result was the DP-21, created in June of 1983. Since I still did all my drawings in pencil, the only copy remaining is a "blue print", see below. Signed Cummings, June 14, 1983. I never considered this to be a serious contender for the ATF program, as the aircraft was unstable beyond 10 degrees angle of attack!" Gil Hezkia has created some fantastic art of the DP-21, including a 2-seat version that could be a CCA "Swarm" controller mothership.
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overscan (PaulMM) said:
Going through my files I found this incredibly nice high res drawing of the Northrop N-371 that @BillRo sent me, I don't ever seem to have posted.
View attachment 719413



According to Tony Chong this was the last "ATF" study by the 'white world' team.
Click to expand...
I don't have Tony Chong's book on hand as I had recently moved and my book collection is still enroute, but do we have the weight estimate of the N-360? Tony Chong's presentation at the WMOF gave the dimensions which is pretty similar to N-371, but I wonder how the weight estimates compared.

N-371's sizing as a ~19,930 lb OEW, 34,770 lb TGOW aircraft strikes me as similar to the F-18L in terms of weight. Of course, these represent Northrop's "white world" ATF studies, but the AMF, which appears to be quite similar to N-360, was basically the aerodynamic benchmark that Northrop tried to close with the HSF which became the YF-23 and F-23 that we know today.
 
icyplanetnhc (Steve) said:
I don't have Tony Chong's book on hand as I had recently moved and my book collection is still enroute, but do we have the weight estimate of the N-360? Tony Chong's presentation at the WMOF gave the dimensions which is pretty similar to N-371, but I wonder how the weight estimates compared.
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No weight estimation in Tony Chong's book, but Paul Metz (Air Force Legends Number 220 "Northrop YF-23 ATF") gives a 17,000 lb figure for the N-360 fuel load. Drawing from Overscan above gives 12,700 for the N-371 for comparison.
 
Manuducati said:
No weight estimation in Tony Chong's book, but Paul Metz (Air Force Legends Number 220 "Northrop YF-23 ATF") gives a 17,000 lb figure for the N-360 fuel load. Drawing from Overscan above gives 12,700 for the N-371 for comparison.
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Thank you. Anything on N-360 OEW or TGOW figures from Paul Metz's book? One can likely assume that it's aiming for a similar fuel fraction (0.38), which would scale the TGOW to the 40-50,000 lb range.
 
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