Republic AP-100 VTOL fighter

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Heres a somewhat unclear pic of a late 1960s Republic fighter design. It seems to connect back to the Republic F-108 but also shows some similarities to the Fairchild-Republic TFX submission. Anyone got more?

 

[hesham]

It seemed to Republic AP.100 nuclear powered aircraft.

 

[lark]

The model shown is the Republic AP-100 V/Stol fighter bomber.
Powerplants ; 6 improved General-Electric J-85 turbo jets plus
3 "Lift Fan" propulsion systems.
Span:35.5' Lenght:67'9'' Height:13'10''
gross w:38.000 pounds.

"A" version single seater "B" version two seater.

Source : Air Progress Spring 1961.

An illustration was send a time ago to my friend Pometablava who
was so kind to put it on this forum.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

More, thanks to lark.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

From NASA report (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710070030_1971070030.pdf)

 

[elider]

I hope every gets as thrilled as I do when I see posts like this. This is fantastic. Thanks Overscan.

 

[lark]

Great find! Thanks.
(oh..sweet nostalgia)

 

[Jemiba]

Here the AP-100 from Aviation Week, August 1960 ...

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730065305_1973065305.pdf

More pics of the NASA model

 

[Firefly 2]

6 engines, 3 lift systems, clean lines...
Where's the fuel?

 

[Sentinel Chicken]

A. It's in the fuel truck.
B. It's in the air-refuelling tanker.
C. It's in the external tanks but they made the plane too heavy for VTO.

 

[Orionblamblam]

AP-100 art/drawings.

 

[elider]

Thanks for the high quality post.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Thanks for the high quality post.

You're welcome. I accept cash, checks, money orders, PayPal, gold, silver, blonds, brunettes, redheads and albinos.

 

[Kim Margosein]

Is that area behind the cockpit the fuel tank? Considering the efficiency of jets and VTOL in general, it would need it's first refueling around the time it transitions to horizontal.

Kim M

 

[Orionblamblam]

Is that area behind the cockpit the fuel tank?

Behind the cockpit, and part of the tailcone. It also *seems* to indicate that the wing and vertical tail are also fuel tanks, but since that includes the actual control surfaces, that must just be a trick of the shading.

 

[reelarchives]

Here are some pics of the AP-100 in development tests from one of my 16mm films - hope you enjoy!

 

[Stargazer2006]

Very interesting shots! Thanks for sharing.

 

[reelarchives]

Very interesting shots! Thanks for sharing.

You are very welcome!

 

[Matej]

Hope you enjoy!

Yes, we do! Thanx.

 

[flateric]

incredible stuff, thanks for sharing these treasures!

any chances to see XF-103 stuff?

 

[OM]

Very interesting shots! Thanks for sharing.

...Better still, any chance of capping the film and putting it on YouTube?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Super cool stuff, thanks for posting these.

If you need helping id-ing other stuff just post some piccies

 

[reelarchives]

Very interesting shots! Thanks for sharing.

...Better still, any chance of capping the film and putting it on YouTube?

I just purchased all these films about 2 weeks ago and believe me it takes a lot of time to go through them all. I will copy some of them and sell most of them eventually. All in all I have about 1,000 films to go through and most of them are on film cores of varying sizes from 25 ft to 2,000 ft! They belonged to a former employee of Republic Aviation who rescued them years ago from being tossed when they were shutting down the plant. Most of the films date from the late 1950's to the 1960's along with some footage of the last project they were working on called the T-46A. For now though I'll just share some pictures I come across which I think this forum might find interesting.

 

[reelarchives]

Here are some pics of the AP-100 from an animated film I looked at. I have yet to find anything else showing a real mock up of this fighter.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I doubt it went any further than scale models, personally. Nice pics though, thanks for sharing, and enjoy digging through what you have

 

[Triton]

Republic Aviation AP-100 model testing.

View: http://youtu.be/33brA29FRDk

 

[patvig]

Other info at http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=1295

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Added to existing topic. Video was transferred from film and uploaded by forum member "Reelarchives".

 

[Stargazer2006]

Image quality is outstanding. Congrats to Reelarchives!

 

[circle-5]

Republic AP-100A factory display model, ca.1957 (one of my favorite models!) This is the final configuration, with the little pitch fan in the tail.


Photo by Chad Slattery

 

[sferrin]

I wonder how speedy this thing would have been on the deck. B)

 

[circle-5]

I wonder how speedy this thing would have been on the deck. B)

With six J-85 turbojets and a L/W ratio >1, I assume Republic's Mach 2+ claim was easily attainable. But with those same six turbojets and little space left for fuel tanks, it's doubtful the AP-100's combat radius was anything to get excited about. Then again, the idea of a VTOL interceptor was to base it very near the front lines (i.e. the border between the GDR and the FRG).

 

[Stargazer2006]

Republic AP-100A factory display model, ca.1957 (one of my favorite models!) This is the final configuration, with the little pitch fan in the tail.

Omigod... Such a beauty!! Thanks A LOT for sharing this marvel.

 

[xmotex]

Mach 2 on the deck?
I imagine that would have made for a pretty bumpy ride

 

[circle-5]

Mach 2 on the deck?

Though not specified, I would assume Mach 2 performance was at altitude. Attached is another view of the Republic AP-100A, showing the scalloped turbojet exhaust, twin-fin layout and rear pitch-control fan (which replaced the earlier puffer jet arrangement).


I wonder if Alexander Kartveli also designed the 1960 Cadillac Eldorado ...


AP-100 photo by Chad Slattery

 

[Firefinder]

View: https://youtu.be/DRgKVfbqJlY


A video of this.

 

[Scott Kenny]

6x J85s... Today we could replace that with 6x afterburning Williams FJ44s, though I'd remove the middle lift fan to use as a bomb bay and just use a 3-bearing nozzle like the F35.

 

[acegeek9992]

6x J85s... Today we could replace that with 6x afterburning Williams FJ44s, though I'd remove the middle lift fan to use as a bomb bay and just use a 3-bearing nozzle like the F35.

Well, where would the three-bearing nozzle be located?

 

[Orionblamblam]

Hmmm... blatant self promotion, ya or nah?