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Douglas F5D Skylancer

1956 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History of the Douglas F5D Skylancer

There are only four prototypes of the Douglas F5D "Skylancer" developed to meet the United States Navy's (USN) requirements for a carrier-based supersonic fighter jet, ending their days as NASA's military testbed. Like the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Cold War, the USN has a number of proprietary programs related to fighter jets and bombers.

A number of test aircraft paved the way for the US Navy's first supersonic aircraft - the Grumman F11F Tiger - to be officially accepted as a front-line solution for US aircraft carriers.

The original requirement in 1952 called for an agile fighter jet capable of Mach 1.2 with an afterburner engine. Armament will default to a set of internal cannons that support air-to-air missiles and provide support for early American air-to-air missiles (AAM).

As a fleet defense fighter, rate of climb becomes an important attribute for intercepting incoming air threats - leading to an agreed rate of climb of 25,000 feet per minute. Entries came from well-known names in the U.S. defense industry such as Douglas, Grumman, Lockheed, McDonnell, North America and Northrop.

Renowned American aeronautical engineer Ed Heinemann designed the F4D "Skyray" for Douglas Aircraft, which first flew in January 1951 and was acquired by USN in 1956. It was this common form that was chosen for the "F4D-2N" all-weather aircraft with Westinghouse J40 turbojets. The U.S.

Navy saw enough of the proposal and pushed it to 1953. Douglas engineers largely kept the same shape of the Skyray but modified it to make the fuselage thinner and longer and the wings thinner and stronger. Aerodynamic improvements were applied wherever possible - a rare opportunity for the engineers to correct some of the flaws in their original approach.

The design evolved enough to justify its own designation "F5D", which was eventually named "Skylancer". The U.S. Navy commissioned nine test aircraft for evaluation to lead a 51-man production order for the new fighter.

The F5D prototype first flew on April 21, 1956, and its design proved to be good for handling. At this point, however, the US Navy's interest in the Douglas was waning, as their attention turned to Chance-Vought's rivals - models that would become the famous F8U Crusader family of fighter jets. The move left the F5D with no requirements, prompting the U.S. Navy to terminate its commitment to the F5D in March 1957.

Only four of the nine expected test aircraft were realized by the end. The planes were then handed over to NASA in the 1960s for various aviation experiments. The last flight of the Skylancer was in 1968.

When completed, the F5D was designed to physically mimic some of the reasons the early F4D Skyray became the legendary American fighter of the 1950s. It features a short, pointed nose cone with good downward visibility, triangular air intakes mounted at the root of the wing, swept wing main planes with rounded tips and a vertical tail.

The aircraft has a total length of 16.4 meters, a wingspan of 10.2 meters and a height of 4.5 meters. The landing gear consists of three retractable legs with wheels (two main and one nose).

The single-engine configuration is embedded in the fuselage and pops out through a large circular opening under the tail.

While originally intended to be powered by the Westinghouse J40 turbojet, the aircraft was eventually redesigned to accommodate the more powerful Pratt & Whitney J57-P-8 (16,000 lbf with afterburner) turbojet. It is further anticipated that the production-grade aircraft will eventually use the Pratt & Whitney J57-P-14 engine, with consideration for future assembly of the General Electric J79 engine.

The onboard PW J57-P-8 has a top speed of 990 mph (Mach 1.48) and a range of up to 1,335 miles. Service is capped at 57,500 feet with a climb rate approaching 20,730 feet per minute.

Should support HVAR up to 72 x 2 in (51 mm) in addition to the standard armament of the 4 x 20 mm inner gun, as well as carry and fire the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 "Sparrow" AAM. The F5D will carry four of the former or two of the latter.