Centre Split Windscreens

[elmayerle]

Slightly OT but does the 1141 look like a cross between a 'arrier and a XF-107?

I don't see too much F-107 in that.

Looks more like the love child of a Harrier and a Gnat.

The main closeness to a F-107 is the way the canopy line is almost an extension of the nose profile.  As I remember, the F-107 also had a center-split windshield and might be a good source for a lot of the canopy.

As for the rest, yes, it does look like the lovechild of a Harrier and the proposed Supersonic Gnat.  I wonder if the main gear would be similar to that of the Jaguar or F-1/T-2?  With single-wheel mains, I'd look at using the F-1/T-2 main gear.

[Mossie]

Thanks Evan, the F-107 doesn't have centre-split windscreen but the main canopy has that eliptical cross section & might well provide a damn good basis for it.  A good excuse to get hold of Trumpeters kit too!

I'd only breifly thought about the undercarriage, my main idea was to go with the chunky Harrier nose gear, though I hadn't really come up with a soloution for the main gear.  The Jag/F-1 might be a good start, if maybe a little on the long side, but it shouldn't be too much of a job to shorten it.

Evan, from an engineers point of view, have you any ideas/opinions on the benefits/disadvantages of this vector nozzle/straight through combination?  It seems, on the surface, that it's an answer to the problems of vectoring & reheat, but I imagine there would be some problems trying to get the two to work together from the same engine?

[elmayerle]

Well, if 'twere me, I'd put a three-bearing nozzle on the aft end.  Seriously, just deflecting the front nozzles would at least get you stol capability (much like the earliest P.1127 "High-Speed Helicopter" proposals).  IMHO, you need to turn the aft flow, too.  Now, a mid-80's approach to this would be GE's ADEN (Augmented/Deflected Exhaust Nozzle) concept which was an interesting 2-D approach.  I believe they did tunnel testing of a X-29 model with this in place of the standard F404 nozzle.