Lockheed CL-1309

[steelpillow]

Back in 1973, Lockheed carried out a series of 25 or more widely varying design studies under the designation CL-1309. Few are known, with Scott Lowther describing three "bantam" class lightweight fighters in his US Stealth Fighter Projects, in Mortons' Secret Cold War Designs series. The CL-1309-21 caught my eye:


It looks remarkably prophetic of the F-16XL, which would fly almost ten years later. The fuselage is so like the F-16 that the designer must have read of the YF-16 rollout that same year, and dashed back to the office for his own take (as I did with my XF-28 when Revell brought out a kit). In 1976 or '77, General Dynamics began development of what would become the F-16XL under the Supersonic Combat and Maneuvering Prototype, aka SCAMP, programme. SCAMP/XL had a longer-chord cranked delta wing of greater area and much subtlety of  design, which worked brilliantly. Albert Piccirillo's Elegance in Flight is a must-read for anybody who appreciates finesse.

What if Lockheed had picked up and run with the idea those three or four years sooner than GD? My take on that is just a hack on Scott's drawing, with the CL-1309-100 being smaller than the F-16XL but still having a somewhat longer chord than the -21, and marginally reduced span. Cockpit glazing is less OTT, while the forward fuselage is enlarged a little to make room for a usable radar and the tail fin is raked back to compensate. The heavier, uprated engine has a slightly wider intake, and an afterburner which protrudes further back and helps balance out the other changes. The wing has 2 deg washout, so the sidewinders now cant downwards. Like the longer chord, this both reduces drag in cruise as well as improving the manoeuvrability and stall characteristics. I'm still working on other subtleties - how far ahead of the game were the Lockheed Whiff Corporation?

[kerick]

Sounds like a great plan. I can't wait to see it!