Hunting H.126 airframe 2

lenny100 · December 13, 2011, 02:43:15 PM

Hunting was awarded the contract in 1959 to build two aircraft. The first of these, XN714, flew on 26 March 1963, painted overall yellow with a matt black anti-glare area on the nose in front of the cockpit. Test flights were carried out between 1963 and 1975.
The first airframe was designed purely for test purposes, and thus lacked features such as retractable landing gear. The shoulder-level wing featured a set of struts, not for support but in order to provide piping for the compressed air used in the blown flaps. The rear control surfaces consisted of a fairly small triangular T-tail, similar to the one on the Gloster Javelin. The fuselage was fairly simple, similar to the Hunting Jet Provost in layout, but with a smaller cockpit for a single pilot. The air intake for the single Bristol Siddeley Orpheus engine was located in the extreme nose. The jet flap system consisted of a series of sixteen nozzles arranged along the trailing edge of the wing, which were fed about half of the engine's hot exhaust gases. A smaller amount, about 10%, was also fed into small nozzles on the wing tips to provide control thrust at low speeds. A similar system was later used on the Hawker Siddeley Harrier for similar reasons. This left little power for forward thrust, and the aircraft was limited to low speeds, but the takeoff speed was a mere 32 mph (52 km/h), a speed most light aircraft would have trouble matching.
the second. In 1969 it was shipped to NASA and was returned in May 1970, staying in storage until September 1972 when it was struck from the RAF records.

The second airframe was to be a operational test aircraft for a new forward air control aircraft, with fully reteactable landing gear and a new more powefull engine the de Havilland Ghost.
the take off speed was rased slightly to 40 mph but the top speed was now 620 mph, although at operational speeds around 200 mph the active flight system using the jet flap and the reaction controlers made this aircraft the most agile aircraft ever. The aircraft although sucsessfull in trails was not orderd by any airforce and the program was stoped in 1974 with the aircraft being given to the sciance mesuem in london. the were about of the airframeis currently unkown.

Jschmus · December 13, 2011, 05:33:17 PM

Do I see a Tunnan in there?

Hobbes · December 14, 2011, 12:58:34 AM

Interesting!

I was thinking that the H.126 would make a good replacement for the Lysander...

rickshaw · December 14, 2011, 01:48:33 AM

Has to have two seats. Two pairs of eyes are better in the FAC role. Side-by-side or tandem? OA-4s used tandem. A-37s side-by-side. Both worked well.

lenny100 · December 14, 2011, 01:59:21 AM

during this time frame most fac were single pilots in aircraft such as the bird dog etc. so that is why it was single seat, maybe that why nobody placed an order for the aircraft?

Weaver · December 14, 2011, 05:01:37 AM

Nice idea!

Wish I'd had it: I was trying to think up an idea for a British FAC aircraft a while back.....

Just for comparison, there was a US equivalent in (I think) the early 1970s called the Ball-Bartoe Jetwing. It looked like a Yak-17 with an extra small wing over the main one, which acted to smooth the flow of engine efflux over the upper surface of the wing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball-Bartoe_Jetwing

The Wooksta! · April 12, 2012, 04:19:52 AM

Quote from: Weaver on December 14, 2011, 05:01:37 AM
Wish I'd had it: I was trying to think up an idea for a British FAC aircraft a while back.....

BP Balliol or Percival piston Provost. The latter did use bombs against fractious arabs in Oman. I've a photo os one somewhere being bombed up.

Weaver · April 12, 2012, 04:39:51 AM

Quote from: The Wooksta! on April 12, 2012, 04:19:52 AM
Quote from: Weaver on December 14, 2011, 05:01:37 AM
Wish I'd had it: I was trying to think up an idea for a British FAC aircraft a while back.....

BP Balliol or Percival piston Provost. The latter did use bombs against fractious arabs in Oman. I've a photo os one somewhere being bombed up.

Both viable, but I think that on a specially designed FAC, you'd be looking for better downward vision than a low-wing design can provide (look at the Bird Dog and O-2). I'm toying with the idea of using an Airfix Gazelle cockpit pod and a 1/220th Noratlas to make a pre-Optica-Optica. It would have a big, slow, high-mounted pusher prop (Lockheed Q-Star style) rather than the ducted fan though.

The Wooksta! · April 12, 2012, 04:45:54 AM

Weren't CAC Winjeels used as FAC by the RAAF in Vietnam?

rickshaw · April 12, 2012, 05:04:13 AM

Quote from: The Wooksta! on April 12, 2012, 04:45:54 AM
Weren't CAC Winjeels used as FAC by the RAAF in Vietnam?

No, it wasn't. It was used as a FAC in Australia. Australia didn't operate any independent FAC in Vietnam. Some Australian pilots, on attachment to USAF units flew FAC missions which is IIRC how one Cessna 0-1 ended up sporting RAAF markings and serials. The Winjeel BTW was unusual, it could carry up to three in the cockpit. An instructor and two pupils. One flying, the other one observing. A unique approach to training, it must be said.

PR19_Kit · April 12, 2012, 05:10:32 AM

Quote from: rickshaw on April 12, 2012, 05:04:13 AM
The Winjeel BTW was unusual, it could carry up to three in the cockpit. An instructor and two pupils. One flying, the other one observing. A unique approach to training, it must be said.

Not totally unique.

The Percial Prentice had the same arrangement, but with one significant difference. Percival managed to get their power/weight calculations wrong and the Prentice could only JUST fly with three aboard. I sat back seat in one a couple of times and even though flying off the longer runway at Hullavington we only JUST made it over the hedge! Heart in mouth stuff.