Northrop F3T Stingray

[RAFF-35]

Northrop F3T Stingray - Korea 1953.
Development work started in the 1940's and evolved from other Northrop projects such as the N9M, XP-79 Ram and the X-4 Bantam. The US Navy required a jet powered night fighter which could carry the latest radar equipment and also had enough range to be able to loiter and hunt. Jack Northrop pushed for the Navy to accept a radical flying wing design which would achieve the stipulated range requirements. During this period, the navy was also investigating other unorthodox designs such as Vought's F7U Cutlass and Douglas' F4D Skyray, so were willing to invest in Northrop's vision of a pure flying wing. The XF3T encountered teething problems such as porpoising as the aircraft approached the sound barrier.  Increasing speeds also caused a tucking phenomenon, in which the nose pitched down. More seriously, the aircraft also showed a tendency to "hunt" about all three axes. This combined yaw, pitch and roll, which grew more severe as the speed increased, was a precursor to inertial coupling. To combat this, the engineers altered the flaps and speed brakes and also created a rudimentary fly by wire system which was controlled by inputs from sensors mounted at the tips of the wings and tail. These changes, among others,  dramatically improved the aircrafts handling. However, at high mach numbers, control of the aircraft could suddenly be lost. Due to this, a never-exceed-speed of 670mph was instated.
When the F3T first entered service in 1951 with both the USN and US Marines, there was a high accident rate as pilots were inexperienced with the unique qualities of flying wings, particularly during landings. These issues were never really left behind during the Stingray's career with an accident rate of 30%. Despite these difficulties, the crews grew to appreciate the "deathray" as it became known, liking its overall performance, long range, powerful avionics and hard hitting array of x4 20mm cannon.
The Stingray saw action in Korea where it was used to escort B-29s in both daylight and night time sorties, as well as fleet defence and later as a ground attack aircraft. Three crews became night fighter aces and numerous other F3T crews also achieved victories. After the war, the Stingray was crucial in the development of long range air to air missiles such as the Sparrow. The F3T was retired in 1962 after it was eclipsed by more modern fighters such as the F4 Phantom. The legacy of the Stingray was to provide priceless flight data and design concepts for Northrop to use on future projects.

[PR19_Kit]

An excellent looking machine, and very 'Northrop-ish' too. 

But how did you build it?

[RAFF-35]

An excellent looking machine, and very 'Northrop-ish' too. 

But how did you build it?

Why thank you! I used a 1/72 PM Horten Go.229 V7 kit as a base. Entirely scratch built the interior as the kit's one was non existent. The radome was fashioned from a P-38's drop tank. The actual drop tanks are from either an F-86 or a Mig-15. All of the additional features were scratch built 

[Dizzyfugu]

Cool; I also like the USMC Korea War night figher livery.
Could it be that the drop tanks came from an Airfix F-86D? 

[comrade harps]

Love it!

[The Rat]

Most excellent!   

[RAFF-35]

Cool; I also like the USMC Korea War night figher livery.
Could it be that the drop tanks came from an Airfix F-86D? 

That is entirely possible, if not probable.

[DogfighterZen]

That looks good! 

[zenrat]

Yeah, looks like Sabre tanks to me too.

Good job.

 

[NARSES2]

Another good one 

[su27rules]

      Nice!!

[Vulcan7]

beautiful flying wing     

[frank2056]

Great job of converting the Ho-229!

[Wardukw]

Excellent stuff 👏 ..flying wings are always cool 😎 ☺️

[Spino]

Nice work!  That one looks pretty cool, and definitely in line with the Northrop flying wing aircraft.