F-16 and (Mitsubushi) F2

[PR19_Kit]

F-16XS?

That stands for Xtra Short I presume? 

I'm with Weaver, with a fuselage that short get them as far from the wing as possible, waaaaaay forward.

[perttime]

On the LERX, just in front of the wing...



It just looks better to me that way  

XS is just the opposite of XL, whatever XL stands for in the F-16 context.

[rickshaw]

They could work where you've placed them but close-coupled canards are inherently tricky to control because of the interaction between the canards and the mainplane.  You'd need to have a very good automatic control system in place.

The further forward, the better control.  Where you've sited them may cause problems I suspect, at high angles of attack.   You'd be better off perhaps extending the lex forward and placing the canards on either side of the cockpit.

Alternatively, just extend the lex forward and make the wings into true deltas.

[perttime]

OK, one more: canards in the nose, with anhedral calculated using the TLAR method.

F-16XS-C2



There might still be room for a radar in the nose, with the canards situated low. I don't really want to make it a delta, or make the LERX bigger, because the pilot needs to see where he's going.

[Weaver]

Anyone fancy a painting challenge?



Posted on Twitter("X" ) by DJ here: https://x.com/v1pergirl/status/1758577101458776305?s=20

[zenrat]

...and yet it STILL has stencils...

[NARSES2]

...and yet it STILL has stencils...

They're engraved 

[Weaver]

Okay, not 100% sure I'm buying this, but allegedly, there was an in-house project at GD to develop a version of the F-16 armed with the GAU-8A, which looked WILD.

Info from this post by @Fighterman_FFRC on Twitter("X" ): https://x.com/Fighterman_FFRC/status/1835188364829769777

Text:

"I don't think the world is ready for this...
but apparently an in-house model of the General Dynamics F-16 GAU-8 gunship concept (G.F.G) exists
photo courtesy of allysonca on secretprojects forum"

Secret Projects thread:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/general-dynamics-fort-worth-f-16-derived-gau-8-gunship-concept-g-f-g-from-1976.30625/page-2

Also, post #8 on this thread on here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,43961.msg775716.html#msg775716

[su27rules]

      

[kerick]

Looks like most of it would be a whole new aircraft! Interesting whiffology.

[perttime]

https://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article18.html
"During Desert Storm, their 24 F-16A/B aircraft were equipped to carry the General Electric GPU-5/A Pave Claw pod on the centerline station. The pod houses a 30mm GAU-13/A four-barrel derivative of the seven-barrel GAU-8/A cannon used by the A-10A, and 353 rounds of ammunition. The aircraft received the new designation F/A-16, and were the only F-16s ever to be equipped with this weapon, intended for use against a variety of battlefield targets, including armor.
...
... the project proved to be a miserable failure. Precision aiming was impossible for several reasons:  

• The pylon mount isn't as steady as the A-10's rigid mounting;
• The F-16 flies much faster than an A-10, giving the pilots too little time approaching the target;
• Firing the gun shook the aircraft harshly and made it impossible to control;
• essential CCIP (continuously computed impact point) software was unavailable.

Pilots ended up using the gun as an area effect weapon, spraying multiple targets with ammunition, producing an effect rather like a cluster bomb. It took only a couple of days of this before they gave up, unbolted the gun pods, and went back to dropping real cluster bombs - which did the job more effectively.[/i]"

[jcf]

...and yet it STILL has stencils...

Just the basics relating to flight safety which are required for test-flights.

[jcf]

Better drawing of the F-16 GAU-8 critter.
Which I doubt was an actual project as it has far too many issues and would require so much redesign and re-engineering that it would no longer have any real commonality with F-16. You cannot view this attachment.

[jcf]

https://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article18.html
"During Desert Storm, their 24 F-16A/B aircraft were equipped to carry the General Electric GPU-5/A Pave Claw pod on the centerline station. The pod houses a 30mm GAU-13/A four-barrel derivative of the seven-barrel GAU-8/A cannon used by the A-10A, and 353 rounds of ammunition. The aircraft received the new designation F/A-16, and were the only F-16s ever to be equipped with this weapon, intended for use against a variety of battlefield targets, including armor.
...
... the project proved to be a miserable failure. Precision aiming was impossible for several reasons: 

• The pylon mount isn't as steady as the A-10's rigid mounting;
• The F-16 flies much faster than an A-10, giving the pilots too little time approaching the target;
• Firing the gun shook the aircraft harshly and made it impossible to control;
• essential CCIP (continuously computed impact point) software was unavailable.

Pilots ended up using the gun as an area effect weapon, spraying multiple targets with ammunition, producing an effect rather like a cluster bomb. It took only a couple of days of this before they gave up, unbolted the gun pods, and went back to dropping real cluster bombs - which did the job more effectively."

Which isn't surprising as the 20mm gunpods used on the F-4 Phantom were craptastic and moved around so much that accuracy in A-to-A combat was wishful thinking.

[tahsin]

Buy it 100% as it is real; helping F-16 to grow in engine thrust and with that in production numbers. "GD" keeps the model around for a reason afterall.