F-416 Barracuda

[pyro-manic]

Love the look of the thing, sotoolslinger. You're making the Starfighter attractive, something I never thought possible! Those canards are coooool. I'm not a fan of the lumpy bits - I'd agree that it would look better "clean", but hey, it's your build. For the "spine", I'd suggest using some tubing, and making a spine with constant cross-section rather than a hump-backed shape.

EDIT: Maybe something like this Mig 21 has: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Mig-21_yu.JPG

[ChernayaAkula]

Sierra Hotel! 

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks y'all I also think it looks cooler clean but I actually try to be somewhat realistic and practical . I have shortened the fuselage but added a much larger engine  and while I have added bigger wings and they are wet I wan't to have sidewinders on the wingtips instead of tanks so the conformal tanks have to be there or it would have no range. The plane will have a 20 mm gatling with a 1000 round drum situated behind the pilot so I have to have the avionics hump as I don't want it to be just a dayfighter. I thought about having the hump be just a cylinder but I have always liked the one they put on the 'hawks and I think the new square ones on the F-16'S looks like hammered s. .The base model of this fighter would actually be clean without all the humps but this is the advanced version with all the bells and whistles.
The canards will be flapped but the intake rams are not fixed on this plane and are linked to the canard controls to keep airflow to the engine smooth

[Weaver]

Fair enough - the "endlessly modded late version" is a look in itself. The humps on Skyhawks are actually square-section too (they've got square boxes in them, after all) but they look nicer because the upper corners are well rounded.

In the same vein, how about an "afterthought" fixed IFR probe with a faired-in external fuel line running past the cockpit to get to the tanks? Mirage F1s have a particularly nice one, and somehow I don't think the rest of the kit would go to waste in your hands....

The intake vs canards idea is interesting: perhaps the shockcones pivot up and down as well as retracting to modify the airflow into the engine? The French call half-cone centrebodies "souris" (mice), so what does that make these? Twitchy mice? 

[JP Vieira]

It looks very good so far...keep it up

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks JP I appreciate the link you put in your thread
Weaver I think the fixed IFR probe is a great idea and need more Mirages anyway what specific kit are you talking about so I can get one? 
I did take your advice about the canards in part. The flappy part is outboard of the intakes


BTW  the intake spikes(to make the design less complex and therefor cheaper) only tilt they do not move in and out. Also at certain speed ranges the spikes and the canards "lock out" to fixed position  to avoid stalls.
PSR



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[Weaver]

IFR probe:

Ah, you got me there: I was thinking about the real aircraft and since I don't do 1/48th, I'm not too sure what's around. A quick look on the internet reveals that the ONLY affordable F1 kit generally available (unless something new's just come out) is an old ESCI one, variously re-boxed and/or updated by Italieri/Revell. It doesn't get great reviews, but then a lot of the crits would be irrelevent for whiffery purposes. I wouldn't pay very much for one, and if buying off ebay, I'd make SURE that the IFR probe was included since I'm not convinced it's in the earlier versions.

Anyway, don't get hung up on the Mirage F1. It only occured to me because the fixed IFR probe is nice-looking since it has a curvy, aerofoil fairing around it instead of being just a sticky-out pipe. There may well be other probes that would do the job and there's always the option of making the whole thing from scratch since you'd almost certainly have to make the probe-to-tanks pipe anyway.


Canards:

That's a good solution!  I was looking at the wing vs centre-of-gravity situation earlier and it struck me that it would more likely be a stable canard (like a Viggen) rather than an unstable canard (like a Typhoon), and given the limitations of flight-control avionics in your stated timeframe, that would be the more likely option.




Intakes:

Since the canards are now fixed and their moving surface is outboard of the intakes, you don't really need the cones to tilt any more, but having them retract will still bring speed advantages. Retracting is also the cheaper, easier option (tilting's a bit "brave"). Actually (and yes, I know it's a bit late for this now) if you've got a much bigger engine than the F-104 and you want "simple", you could leave them out altogether: after all, late Drakens and F-16s manage to do Mach=2 on fixed intakes....

[Mossie]

When I saw F-416 I thought you were going to use four Starfighters!  Now that's an idea, four J79's stacked like this......



If ever you feel like bashing a B-1B, you know the way to go!!!

I agree with others, not over keen on the bulges but don't let us stop you. Weave mentioned the canards, another option would be to extend the intakes forward & mount the canards on them?

Keep it coming!

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks y'all good advice all the way around.We'll go with the in and out on the rams cause I don't have that many parts with me . I don't think I have any IFR probes even at home so I will just have to look it up and see what I can scratch up.
Mossie I was wondering what I was going to do with that B-1 SAVED TO HD

[Mossie]

It's one of several Myais..., Myassses...., Myasishchev proposals for the contract that was won by the equally headturning Sukhoi T-4.  It's worth getting hold of Soviet Secret Projects: Bombers Since 1945 just for inspiration, you can blatantly rob features from several designs!  Maybe Santa might bring it if you've been a good boy???

More here:
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1661.0/highlight,myasishchev.html

[sotoolslinger]

 I have been a very good boy I have only blatantly stolen several ideas this year instead of my usual hundreds

[cthulhu77]

Personally, I like bumps. (Get your mind out of the gutter)  It is looking quite sleek, with those massive canards, it would be a great slow speed agile dogfighter !

[sotoolslinger]

Well at least someone likes my bumps, my humps, my humps......I'll get me goat, uh coat
Hump 1 will have more antenna thingies

[Weaver]

Now don't get the hump..........








Coat, hat, gone......

[sotoolslinger]

Throwing stuff at Weaver as he exits