McDonnell Douglas Alternative Harrier Replacement.

[kitnut617]

Here's a very crude rendering of how I think the engine would work,



The idea is that this is a turbofan and the engine tunnel is the outer shell which directs the bypass air down around the engine and out the back end, the hot core would be suspended on streamlined pylons in the cold air flow.  For S/VTOL operation, the back flowing air would be blocked off much like the airliner engines do, but instead of the outer shell opening up so the air can be reversed, doors in each side would open up into small ducts coming off the forward end of the tunnel, and then be redirected downwards into the lift louvers on the bottom of the fuselage. Roll, pitch and yaw would all be controlled from air in this ducting too.

The bonus with this system is you could still use viffing ----

And I've just had a thought, you could have additional doors top and bottom of the tunnel further back which would operate as thrust-reversing when landing in traditional mode.

[Pablo1965]

This is reaching a new level of developement. Good luck.

[kitnut617]

So starting at the back end again, I needed something to form the engine tunnel across the middle part of the fuselage. After looking at various different kits, I found that the left over parts of the F-15 engine bays (the two topside center half parts) would actually make a fairly good engine tunnel.  But first I cut around the the engine tunnel that's on the model so I could pry it up a little so the top profile would blend in better.  I've done some more trial fitting of the side pod topside too, just to see how it would turn out



Here's a side view,



and another top view with the wing positioned roughly where it will go. I'm modifying the wing root fairing too so that it will be wider, did this by adding some card to the mating edge.



In this pic, you can see why I had to twist the topside of the air intake, this is so it would go over the hump of the transition and fan front.



Now it's on to the front end, I haven't found any parts out of the donor kits that will work in this area, I think this may have to be scratch built.

[Old Wombat]

Man, this is not just looking good... it's looking awesome!

Can't wait to see it finished!

[Pablo1965]

 

[kitnut617]

I've sorted the front upper fuselage, I was able to use some of the F-18 parts plus the little F-15 bit I used previously and then some card and putty.  I also refined the side top in the middle where it goes across the fan/transition, I wasn't happy with the way it looked but the solution was really simple, I gave the topside at the rear a slight twist too and everything fell into place.

This is now how the side profile will look but I need to refine the topside of the middle just a little bit more.



This is how the wing relates to the fuselage.

[GTX]

Coming along nicely.  Has a somewhat Yak141 look to it:


Regards,

Greg

[kitnut617]

Has a somewhat Yak141 look to it:
Greg

That's what Anthony said back on page 1 Greg  

Although it is getting a tad too much like the Yak    but the design almost dictates how it goes.  Hey! maybe that's where the Russians got the Yak design from  

[buzzbomb]

Coming along nicely.  Has a somewhat Yak141 look to it:

Just thinking the same thing after it has moved further along

This is great kit engineering though and looking really nice.
Great scratch work

[kitnut617]

Thanks again everyone ---

I'm almost there, no more chopping bits up now and I think I've got it to it's final configuration.
I've got the starboard side up to where the port side is at, and I painted the insides of the fan transition and fan



before I glued it into place.  The topside of the fuselage sides are now glued in and after the transition was glued in properly, these parts fitted a whole lot better.  I was able to smooth out the way it went over the transition.

In these photos you can see where I've pinned the tailplane into the boom ends but I might move them forward a bit, same with the fins.   It doesn't quite look right at the moment.







In this one I've tried to take a pic of the fan front, but it's not quite visible in this shot.


For the next little while I'll be filling in the gaps, doing the PSR thing, so it might be a while until some more pics appear.

[anthonyp]

Yeah, so F-15-izeing the Yak-141...  I love it   

[ChernayaAkula]

So very awesome!

[kitnut617]

Thanks guys ---

I've got the model perched on my computer tower, so whenever I look up from the monitor I see this at the moment;



I'm trying to think of what it reminds me of ----

[Scooterman]

I'm trying to think of what it reminds me of ----

Frackin' awesomeness?

[overscan]

Hmm. Not totally dissimilar to the actual McDonnell Model 262 project...

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2134.msg60186.html#msg60186

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