Rockwell OWRA F-8 Oblique Wing Aircraft

[hesham]

Hi,

the Rockwell studied in 1986 to developed the Vought F-8 Crusader
aircraft into an oblique wing aircraft with a more slender wing.

http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1986/1986%20-%203119.html

 

[Jemiba]

This F-8 modification was intended as a test-bed only. NASA planned to modify the
F-8C DFBW (digital fly-by-wire) as the OWRA (oblique wing research aircraft).
(Informations and drawing from Mike Hirschberg "A Summary Of A Half-Century of
Oblique Wing Research" )

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

I have recently received a couple of photos of the F-8 OWRA from Al Bowers at NASA and thought they should be shared here.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[hesham]

From a Russian report;


here is the F-8 oblique wing Model.

 

[Stargazer]

Some additional images, including one of the Sharkit kit:

 

[RAP]

...

 

[riggerrob]

The oblique wing concept originated in 1944 Nazi Germany. Dr. Richard Vogt sketched the Blohm & Voss P.202 with a single-piece wing that swiveled on top of the fuselage.
Messerschmitt also sketched the P.1009-01 biplane. The top wing swivelled one way, while the bottom wing swivelled in the opposite direction. Neither of these "Napkin Waffe" concepts flew off the drawing board.
After WW2, Dr. Richard Vogt moved to the USA under the Paperclip Program and he shared his concept with American designers.

NASA contracted Burt Rutan to build a manned, sub-scale AD-1 prototype. The AD-1 flew multiple times but exhibited roll-coupling problems.

The F-8 oblique wing prototype was never built.

DARPA and NASA commissioned a couple more oblique wing programs (e.g. AFW flying wing airliner in 1991), but none of them progressed beyond wind-tunnel testing.


The only production application of oblique wing is the Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, but Ospreys cannot change wing angle in flight. CV-22 wings only swivel to reduce deck foot print onboard aircraft carriers.

 

[DWG]

There used to be a model atop a cupboard at work* that appeared to be some sort of Advanced Technology Bomber design with a wide, flattened fuselage, and an oblique wing that appeared to be able to rotate completely atop the fuselage (which had a recess for it), with the forward wingtip nesting just aft of the cockpit and the aft one just forward of the tail, the aircraft presumably relying on body-lift alone once it reached that point.

* They all disappeared one weekend when some renovation was done, I hope they ended up in the archive rather than the skip.

 

[TomS]

There used to be a model atop a cupboard at work* that appeared to be some sort of Advanced Technology Bomber design with a wide, flattened fuselage, and an oblique wing that appeared to be able to rotate completely atop the fuselage (which had a recess for it), with the forward wingtip nesting just aft of the cockpit and the aft one just forward of the tail, the aircraft presumably relying on body-lift alone once it reached that point.

* They all disappeared one weekend when some renovation was done, I hope they ended up in the archive rather than the skip.

Like this?

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/amsa-program-b-1-bomber-projects.484/#post-17799

If you read on, they decided it wasn't an AMSA bomber, but there are some studies about it as a general supersonic aircraft concept.

 

[DWG]

Like this?

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/amsa-program-b-1-bomber-projects.484/#post-17799

If you read on, they decided it wasn't an AMSA bomber, but there are some studies about it as a general supersonic aircraft concept.

Definitely similar, wings and tail are right, but my recall is that the nose was a flattened rectangular wedge, probably side-by-side seating. However it's probably 20 years since I last saw it, so I could be wrong.

 

[hesham]

From Aviation magazine 15-7-1987