Bell D-188A

D-188A (XF-109 / XF3L)

Artist's concept of the XF-109 in flight
Role	VTOL fighter
Manufacturer	Bell Aircraft Corporation
Status	Canceled 1961
Primary users	United States Air Force United States Navy
Number built	1 mockup

The Bell D-188A (unofficial military designations XF-109/XF3L) was a proposed eight-engine Mach 2-capable vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) tiltjet fighter that never proceeded past the mock-up stage.

Development

In 1955, Bell Aircraft was requested by both the USAF and the US Navy to develop a VTOL/STOVL supersonic, all-weather fighter-bomber and defence interceptor. The project was highly ambitious and was designed to fulfill a multitude of roles for two different services. The aircraft was designated the Model 2000, and was offered in two different versions – the D-188 for the Navy and the D-188A for the Air Force. Bell had rather optimistically called the Navy version the XF3L-1 and the Air Force version the XF-109, although neither of these designations were official. On 5 December 1960, Bell publicly showed off the design as the XF-109 – the Air Force version, as the Navy had lost interest the year earlier, however in the spring of 1961, the US Air Force canceled the program and no examples were built.

Designation

The military designations were not official and were speculative on the part of Bell. The Navy’s XF3L-1 was not assigned, but would have been the D-188’s designation had the aircraft been built, as this was the next in the US Navy's number series. The Air Force XF-109 designation had previously been assigned to a proposed Convair F-106B variant, however, had subsequently been left blank and Bell assumed – if the D-188A had been built – that this would have been assigned to the aircraft. Many reference works refer to the D-188A by its assumed experimental series number, but in fact the XF-109 designator was never assigned.

Design

The aircraft was unconventional, and consisted of a long, thin, area ruled fuselage with a large fin and all-moving stabilators in the tail. The single seat cockpit was in the extreme nose and the small-span wing was mounted high on the fuselage. At the ends of each wing were pods that contained two turbojets each. These pods were designed to swivel through an arc of 100° (horizontal to 10° past vertical) to allow for both horizontal and vertical flight. To take off vertically, the pods were rotated to direct the engine's thrust downward, while for horizontal flight the pods were rotated back to the horizontal. The pods were capable of directing thrust slightly forward as well for enhanced landing maneuvers. In addition to the four wing engines, four engines were also mounted in the fuselage – two in the rear directed out of two separate tail ducts, and two directly aft of the cockpit and positioned vertically to aid in VTOL operation, exhausting out of two ventral ducts. The D-188A featured an engine bleed system to assist in vertical lift and maneuvering. Bleed air from the fuselage engine compressors would have been directed to a pair of thrusters in the nose and two more in the tail to aid in pitch, roll and yaw movements.

Armament would have consisted of two 20mm cannon in the fuselage, an internal weapons bay and eight wing hard points for missiles and other ordnance.

Specifications (D-188A, as designed)

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 62 ft (18.90 m)
Wingspan: 23 ft 9 in (7.24 m)
Height: 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Wing area: 194 ft² (18.02 m²)
Empty weight: 13,800 lb (6,260 kg)
Loaded weight: 23,917 lb (10,849 kg)
Powerplant: 8 × General Electric J85-GE-5 turbojets, 2,600 lbf (11.6 kN) each

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.3
Range: 2,000 nmi (2,300 mi, 3,900 km)
Combat radius: 1,350 mi ()
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)
Thrust/weight: 0.87

Armament

Guns: 4× 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon
Rockets: 108 × 2.75 in (70 mm) rockets
Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)

References

Notes

↑ Fact Sheets Bell XF-109

Bibliography

Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters. Minnesota, US: Specialty Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58007-111-6.
Townend, David R. Clipped Wings – The History of Aborted Aircraft Projects, Markham, Ontario, AeroFile Publications, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9732020-4-5.
http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/original-docs/f-109.pdf
http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/missing-mds.html
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_fighters/f109.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bell D-188A.

Aircraft produced by Bell Aircraft and Bell Helicopter

Manufacturer designations	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 32 33 34 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 47 48 49 50 52 54 58 59 60 61 65 66 67 68 200 201 204 205 206 207 208 210 211 209 212 214/214ST 222 230 249 301 309 400 407 409 412 417 427 429 430 440 445 449 505 525 533 D-188 D-255 D-292

Fighter aircraft	YFM-1 P-39 XFL P-59 P-63 XP-77 XP-83

Target drones	PQM-56

Attack helicopters	207 AH-1 (singles) AH-1 (twins) 309 YAH-63

Observation and utility helicopters	H-13 UH-1 UH-1N UH-1Y TH-57 OH-58 TH-67 ARH-70

Commercial helicopters	47 204 205 206 210 212 214 214ST 222 230 407 412 427 429 430 505 525

Tiltrotors	V-22 BA609 TR918 QTR

UAVs	MQ-8C

Non-production helicopters	400 417 440

Experimental aircraft	ATV 201 533 D-188 D-255 D-292 L-39 LLRV/LLTV X-1 X-2 X-5 X-14 X-22 XF-109 XP-52 XV-3 XV-15

USAAS/USAAC/USAAF/USAF fighter designations 1924–1962

Pursuit (pre-1948) Fighter (post-1948)	P-1 P-2 P-3 XP-4 P-5 P-6 XP-7 XP-8 XP-9 XP-10 P-11 P-12 XP-13 XP-14 XP-15 P-16 P-17 YP-18 YP-19 YP-20 P-21 XP-22 P-23 YP-24 P-25 P-26 P-27 P-28 P-29 P-30 XP-31 P-32 P-33 XP-34 P-35 P-36 P-37 P-38 P-39 P-40 XP-41 P-42 P-43 P-44 P-45 XP-46 P-47 XP-48 XP-49 XP-50 P-51 XP-52 P-53 XP-54 XP-55 XP-56 XP-57 XP-58 P-59 P-60 P-61/C XP-62 P-63 P-64 P-65 P-66 XP-67 XP-68 P-69 P-70 XP-71 XP-72 P-73 P-74¹ P-75 XP-76 XP-77 P-78 XP-79 P-80 XP-81 P-82 XP-83 P-84 XP-85 P-86/D XP-87 P-88 P-89 XF-90 XF-91 XF-92 YF-93 F-94 F-95 F-96 F-97 F-98 F-99 F-100 F-101 F-102 XF-103 F-104 F-105 F-106 F-107 XF-108 XF-109 F-110 F-111/B

Pursuit, Biplace	PB-1 PB-2 PB-3

Fighter, Multiplace	FM-1 FM-2

¹ Not assigned See also: F-24 • F-117 • P-400 • post-1962 sequence

United States Navy fighter designations pre-1962

General Aviation Brewster	FA FA² F2A F3A

Boeing	FB F2B F3B F4B F5B F6B F7B F8B

Curtiss	CF F2C F3C F4C F5C¹ F6C F7C F8C F9C F10C F11C F12C F13C F14C F15C

Douglas McDonnell	XFD F2D² F3D F4D F5D F6D FD F2D to "H"

Grumman	FF F2F F3F F4F F5F F6F F7F F8F F9F-1 to -5 F9F-6 to -8 F10F F11F F12F

Eberhart Goodyear	FG F2G FG F2G

Hall McDonnell	FH FH F2H F3H F4H

Berliner-Joyce North American	FJ F2J F3J FJ-1 FJ-2/3 FJ-4

Loening Bell	FL FL YF2L-1 F2L-1K F3L

General Motors	FM F2M F3M

Naval Aircraft Factory	FN

Lockheed	FO (I) FO (II)

Ryan	FR F2R F3R

Supermarine	FS

Northrop	FT F2T

Vought	FU F2U F3U F4U F5U F6U F7U F8U F8U-3

Lockheed	FV

Wright CC&F	WP F2W F3W FW² F2W² F3W² F4W

Convair	FY F2Y

¹ Not assigned • ² Assigned to a different manufacturer's type See also: Aeromarine AS • Vought VE-7

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