On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 12:41:07 -0700, "Tex Houston" wrote:


"Alan Minyard" wrote in message
.. .
The six also had an area-ruled fuse, that is significant for a +mach bird.

Al MInyard

As did the F-102. See Joe Baugher article at
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f102_1.html part of which I quote below. The
XF-92A is the aircraft which did not have "area rule".

Tex


The F-102 project was in serious trouble, and if a fix for the performance
problems could not be found, the entire project was in danger of
cancellation.

While eight more YF-102s (Model 8-82, serials 53-1779/1786) were being built
to the same standards as the first two aircraft, Convair embarked on a major
investigation and redesign program in an attempt to save the F-102. The
salvation of the project turned out to be in the "area rule" devised by NACA
scientist Richard Whitcomb. According to the area rule, the total cross
sectional area along the direction of flight should be a constant in order
to achieve minimum transonic drag. In order to achieve this, it was required
that the fuselage be narrowed down in the region where the wing roots were
attached, then broadened back out again when the wing trailing edge was
reached. This gave the aircraft fuselage a characteristic "wasp-waist" or
"Coke-bottle" shape. In order to achieve this, the length of the fuselage
was increased by 11 feet, and a pair of aerodynamic tail fairings were added
aft of the trailing edge, these fairings extending beyond the end of the
afterburner tailpipe in a pair of characteristic protrusions. These tail
fairings were for purely aerodynamic purposes and had no other function. A
new cockpit canopy with a sharper leading edge was fitted, although it had
an adverse effect on overall visibility. Cambered leading edges were fitted
to the thin delta wings to improve the behavior of the thin airfoil at high
angles of attack, and the wingtips were given wash-in.


Thank you very much, Tex.

Al Minyard