F-22 Comparison

The F-104, XF8U-3 and for that matter the Mirage III all had centerbodies in
their inlets to generate a second shock located near the inlet lip. In the
case of the F8U-3, the centerbody was the radome.

A non movable centerbody ie. a fixed inlet.




While I'm with you that
Metz is in the best position to know, I will be fascinated to learn how a
M2.5 inlet with decent pressure recovery works without some sort of second
shock generator in the inlet. The inner wall of the inlet (with the boundary
layer splitter) may form a fixed shock generator since the inlet lip of the
F22 is "swept" back WRT the splitter.



Beats me but both the Crusader 3 and the F-22 have vents to dump
excess air overboard at low speed. One thing I find interesting about
the F-22 is if you notice in almost every picture taken from chase
aircraft it's got it's flaps partially down.