Amazing rare film! The Lockheed XF-90 remains the most beautiful jet fighter to fly...though the XF-91 was ungainly, it contained many unique aerodynamic concepts plus mixed powerplants...and was the first aircraft to go supersonic in level flight. The German engineers and research we acquired after the war was a windfall...former adversaries (Germany) now helping us in the Cold War against a former ally (Soviet Union). How ironic.
Superb! The XF-90 was placed at the Nevada Test Site as part of a program to test the effect of nuclear blasts on various aircraft types. It survived several nuclear tests and was left at the test grounds for more then 50 years untill it was recovered.
I'm pretty sure the XF-90 was used, in outline form, as Wonder Woman's mount in the 1950s comics. Also, I think it was Lindberg that made a plastic kit of the XF-88 and, I'm not sure, but believe Aurora made a plastic kit of the XF-90. I just barely remember putting together both kits at the time, and it seemed that the Lindberg plastic was more brittle than the Aurora.
Michael Collins, the Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot, was assigned barrier testing at Edwards as his first test piloting job. He spent all day doing fast taxying and ramming that XF-92- the one shown here- into a nylon webbing net....
The XF-90 was really a thing of beauty. I wonder why it was canceled. There must have been some serious short comings. It has classic jet-age "'50s" looks.
It was canceled because there was not a powerful enough engine available for it. It was a very heavy fighter with all the armament it carried. Now compare it to the F-104 Starfighter.
Let's lift our glasses to the failed designs. For an idea to make it from the drafting table, through the wind tunnel, past management and the green eyeshades then overcoming all the production issues to finally take flight says something for the open minded risk taking of everyone involved.
I agree. And while we're at it, let us curse engine developers that sell the airframe people pie-in-the-sky vaporware. Because these designs didn't "fail"- they were _betrayed_ .
