XF-92A: Research Tests of Convair Model 7002; J-33 Engine 1948 Consolidated-Vultee; Color

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'U.S. Air Force Test Base in Muroc, California. This film covers the first test flight of the Model 7002 (Air Force designation, XF-92A). The scenes show the XF-92A No. 6682 as it was being towed from its hangar by tug, the pilot as he boarded the aircraft, fast taxi tests, a low flight over the runway, takeoff and landing. The film also includes aerial shots of the XF-92A in flight and as it approached for landing.'

Originally a public domain film from the National Archives or Library of Congress Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XF-92

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The Convair XF-92 (originally designated XP-92) was an early American delta wing aircraft. Originally conceived as a point-defence interceptor, the design was later used purely for experimental purposes. However, it led Convair to use the delta-wing on a number of designs, including the F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart, B-58 Hustler, the US Navy's F2Y Sea Dart as well as the VTOL FY Pogo...

In August 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), soon to be renamed the United States Air Force, issued a proposal for a supersonic interceptor capable of 700 mph (1,100 km/h) speeds and reaching an altitude of 50,000 feet (15,000 m) in four minutes...

A proposal by Consolidated Vultee (later Convair) was accepted in May 1946, with a proposal for a ramjet-powered aircraft, with a 45° swept wing under USAAF Air Materiel Command Secret Project MX-813. However, wind tunnel testing demonstrated a number of problems with this design.

Switch to delta

Convair found that by straightening the trailing edge and increasing the sweep of the leading edge, the characteristics of their new wing were greatly improved. Thus, contrary to suggestions that German designer Alexander Lippisch influenced it, Convair independently discovered the thin high-speed delta wing...

The design was presented to the U.S. Air Force in 1946 and was accepted for development as the XP-92.

Delta research

In order to gain inflight experience with the delta wing layout, Convair suggested building a smaller prototype, the Model 7002, which the USAAF accepted in November 1946.

...the main gear was taken from a North American FJ-1 Fury, the nosewheel from a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, the engine and hydraulics were taken from a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, the ejection seat and cockpit canopy were taken from the cancelled Convair XP-81, and the rudder pedals were taken from a BT-13 trainer...

By the time the aircraft was ready for testing, the concept of the point-defense interceptor seemed outdated and the (now redesignated) F-92 project was cancelled. They also decided to rename the test aircraft as the XF-92A...

In April 1948 the XF-92A was shipped to Muroc Dry Lake (later to become Edwards AFB). Early tests were limited to taxiing, although a short hop was made on 9 June 1948. The XF-92A's first flight was on 18 September 1948 with Convair test pilot Ellis D. "Sam" Shannon at the controls. On 21 December 1948 Bill Martin began testing the aircraft for the company. After 47 flights totaling 20 hours and 33 minutes, the aircraft was turned over to the USAAF on 26 August 1949, with the testing being assigned to Frank Everest and Chuck Yeager.

Yeager was the first Air Force pilot to fly the XF-92A on 13 October 1949. On his second flight he dove the aircraft in a 4 g split-S dive, reaching Mach 1.05 for a brief time. When approaching for landing on this flight he continued to pull the nose higher and higher in order to slow the forward speed to avoid the problems from his first attempt. Surprisingly, the aircraft simply wouldn't stall; he was able to continue raising the nose until he reached 45 degrees pitch, flying under control in that attitude to a landing at 67 mph (108 km/h), 100 mph (160 km/h) slower than Convair had managed...

On 9 April 1953, Scott Crossfield began a series of flights on behalf of NACA. These tests revealed a violent pitch-up tendency during high-speed turns, often as much as 6 g, and on one occasion 8 g. The addition of wing fences partially alleviated this problem. Crossfield flew 25 flights in the XF-92A by 14 October 1953. After the aircraft's last flight the nose gear collapsed as Crossfield taxied off the lake bed and the aircraft was retired.

None of the pilots had much good to say about the design. Yeager commented "It was a tricky plane to fly, but ... I got it out to 1.05 Mach." Crossfield was more direct, saying "Nobody wanted to fly the XF-92. There was no lineup of pilots for that airplane. It was a miserable flying beast. Everyone complained it was underpowered..."