# Rockwell XFV-12



## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)

The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic United States Navy fighter which was first built in 1977. The XFV-12 combined the Mach 2 speed and AIM-7 Sparrow armament of the F-4 Phantom II in a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter for the small Sea Control Ship which was under study at the time. On paper, it looked superior to the subsonic Hawker Siddeley Harrier attack fighter. However, it proved unable to produce enough thrust for vertical flight, even with an installed engine with more thrust than its empty weight, and the project was abandoned.













1974, Project #470

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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)

Rockwell became responsible in 1972 for development of the US Navy's XFV-12A V/STOL Fighter/Attack Technology Prototype programme. Basically a single-seat all-weather V/STOL fighter/ attack aircraft, the XFV-12A made use of an augmentor wing concept in which the efflux of its single Pratt & Whitney F401-PW-400 afterburning turbofan engine could be diverted to nozzles in the wings and foreplanes for V/STOL operations. An ejector-flap system was incorporated in the design of each wing and foreplane, in which ambient air was mixed with turbine efflux in a ratio of 7:1 to provide the essential jet-lift for vertical operations and, when the flaps are raised or lowered progressively, for transition from vertical to horizontal flight and vice versa. The programme proved a disappointment and failed to provide an alternative to the *Harrier*. 
*Specification* 
ENGINE1 x 133.4kN Pratt & Whitney F401-PW-400 turbofan WEIGHTS Take-off weight11000 kg24251 lb DIMENSIONS Wingspan8.69 m29 ft 6 in Length13.35 m44 ft 10 in Height3.15 m10 ft 4 in PERFORMANCE Max. speed2560 km/h1591 mph 
The whole XFV-12 programme was conducted on the cheap. The main landing gear, canopy and other cockpit parts came from an A-4 Skyhawk. The main wing box and parrs of rhe inlets were from an F-4 Phantom.
*�* In vertical flight yaw was controlled by vectoring the ejector units. Roll control came from varying the amount of thrust supplied to each.
*�* The XFV-12 had what was called a 'thrust augmentor wing'. Engine gases were to be channelled along ducts in the canard and wing surfaces for vertical flight.


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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)




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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)




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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)




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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)




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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)

The pw-401 engine mock-up


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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)

here is a report about Rockwell XFV-12. 
According to George Spangenberg, Evaluation Division Director of NAVAIR, the push for the XFV-12 came from NAVMAT. Specifically from Rear Admiral Thomas Davies head of R&D at NAVMAT, who felt that the Navy's frigates and destroyers could not do the ASW mission, and small carriers with ASW helos could get the job done. Naturally, said carriers would need air defense if they were going to operate on their own, AEGIS being nearly a decade away, and in 1972, in an unprecendented move by NAVMAT, feelers were sent out to the aerospace industry for a VTOL long range senor aircraft and a high perfomance VTOL fighter. A wide variety of proposals from the industry came back, and NAVMAT had NAVAIR review them. The submissions were all over the place, ex C-130 variant, because the Sea Control Ship was so poorly defined. As you mentioned before a lot of squids were worried that a supplement such as the SCS would end up being shoehorned in as the main type of carriers due to budgetary concerns.
This was at the time in the OSD that prototyping was all the rage and the Navy would be allowed one prototype. The three final fighter designs considered were the McAir's AV-16, Rockwell's North American Columbus Division's FV-12 and General Dynamic's Convair Division 200. Using the lift+cruise VTOL method, the Convair 200 coming in first place because it could do the air-to-air well and possibly air-to-ground, the Harrier variant AV-16 placed second as it couldn't do the a2a mission being so slow, but had a2g capability and the thrust augmented wing FV-12 dead last since it would not be able to do either role effectively. NAVAIR gave a presentation to NAVMAT recommending that work on a lift engine be started before prototype of a fighter be ordered, and for the sensor aircraft a modified OV-10 with thrust augmentation system could be prototyped at minimal cost. Adm. Davies took the charts from the NAVAIR presentation then modified and cherry picked the data for his FV-12 sales pitch to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Frosch, who gave the green light. With NAR-Columbus promising Mach 2.0 speed and 55% lift augmentation, the project also had support from OpNAV's "high risk, high pay off" officers. The aircraft was chosen a the Navy's aircraft to prototype and funded.
Soon there after NAVAIR's reservations about the design reached Assistant Secretary Frosch, and he blew a gasket. Frosch called in representatives from NAVMAT, CNO, CNM and NAVAIR to talk the project over, stating he never wanted any project to be pitched to him again without both sides of the story being told. The next year, Dr. Frosch left the Navy for the UN Environmental Program and then NASA. Adm. Davies, the instigator of the program, retired from the navy to become Assistant Director of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency which he held for 7 years. Ground testing of the engine began in 1974. NASA wind tunnel studies showed that the vertical lift figures were overly optimistic, yet the program still continued. *insert VTOL sabotage conspiracy theories here* In 1977, 5 years after go ahead, the first (and after the second was cancelled) and only prototype was rolled out, cobbled together from various A-4 and F-4 parts with a still uncertified engine originally meant for the F-14 (F401). In a 6 month period in 1978 during tethered test the XFV-12A was only able to achieve vertical flight under its own power a total of once, earning it the title of "ground hugger-1". The augmented lift wing only deliver 25% vertical thrust, only enough to lift 75% of the airframe's total weight, primarily due to loss of thrust through extensive ducting. It didn't help either that the airframe was overweight.

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## johnbr (Jun 14, 2019)



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## vikingBerserker (Jun 14, 2019)

That is a cool looking aircraft, thanks for posting this!


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## Capt. Vick (Jun 15, 2019)

Yeah thanks!


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## wlewisiii (Jun 15, 2019)

I always thought it was a beautiful airplane and wished it had worked. This post is the best and most detailed explanation of the program and it's failure that I have ever seen. Thank you very much.

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## Gnomey (Jun 18, 2019)

Cool shots!


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## johnbr (Sep 20, 2019)

aviationweek.


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## jetcal1 (Sep 20, 2019)

This post is a gem! There is more here than I've seen anywhere else.

Thanks!

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## johnbr (Sep 20, 2019)

nasa


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## johnbr (Aug 4, 2020)

Facebook – log in or sign up


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