The F-100 As an Air Superiority Fighter

[Zipper730]

This seems interesting.

 

[GTX]

Thanks for posting

 

[Zipper730]

GTX

No problem, it seemed an interesting article. The only flaw in it is that it seems to play fast/loose with sustained and instantaneous g-load (for example the mentioned g-load at supersonic speed). I am surprised that the supersonic and subsonic performance are so close.

 

[GTX]

Imagine how this one would have performed. Lawrence Wackett of Commonwealth aircraft Corporation (CAC) fame, discussed licensed production of the F-100 in Australia by CAC in/around 1954. Rather than use a J57 though, they looked at two RR Avon RA-7s in a side-by-side arrangement in a widened fuselage. Apparently, NAA also showed some interest but with a single RR Avon RA-19R of 17,500lb static after burning thrust @ sea level. The increased thrust coupled with the smaller size/lower weight of the Avon promised better performance with speed, service ceiling and rate of climb all increasing:

	J57 F-100A	RA-19R F-100A
Max Power (Augmented)	15,000 lb	17,500 lb
Military Power	9,220 lb	11,400 lb
Max Speed @ 35,000ft	751 Kn (Mach 1.31)	827 Kn (Mach 1.44)
Max Speed @ 45,000ft	583 Kn (Mach 1.02)	629 Kn (Mach 1.09)
Max Rate of Climb	18,800 FPM	39,600 FPM
Service Ceiling	55,600 ft	58,050 ft

Wackett again pushed for the RAAF to consider the F-100 in 1957. Alas nothing became of these proposals.

 

[SaparotRob]

Was there enough room in fuselage to apply the area rule a little better?

 

[GreenKnight121]

Imagine how this one would have performed. Lawrence Wackett of Commonwealth aircraft Corporation (CAC) fame, discussed licensed production of the F-100 in Australia by CAC in/around 1954. Rather than use a J57 though, they looked at two RR Avon RA-7s in a side-by-side arrangement in a widened fuselage. Apparently, NAA also showed some interest but with a single RR Avon RA-19R of 17,500lb static after burning thrust @ sea level. The increased thrust coupled with the smaller size/lower weight of the Avon promised better performance with speed, service ceiling and rate of climb all increasing:

	J57 F-100A	RA-19R F-100A
Max Power (Augmented)	15,000 lb	17,500 lb
Military Power	9,220 lb	11,400 lb
Max Speed @ 35,000ft	751 Kn (Mach 1.31)	827 Kn (Mach 1.44)
Max Speed @ 45,000ft	583 Kn (Mach 1.02)	629 Kn (Mach 1.09)
Max Rate of Climb	18,800 FPM	39,600 FPM
Service Ceiling	55,600 ft	58,050 ft

Wackett again pushed for the RAAF to consider the F-100 in 1957. Alas nothing became of these proposals.

1. a. Other J57s (such as in the F-102) pr5oduced more power. The J57-P-25 in the F-102 from 1955 on produced 11,700 lb mil, 17,200 lb max.
b. Your numbers for the RA.19R seem higher than I can find anywhere else... more like the Avon 300 series, not the 200 series that the RA.19R was. The numbers I can find for the 19R are 11,400 lb mil, 14,500 lb max (or slight variations).
c. The only Avons I can find with max thrust above 15,000lb are the RA.29 series (and only the Swedish afterburner in the Draken exceeded 16,500 lb max).
d. The 200 & 300 series Avons with reheat were larger in diameter than any J57 (41.5" engine body 44" reheat module vs 40.02" for the J57.
e. Their length was basically the same - but the Avon WAS about 700lb lighter than the J57 in engine body weight (I have never found a weight for a reheated Avon), and would likely be a good 1,000 lb lighter with reheat module.

2. The second attempt by Wackett to get the RAAF to buy the F-100 was certainly mis-timed... as the Australian government had decided, in 1957, to buy (and build) the F-104C - only to change their minds the next year due to being told by the USAF that the F-104 was "too sophisticated and complex for you" and that it was a bad fit for the size of most Australian military runways.
They then began pushing the US for the N-156 (F-5A), but that was not ready for production so they would have to wait a few years.
I have not seen anywhere that the RAAF ever seriously looked at the F-100, likely because starting in 1956 it wasn't used by the USAF primarily as a fighter - its primary mission had become tactical bomber.

 

[GTX]

1. a. Other J57s (such as in the F-102) pr5oduced more power. The J57-P-25 in the F-102 from 1955 on produced 11,700 lb mil, 17,200 lb max.
b. Your numbers for the RA.19R seem higher than I can find anywhere else... more like the Avon 300 series, not the 200 series that the RA.19R was. The numbers I can find for the 19R are 11,400 lb mil, 14,500 lb max (or slight variations).
c. The only Avons I can find with max thrust above 15,000lb are the RA.29 series (and only the Swedish afterburner in the Draken exceeded 16,500 lb max).
d. The 200 & 300 series Avons with reheat were larger in diameter than any J57 (41.5" engine body 44" reheat module vs 40.02" for the J57.
e. Their length was basically the same - but the Avon WAS about 700lb lighter than the J57 in engine body weight (I have never found a weight for a reheated Avon), and would likely be a good 1,000 lb lighter with reheat module.

2. The second attempt by Wackett to get the RAAF to buy the F-100 was certainly mis-timed... as the Australian government had decided, in 1957, to buy (and build) the F-104C - only to change their minds the next year due to being told by the USAF that the F-104 was "too sophisticated and complex for you" and that it was a bad fit for the size of most Australian military runways.
They then began pushing the US for the N-156 (F-5A), but that was not ready for production so they would have to wait a few years.
I have not seen anywhere that the RAAF ever seriously looked at the F-100, likely because starting in 1956 it wasn't used by the USAF primarily as a fighter - its primary mission had become tactical bomber.

I will try to dig up my sources.