Boeing X-36

Boeing X-36
Pays	Usa
Rôle	Avion de recherche
Premier vol	le 17 mai 1997
Construit	2

Le McDonnell Douglas (plus tard Boeing) X-36 (X-36) Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft était un prototype américain de sous-échelle furtif conçu pour voler sans l’assemblage de queue traditionnel que l’on retrouve sur la plupart des avions. Cette configuration a été conçue pour réduire le poids, la traînée et la coupe transversale radar, mais augmenter la portée, la maniabilité et la survie.

Source: Boeing X-36 sur Wikipedia

Boeing X-36 Walk Around
Photographers	Vladimir Yakubov, John Heck
Localisation	National Museum of the USAF, Dayton
Photos	42

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General Characteristics and Role

The Boeing X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft was an experimental subscale jet developed by McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) for NASA and the US Air Force in the mid-1990s. Its primary role was to test the feasibility of a fighter aircraft design that lacked the traditional vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. The X-36 was intended to explore how a tailless configuration could enhance stealth (by reducing radar cross-section) and improve maneuverability, particularly at high angles of attack, compared to conventional fighter jets. It was flown remotely by a pilot in a ground station due to its small size and lack of a cockpit.

Property	Typical Value (X-36)
Rôle	Experimental Aircraft (Agility and Stealth Research)
National Origin	États-Unis
Fabricant	McDonnell Douglas / Boeing
First Flight	17 May 1996
Pilot/Control	Unmanned, remotely controlled from a ground cockpit.
Length	5.77 m (18 ft 11 in)
Envergure	3.17 m (10 ft 5 in)
Height	0.95 m (3 ft 1 in)
Max Takeoff Weight	567 kg (1,250 lb)

Powerplant and Flight Controls

Engine: 1 x Williams International F112 turbofan engine.
Thrust: Approx. 3.1 kN (700 lbf).
Top Speed: Estimated at 370 km/h (230 mph).
Flight Control System: Required a highly advanced Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) system to maintain stability, as the aircraft was inherently unstable without tail surfaces.
Control Surfaces: Yaw and pitch control were achieved using canards (foreplanes) and a combination of split ailerons (flaperons) and a thrust-vectoring nozzle on the engine.

Program Outcome and Legacy

Test Program: The X-36 completed a highly successful test program, demonstrating excellent maneuverability with its tailless design. It achieved a total of 31 flights, logging 15 hours of air time.
Success Metric: The program demonstrated that a tailless fighter design could achieve up to a 40% increase in cruising lift and a significant improvement in agility over conventional designs.
Influence: Although the X-36 never led directly to a production aircraft, its successful demonstration of control and stability heavily influenced subsequent low-observable (stealth) aircraft design and DFBW control systems, including possible future unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs).
Preservation: Both X-36 prototypes are now preserved: one is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Ohio, and the other is at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong) in California.