Boeing X-36

Boeing X-36
Country	USA
Role	Research aircraft
First flight	17 May 1997
Built	2

The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft was an American stealthy subscale prototype jet designed to fly without the traditional tail assembly found on most aircraft. This configuration was designed to reduce weight, drag and radar cross section, but increase range, maneuverability and survivability.

Source: Boeing X-36 on 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)
Role	Experimental Aircraft (Agility and Stealth Research)
National Origin	United States
Manufacturer	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)
Wingspan	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.