XF10F Jaguar

Grumman XF10F Jaguar
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Type	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Maiden flight	1952-05-19
Status	Cancelled in April 1953
Number built	1

The Grumman XF10F Jaguar was a prototype swing-wing fighter aircraft offered to the US Navy in the early 1950s. Although it never entered service, it pointed the way towards the later, abortive General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B and later towards the F-14 Tomcat.

Design and development

The Navy's interest in the variable geometry wing was based on concerns that the ever-increasing weight of its jet fighters was making aircraft carrier operations troublesome. Many of its existing aircraft already had marginal carrier performance, and the trend in weight growth was obviously upward. At the same time, the demands for high-speed performance demanded swept wing layouts that did not lend themselves to good take-off characteristics. The prospect of combining the two in a single aircraft was enticing.

The resulting Jaguar was a stubby, somewhat plump-looking aircraft whose fuselage was similar to that of the earlier F9F Panther. It had a T-tail, with the horizontal stabilator mounted atop the vertical fin. The single turbojet engine was fed by cheek intakes. The high, shoulder-mounted wing could be moved to two positions: a 13.5° sweep for take-off and landing and a 42.5° sweep for high-speed flight. The unique horizontal stabilizer design was free-floating; an attached foreplane was directly controlled by the pilot and pulled the stabilizer up or down; this resulted in sluggish pitch control, especially at low speeds where airflow over the small foreplane was lessened, and if the project had developed further, it probably would have been replaced by a conventional all-flying tailplane. The design often caused pilot-induced oscillations, causing the plane to be nearly uncontrollable much of the time.

The XF10F-1 was not armed, but production aircraft would likely have had four 20 mm cannon and pylons for bombs and rockets, like other contemporary USN fighters.

Testing

Although the Jaguar's potential was interesting, its configuration presented many of the same handling problems as the earlier Bell X-5 experimental aircraft, with some vicious spin characteristics.

The Jaguar's development was further hampered by its use of the disastrous Westinghouse J40 turbojet, which, as on other aircraft of this period, made the Jaguar dangerously underpowered and prone to various engine-related problems. The J40 developed only 6,800 lbf (30.2 kN) thrust rather than the anticipated 11,000 lbf (49 kN), and its troubles ultimately proved to be insuperable.

Test pilot Corwin "Corky" Meyer, who was the only pilot to fly the Jaguar, described it as entertaining to fly "because there was so much wrong with it." Interestingly, he found the novel wing-sweep mechanism (which ironically was much more complicated than the one used by the Bell X-5 and later adopted by the F-111, F-14 Tomcat and Panavia Tornado) to be the only feature that worked flawlessly. The Navy was not encouraged by the results, and the development of larger carriers with angled flight decks and steam-driven catapults made the swing-wing configuration less necessary.

The prototype XF10F-1 first flew on 19 May 1952. It was used for some 32 test flights throughout the year, but in April 1953 the Navy cancelled the program, and with it the 112 production aircraft that had been ordered. The sole flying aircraft and the uncompleted second prototype were shipped to Naval Air Material Center in Philadelphia for barricade testing, and the static test aircraft was later used as a gunnery target.

Specifications (XF10F-1)

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 55 ft 9.6 in (17.01 m)
• Wingspan:
  
  • Spread: 50 ft 8 in (15.42 m)
  • Swept: 36 ft 8 in (11.17 m)
• Height: 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m)
• Wing area:
  
  • Spread: 466.9 ft² (43.38 m²)
  • Swept: 450 ft² (41.8 m²)
• Empty weight: 20,425 lb (9,265 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 35,450 lb (16,080 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Westinghouse XJ40-W-8 turbojet, 6,800 lbf (30.2 kN)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 710 mph (620 knots, 1,100 km/h)
• Range: 1,670 mi (1,450 nm, 2,670 km)
• Service ceiling: ft (m)
• Thrust/weight: 0.19

Related content

Comparable aircraft

• Sukhoi Su-17

Designation sequence

• F7F - F8F - F9F - F10F - F11F - F12F

Related lists

• List of fighter aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States