This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
World's First Delta Wing Airplane Convair/Air Force XF-92A
Technical Paper
2000-01-5515
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
The first flight of a delta wing aircraft took place in the United States at the Muroc AFB Flight Test Center on 18 September 1948. The aircraft, Convair No. 7002, Air Force S/N 46-682 and designated the XF-92A was piloted by Convair's Manager of Flight Research, E.D. “Sam” Shannon. The author witnessed this historic flight as a Flight Test Engineer on the project.
Studies and wind tunnel tests for a supersonic interceptor were conducted at the Vultee Division of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (Convair) in 1945. These studies led to the selection of the 60° delta wing plan form. This paper reviews the major differences between the thin wing XF-92A and the thick wing DM-1 glider (never flown) designed by Alexander M. Lippisch in Germany at the close of World War II.
The XF-92A used a fully hydraulic irreversible control system for its elevons and rudder. The only airplanes up to this time with fully hydraulic controls were the Northrop XB-35 and the YB-49 flying wings. The flights of the XF-92A flown by Convair test pilots, Shannon and Bill Martin are compared to the flights flown by Air Force test pilots, Capt. Chuck Yeager and Col. Pete Everest.
The historic XF-92A has been fully restored by the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. It will be on display for the world to see this one airplane that pioneered the development of the delta wing proving its worth as an efficient aerodynamic shape for transonic and supersonic flight.
Recommended Content
Technical Paper | A History of Manned Powered Flying Wing Development: 1922-1999 |
Technical Paper | Devices for Improvement of Controllability at Stall |
Technical Paper | Noise and Performance of General Aviation Aircraft: A Review of the MIT Study |
Authors
Citation
Chana, W., "World's First Delta Wing Airplane Convair/Air Force XF-92A," SAE Technical Paper 2000-01-5515, 2000, https://doi.org/10.4271/2000-01-5515.Also In
References
- Flight Test Engineer Log Book Chana W.F. Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation 1941 to 1948
- Pilot Log Book Shannon E.D. Convair 1948/1949
- Pilot Log Book Martin Bill Convair 1948/1949
- Delta Wing Aids High-Speed Flight McLarren Robert AVIATION WEEK 4 July 1949
- Flight Test Memorandum - XF-92A (Model 7002) Airplane - Flights 28 to 47 Craig R.E. Weisman Y. Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, Report No. F-7002-6 2 December 1949
- Phase II Flight Tests of the XF-92A Airplane, USAF No. 46-682, Mem. Rep. No. MCRFT-2262, Air Material Command Flight Test Div. Mapp Robert Yeager Charles E. Everest Frank K. U.S. Air Force 20 December 1949
- Flight Test Memorandum XF-92A (model 7002) Airplane, Rep. Nos. F-7002-1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 ? Anon Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation 1949
- Jet Interceptor: XF-92A Downie Don SKYWAYS May 1950
- First Flying Triangle - Convair's XF-92A Haggert, James J. Jr. AMERICAN AVIATION 28 May 1951
- Wind Tunnel Investigations of a Number of Total -Pressure Tubes at High Angles of Attack -Subsonic Speeds Gracy William Letko William Russell Walter R. NACA TN 2331 1951
- The Delta Wing Downie Don SKYWAYS May 1952
- Preliminary Drag Measurements of the Consolidated Vultee XF-92A Delta Wing Airplane in Flight Tests to a Mach Number of 1.10 Bellman Donald R. Sisk Thomas R. NACA Research Memorandum (RM L53J23) 4 January 1954
- Flight Measurements of Elevon Hinge Moments on the XF-92A Delta Wing Airplane Johnson Clinton T. Kuhl Albert E. NACA Research Memorandum (RM H54J25a) 13 January 1955
- Flight Measurements at Transonic Speeds of the Buffeting Characteristics of the XF-92A Research Airplane Baker Thomas F. Johnson Wallace E. NACA Research Memorandum (RM H54L03) 28 April 1955
- Flight Measurements of Wing Loads on the Convair XF-92A Delta Wing Airplane Kuhl Albert E. Johnson Clinton T. NACA Research Memorandum (RM H55D12) 25 May 1955
- A Feasibility Study of Techniques for Measuring and Predicting the State of the Art Bagby Fred L. Battel le Memorial Institute Project No. 6-7701 July 1959
- Convair's Delta Alpha Hallion Richard Dr. AIR-Enthusiast Quarterly No. 2 1971
- The Aerodynamics of the Unconventional Air Vehicles of A. Lippisch Borst Henry V. 1980
- Delta Wings - Convair High Speed Planes of the Fifties and Sixties Mendenhall Charles A. MOTORBOOKS INTERNATIONAL 1983
- AEROGRAPH 4, Convair B-58, Chap. 2; Designing With Deltas, XF-92A Miller Jay Aerofax, Inc. 1985
- General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors Wegg John Putnam Aviation Books 1990
- San Diego Air Capital of the West Scott Mary L. San Diego Aerospace Museum 1991
- Lippisch P13a & Experimental DM-1 Glider Dabrowski Hans-Peter Schiffer Military History 67 1993
- YEAGER Yeager Chuck General Janos Leo Bantam Book July 1995
- Flight Testing at Edwards, Flight Test Historical Foundation. (The XF-92A, Page 29, Richard Schmidt) Butler Book Publishing 1996
- Convair F-102 Delta Dagger - P-92 and XF-92A Mutza Wayne Schiffer Military History 1999
- ROGER OVER AND OUT - Trends, Developments and Accomplishments in Aviation and Missiles Chana W.F. Autobiography Manuscript 2000