Subject: Number Eighty-Nine in the Series--Northrop F-89 Scorpion (7 of 10)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 28 Sep 93 17:39:18 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The F-89F was a proposed advanced version of the F-89D.  It was to be 
powered by a pair of 9100 lb.st. General Electric J47 engines.  The 
wing was enlarged and was provided with a swept leading edge.  It 
carred the same sort of midspan weapons/fuel pods as did the F-89E.  
The fuselage was deepened and was faired straight back from the canopy 
to the vertical fin.  The horizontal stabilizers were moved from the 
fin down to the fuselage at the base of the vertical fin.  The 
armament was to have been six Falcon air-to-air missiles and 42 
2.75-inch FFAR rockets housed in the front of the weapons/fuel pods.  
The rear portion of the pods contained some 900 gallons of fuel.  The 
dimensions were wingspan 59 feet 4 inches, length 59 feet 6 inches and 
a height of 21 feet.  

The project actually proceeded as far as the mockup stage.  However, 
as the design progressed, the projected weight continued to rise and 
the estimated performance fell.  Consequently, the USAF lost interest 
in the F-89F, and the project was cancelled in August of 1952.  

Sources:

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
  and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
  
  F-89 Scorpion in Action, Aircraft Number 104, Larry Davis and 
  Dave Menard, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1990.

  Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and David 
  Donald, Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

  American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner,
  Doubleday, 1982.

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033