Yf 23 Blueprint - Many argue that the YF-23 should have been chosen over the YF-22, and these exclusive renderings show what the production F-23 would look like.
Northrop's entry in the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition, the YF-23, became one of the most mysterious and misunderstood flying machines of the jet fighter era. Today, many are quick to argue that it deserved a victory against Lockheed's YF-22. This is certainly debatable, especially given the unique characteristics of the aircraft in relation to the realities of today's aerial combat, and the fact that the YF-23 ticked all the USAF classification boxes as well as its competition. One of the questions I get asked the most is what the F-23A would look like. The F-22A has changed significantly in design from its YF-22 technology demonstrator predecessor, and the truth is that Northrop's offering should be as well.
Yf 23 Blueprint
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. With that in mind, we decided to use a variety of resources, including actual designs of the proposed pre-production F-23A, and were able to bring to life a superfighter that could exist nearly three decades after its release. by the USAF.
Info About Yf 23
In this very special installment of our ongoing YF-23 series, we've teamed up with our favorite aviation artist Adam Burch of Hangar-B Productions to show the world exactly what the F-23A will be, or at least could be. . It had been over five months and it was worth the wait.
The process of creating these renders was challenging to say the least. Every available detail has been studied to create the most accurate representation of what this aircraft looks like. Our late-night e-mail exchanges were reduced to one-stage engine lock height and individual wing markings, but mostly I watched the thing come to life, marveling at Adam's uncanny ability to create something like a mad dream. materialize mine. I knew he could do it like no one else because he had already brought the Boeing F-32 to life in a series of amazingly accurate renderings we shared last spring.
I can't thank him enough for all his time and effort on this project. It's rare that you work with someone who loves what they do so much and has the talent to create something truly magical out of thin air.
Once again, this is not unimaginative, this is a realization of the real as it should have been. Only the smallest details were carefully filled in where specific information was not available. So, without further ado, check out the Northrop masterpiece that wasn't, the F-23A Black Widow II.
Lockheed Martin Lifts Lid On Top Gun's Darkstar Hypersonic Jet Concept
You'll notice that the F-23A will be longer and leaner than the technology demonstrator prototype that preceded it. The YF-23's large trapezoidal nacelles will be closer to the F-23's fuselage, and its engines will be positioned closer together at slightly more oblique angles. Without the engine-reversal requirements that were included in the YF-23 design but never installed, a more efficient low-observation flap-nozzle could be installed, and the flat exhaust pipes would receive updated heat-resistant shrouds.
The F-23's nose will be redefined to accommodate the powerful Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, and its inputs will change dramatically. Gone are the innovative, but high-risk "curtain panels" that worked to separate the turbulent air in the boundary layer from the serpentine intrusion. In their place was a non-penetrating supersonic configuration similar to today's F-35 and J-20, among other aircraft. The front edges of the receiver will also be serrated, giving them a menacing look and improving low visibility characteristics.
The F-23's boat tail will also be streamlined, with a simpler overall "w" shape that will remove the extra depressions found on its predecessor, the YF-23. The F-23A's weapons bay has been enlarged to provide more convenient weapons storage than the YF-23's single bay. The bays were arranged to carry a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder aircraft in the forward section and four to five AIM-120 aircraft in the rear. It is also possible to carry air-to-ground munitions, including much larger weapons than the F-22 can carry today, due to the greater depth of the F-23's rear weapons bay.
The refueling port will be moved from the centerline of the aircraft to a left shoulder position above the wing, offering pilots a refueling "picture" similar to the F-15 Eagle. The barrel will also be beefed up and the ventral portion of the barrel will have a less sharp and more blended shape line.
Northrop Yf 23 A Black Widow Ii
In addition to being more refined, the F-23A is an iteration of the narrower and somewhat elongated design of the YF-23, which will likely help improve its already meticulous kinematic performance and excellent radar cross-section measurements. But still, as you can see in the scale renderings below, the F-23 was intended to be a beast of a fighter, larger overall than the F-22 Raptor, the aircraft that was the final product of the ATF competition.
The F-23 is even more striking than its unofficial namesake, the P-61 Black Widow. The legendary Northrop night fighter-interceptor of the Second World War is by no means considered small, on the contrary, but the F-23 is absolutely dwarfed.
“The F-23A model was the result of long hours of research, guesswork, dead ends, frustration, deployment, launch and restart. In bringing Black Widow II to life, I drew heavily on my own experience as a professional aviator. engineer, amateur historian, co-pilot and freak meteorologist to create something that I hope its designers, engineers, maintainers and pilots would be proud of.
I tried to stick to the reference material whenever possible before indulging in creativity and blatantly lifting design cues from production aircraft like the F-22A. As with any project, there are many questions about the small details of the final design that will never be answered, and that's okay with this artist.
Portfolio — Deeply Dapper
If you are interested in my work, you can find it at www.hangar-b.com. I look forward to a close cooperation
Team to revive obsolete and unexplored corners of aviation history in the future."
Big thanks to Adam Burch for showing us what the revival of the F-23A could have been in these wonderful pictures. Be sure to follow Hangar-B Productions on Twitter and Facebook and stay tuned for more installments in our ongoing YF-23 series as we explore this fascinating aircraft and its unique, if short history in new and exciting ways.
Yf 23 rc, yf 23 fighter, yf-23 black widow, yf 23 northrop, 1 72 yf 23, yf-23 model, yf 23 model kit, yf 23 rc plane, 1 48 yf 23, yf 23 aircraft, yf 23, yf-23
0 Comments