#xf-103

[voodoo1blog]

Solid aluminum Republic Aviation XF-103 Thunderwarrior.

[usafphantom2]

21 August 1957. The USAF formally cancelled the XF-103 Mach 3 interceptor program. A powerful missile-armed interceptor aircraft capable of destroying Soviet bombers while flying at speeds as high as Mach 3.

@ron_eisele via X

[lonestarflight]

"Conceived as a high altitude, high speed (Mach 3+) interceptor, Republic Aviation’s proposal for the XF-103 was, in a word, 'ambitious.' Stainless steel and titanium alloys were to dominate the construction process, with power being supplied by a unique turbo-ramjet engine design. A large, single 'sugar scoop' intake would provide adequate airflow to the engine, with the pilot having straight-forward visibility only through a periscope arrangement designed by Bausch & Lomb atop the forward fuselage. Radical delta flying surfaces were employed throughout, with all armament (radar-guided missiles) being carried internally. The aircraft made it past the mockup stage; the pilot’s periscope was tested successfully through over 200 takeoffs and landings in a specially modified F-84E Thunderjet. Some components for the prototype were already finished when the entire project was cancelled for budgetary reasons. The painting depicts what the prototype may have looked like in the flight pattern above the site of Republic’s Farmingdale, New York plant at Mitchel Field, with a pair of RF-84Ks taxiing out for takeoff.

Oil on canvas, created 1998 for Collect-Aire Models as a 'box art' illustration for their 1/48 limited run cast resin kit."

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[lonestarflight]

Republic XF-103 interceptor and power plant operation diagram.

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[lonestarflight]

Cutaway of the Republic XF-103 Thunderwarrior.

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[lonestarflight]

Concept art of Republic XF-103.

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[fcba]

The Republic XF-103 mock-up. The XF-103 was designed when the USAF wanted a powerful interceptor that could destroy Soviet bombers while flying at speeds up to Mach 3 (2,300 mph/ 3,700 km/h). It never made it past the mock-up stage. (USAF photo via the National Museum of the USAF)

[stone-cold-groove]

Republic Aviation XF-103.