The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) X-36 ''Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft'' was an American stealthy subscale prototype jet designed to fly without the traditional

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third e ...

found on most aircraft. This configuration was designed to reduce weight, drag and

radar cross section Radar cross-section (RCS), also called radar signature, is a measure of how detectable an object is by radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy back to the source. ...

, and increase range, maneuverability and survivability.

Design and development

The X-36 was built to 28% scale of a possible fighter aircraft, and was controlled by a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

in a ground-based virtual cockpit with a view provided by a

video camera A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos (as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film). Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of oth ...

mounted in the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

of the aircraft. For control, a canard forward of the wing was used as well as split ailerons and an advanced

thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket, or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the ve ...

nozzle for directional control. The X-36 was unstable in both pitch and yaw axes, so an advanced digital

fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires, and flight control ...

control system was used to provide stability. First flown on 17 May 1997, it made 31 successful research flights. It handled very well, and the program is reported to have met or exceeded all project goals. McDonnell Douglas merged with

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

in August 1997 while the test program was in progress; the aircraft is sometimes referred to as the Boeing X-36. The X-36 possessed high maneuverability that would be ideal for use as a fighter. Despite its potential suitability, and highly successful test program, there have been no reports regarding further development of the X-36 or any derived design as of 2017.

Survivors

*The first X-36 is at the

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...

near

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

. It arrived on July 16, 2003, the same day as the

Boeing Bird of Prey The Boeing Bird of Prey was a black project aircraft, intended to demonstrate stealth technology. It was developed by McDonnell Douglas and Boeing in the 1990s.

"Boeing Bird of Prey and X-36 Inducted into Air Force Museum"
Boeing, July 16, 2003. and is displayed in the Museum's Research & Development Gallery. *The second X-36 is displayed outside the Air Force Test Flight Center Museum at Edwards Air Force Base in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Specifications (X-36)

References

External links

NASA fact sheet on the X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft

"X-36 Proving Its Agility In Flight Testing"
Boeing, 1997.
''Boeing X-36 (1997): Tailless Agility''
Aviation Week & Space Technology {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdonnell Douglas X-36 X-36, McDonnell Douglas Canard aircraft X-36 Aircraft first flown in 1997 Mid-wing aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Two dimension thrust vectoring aircraft Stealth aircraft

Design and development

Survivors

Specifications (X-36)

See also

References

External links