XF-91 Thunderceptor armament - "what if?"

May 29, 2005 4 Replies
R

Hello all,



I'm finishing an old Lindberg 48th XF-91 kit (2nd try at rescribing,



1st try at Alclad), and have decided to do it in a "what if" scheme using some unused F-86 markings.

My question is, if the XF-91 HAD made it into service, what sort of armament would she have carried? Anyone know what the plans were? Are we talking just 4 x 20mm cannon?



I think hanging 2 big honking Genie missles from a Monogram F-101 kit would look cool, but the XF-91 I'm building did not carry the radar nose that the later prototypes did, so would that mean it couldn't carry the Genie? But then again, the Genie did not have a guidance system (fire and get the heck out of the way of the atomic blast), so maybe the plane could have been guided to the general area of the invading bomber formation until it launched upon orders from the ground?



I know, it's a what it - I can do whatever I want, but Sparrows, Sidewinders, or Falcons just don't look right in my mind's eye - but I'd love to hear others' suggestions/speculation/actual knowledge!



Thanks,



Tom Test Chicago, IL



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M

I checked two sources here and 4 x 20mm cannon were proposed. None were fitted. How about FFARs? F-89s, F-86Ds and F-94s all carried them. Without reconfiguring the nose they'd have to be carried in pods, ala Scorpions.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

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R

Thanks for your thoughts, Bill. Sure, rocket pods could have been fitted. That idea should work if I had decided to build the prototype with the radar nose (a la the F-86D Sabre Dog) - but that's not the version I built. My thought about the Genies was that, with ground guidance, it wouldn't need the radar nose to fire Genies. I guess it wouldn't need a radar nose to fire heat-seeking Sidewinders, but I just like the idea of how a couple of Genies would look better than the Sidewinder.

TT

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M

My fault. I thought you were looking for alternatives. I hope you post some pics on abms when you get her done (or should that be git-r-done?).

Bill Banaszak, MFE

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F

You could always do like I do lots of times. Disregarding accuracy, if that's how you want it, build it that way! It's your model.

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