There has never been such a unique fighter jet in the history of world aviation. From the current point of view, it is also so amazing, even difficult to understand. This is the XF-85 "Goblin" jet fighter developed by MacDonald. Its most notable feature is its small size and the title of the smallest jet aircraft in the world.
This aircraft was developed as an escort fighter, and it is ready to be equipped with the B-36 "Peacemaker" strategic bomber. At that time, the B-36 was undertaking the task of throwing nuclear bombs at the Soviet Union, so it needed escort fighter jets.
At that time, all fighter jets could provide full escort for the bomber. Therefore, American designers thought of a simple and effective method, which is to carry fighter jets by B-36 and carry on air when encountering the Soviet air force. Release and reclaim after the battle.
MacDonald not only developed the XF-85 fighter, but also developed related aircraft and retractable devices for it. In order to reduce the size, the wings of the XF-85 fighter are also designed to be foldable.
Considering that the B-36 needs to fly for a long time at an altitude of 13,000 meters, fighter pilots usually sit in the bomber cabin, and the bomber provides electrical energy to maintain the fighter’s temperature and provide oxygen.
XF-85 fuselage is 4.3 meters long, 1.27 meters wide (with wings folded), weighs 1.8 tons, wingspan is 6.4 meters when the wings are opened, and is equipped with a turbojet with a thrust of 1361 kg engine.
This fighter is like a children’s toy. It has a cruising speed of 690 kilometers per hour, a maximum flight speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour, and a ceiling of 14,000 meters. The main weapon is 4 12.7mm machine guns.
At that time, not only the U.S. Air Force had such an escort fighter program, but even the U.S. Navy also developed the XF3M-1 (on the right), which was only developed by Martin.
In the follow-up development, in order to improve the stability, winglets are installed. Since the aircraft did not initially consider landing on the ground, no landing gear was installed. In order to land on the ground (force landing), a simple skid was added to the belly of the plane.
In this way, the XF-85 equipped with a skid can land on the ground.
However, after landing in this way, XF-85 needs to be refurbished to continue flying.
Initially, XF-85 was carried by the B-29 "Super Fortress" for testing. At that time, it was thought that air release was relatively easy, but recovery was very difficult.
Subsequently, the carrying method of the fighter was improved. The wings were no longer folded, but the XF-85 was too small to compete with Soviet Air Force fighters. In addition, the turbulence generated by the B-36 strategic bomber during flight greatly affected the controllability of the XF-85, so the plan was terminated in 1949.
