Russian designs of the rotary nozzle
A lot of incorrect information has appeared on the Internet regarding the connection of the Soviet Yak-41 (later Yak-141) (according to NATO Freestyle classification) with the promising X-35 fighter and the rest of the JSF program (single strike fighter). The design of the Pratt & Whitney 3BSD nozzle appeared before the Russian design. In fact, 3BSD was tested with a real engine nearly 12 years before the Yak's maiden flight.
In the 70s and 80s of the last century, the Soviet fleet wanted to get a supersonic fighter with a short take-off and a vertical landing to work on aircraft carriers with a flight deck with a springboard. From what moment Yakovlev Design Bureau became aware of the design of the rotary nozzle with multi-vector traction force is not known, but the engine company Soyuz created its own version of this nozzle. Of the published figures, the version of the nozzle for the Yak-41, apparently, is a rotary circuit on three supports with a significantly offset “bend”. Two RKBM RD-141 lifting engines were also installed on the Yak-41 aircraft - the layout is almost identical to the Convair Model 200 design. For the production version, the aircraft also received the new designation Yak-141, but from the Russian fleet there were no orders for its production.
The Yak-141 flew into the air at the Paris Airshow at 1991. The demonstration flights of the Yak were suspended when the hot air of the lifting engines began to smelt asphalt from the asphalt runway. At the Farnborough 1992, the Yak fighter jets were limited to traditional takeoffs and landings, and the hangs were performed at 500 feet above the runway to avoid repeated damage to the runway. But the Yak-141 fighter really deserves respect, as it became the first jet fighter with a three-bearing swivel nozzle - after 25 years after it was designed in the United States.
Convair Model 200, proposed in June 1972 by the US Navy as a fighter / light attack aircraft for light aircraft carriers.
At the beginning of work on the JAST unified strike aircraft program, Lockheed (together with representatives of the JAST program implementation department) visited the Yakovlev Design Bureau together with other suppliers of aviation equipment (including from the company that developed the K-36 Star ejection seat) to study the technologies and projects of this KB.
Yakovlev Design Bureau was looking for funds to maintain its program on a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, but did not receive a single order for its Yak-141 serial version. Lockheed provided limited funding in exchange for obtaining technical data and limited design data on the Yak-141. Representatives of the US government were allowed to inspect the aircraft. However, before these visits to the promising X-35 fighter, 3BSD nozzles had already been installed.
The 3BSD nozzle was invented in America in the 60s of the last century, proposed by Convair to the US Navy in the 70s, the first flight was carried out by the Russians in the late 80s, the Pratt & Whitney design of the 60s was modified specifically for the X-35 in the 90s and 2000s, production began for the F-35 fighter. Sometimes a good idea must wait for years not only for its material embodiment, but also for the coincidence of circumstances in order to appear in the real world. The moral of this stories lies in the fact that you can not throw around good ideas and works of the past. After all, they may well be needed later.
Funny enough, on the eve of the Farnborough air show, the F-35B faced the same problem as the Yak-141 in 1992. He, too, will only be allowed to hang and prohibit vertical landing.
According to the site http://sandrermakoff.livejournal.com
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