usaf70 Posted January 17, 2017 Share #1 Posted January 17, 2017 Need aircraft type of this USAF desktop model. It sort of looks like the A-3 Vigilante but has curved and not straight wings. Appreciate the assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoastaero Posted January 18, 2017 Share #2 Posted January 18, 2017 I honestly do not know the type of aircraft this is. Neat airplane though. Probably did not make it past the the wooden mock up stage? I looked through the books U.S. Fighters 1925-1980s and U.S. Bombers 1928-1980s both by Lloyd S. Jones. They do not contain any information on this aircraft. I will dig out the book X-Planes by Jay Miller. Maybe it is in there. What a challenge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted January 18, 2017 Share #3 Posted January 18, 2017 Pretty sure it's the North American design for the TFX competition in the early 60s. The GD F-111 was eventually chosen, I don't think the NA offering made it past the initial design stages. If so, that's gotta be rare. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaf70 Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted January 18, 2017 Thanks guys. Will further photos help at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 18, 2017 Share #5 Posted January 18, 2017 Good call Randy....NAA TFX..intake design looks different than the drawing...and two seat in drawing vs one seat on mode .....lbut for the most part...looks like a good match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaf70 Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share #6 Posted January 20, 2017 Problem is the backs of the wings on the model are not perpendicular or do not have a straight vertical look to them as shown in the drawing. The canopy area is also different. Any further ideas are appreciated and I will be happy to provide other photos if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted January 20, 2017 Share #7 Posted January 20, 2017 Since it was a concept that never even had a prototype that I know of, I think anything would be possible/probable. It probably went through dozens of tweaks in the design stage. Then NAA had to promote it and kicked out a model, not unheard of. I think the wings issue is due to the fact one of the requirements was a swing wing like the F-111 had, but I don't really see that in the existing drawings. Just a guess anyway. After looking around I can't imagine what else this could be though. That TAC Strike Command decal dates it to early 60s as well. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaf70 Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share #8 Posted January 20, 2017 Any idea on what a model of this type may be worth? I believe it is either Topping or Precise type model but does not have the stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted January 21, 2017 Share #9 Posted January 21, 2017 No idea, not my area. But I would think it's gotta be rare. I've run across a lot of factory models over the years, but never saw this one. The 2 guys I knew that really went after these are long gone unfortunately. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaf70 Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted February 10, 2017 Looking again at this model, it appears it never had a stand. It does have attached landing gear and the feel and sound when tapping the model, it appears to be made out of a very heavy piece of wood and painted. Any guesses at all as to a value? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northcoastaero Posted February 11, 2017 Share #11 Posted February 11, 2017 planecrazyent.com has bought/sold/traded many acft. manufacturers models. He should have an idea of value. I would guess at $75.00-$275.00 depending on condition, how complete, and how rare. Probably a very rare model. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vahe Demirjian Posted January 3 Share #12 Posted January 3 On 1/17/2017 at 1:25 PM, usaf70 said: Need aircraft type of this USAF desktop model. It sort of looks like the A-3 Vigilante but has curved and not straight wings. Appreciate the assistance. Hi, The desktop model in this photo is of the North American NA-335 air superiority fighter design, which was submitted for the F-X competition of the late 1960s that was won by McDonnell Douglas (whose design became the F-15). Links: https://hushkit.net/2016/03/16/the-f-15-that-never-was-the-north-american-na-335/ https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/north-american-rockwell-na-335-fighter-project-to-usaf-fx-requirement.519/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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