Some cool prototype factory in china images:
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Lockheed Martin X-35B Joint Strike Fighter, with other contemporary jet aircraft
Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed Martin X-35B STOVL:
This aircraft is the first X-35 ever constructed. It was originally the X-35A and was modified to incorporate the lift-fan engine for testing of the STOVL notion. Amongst its numerous test records, this aircraft was the first in history to attain a brief takeoff, level supersonic dash, and vertical landing in a single flight. It is also the first aircraft to fly utilizing a shaft-driven lift-fan propulsion method. The X-35B flight test program was one of the shortest, most efficient in history, lasting from June 23, 2001 to August six, 2001.
The lift-fan propulsion system is now displayed subsequent to the X-35B at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center close to Dulles Airport.
On July 7, 2006, the production model F-35 was officially named F-35 Lightning II by T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff USAF.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Date:
2001
Dimensions:
Wing span: ten.05 m (33 ft in)
Length: 15.47 m (50 ft 9 in)
Height: roughly five m (15 ft in)
Weight: about 35,000 lb.
Components:
Composite material aircraft skin, alternating steel and titanium spars. Single-engine, single-seat configuration involves lift-fan and steering bars for vertical flight.
Physical Description:
Short takeoff/vertical landing variant to be utilised by U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines and the United Kingdom, equipped with a shaft-driven lift fan propulsion program which enables the aircraft to take off from a short runway or small aircraft carrier and to land vertically.
Engine: Pratt & Whitney JSF 119-PW-611 turbofan deflects thrust downward for short takeoff/vertical landing capability. The Air Force and Navy versions use a thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzle. The Marine Corps and Royal Air Force/Navy version has a swivel-duct nozzle an engine-driven fan behind the cockpit and air-reaction control valves in the wings to supply stability at low speeds.
Other main subcontractors are Rolls Royce and BAE.
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Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Grumman A-6E Intruder:
The Navy’s encounter in the Korean War showed the need for a new lengthy-variety strike aircraft with higher subsonic performance at extremely low altitude–an aircraft that could penetrate enemy defenses and find and destroy tiny targets in any climate. The Grumman A-six Intruder was created with these needs in mind. The Intruder very first flew in 1960 and was delivered to the Navy in 1963 and the Marine Corps in 1964.
The Navy accepted this airplane as an "A" model in 1968. It served under harsh combat conditions in the skies over Vietnam and is a veteran of the 1991 Desert Storm campaign, when it flew missions throughout the first 72 hours of the war. It has accumulated more than 7,500 flying hours, over 6,500 landings, 767 carrier landings, and 712 catapult launches.
Transferred from the United States Navy, Office of the Secretary
Date:
1960
Nation of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
All round: 16ft 2in. x 52ft 12in. x 54ft 9in., 26745.8lb. (four.928m x 16.154m x 16.688m, 12131.8kg)
Materials:
Conventional all-metal, graphite/epoxy wing (retrofit), aluminium control surfaces, titanium higher-strength fittings (wing-fold).
Physical Description:
Dual place (side by side), twin-engine, all-climate attack aircraft multiple variants.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: south hangar panorama, including B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, Grumman F6F-three Hellcat, among other people
Image by Chris Devers
See much more photos of this, and the Wikipedia post.
Specifics, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay":
Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of Planet War II and the very first bomber to property its crew in pressurized compartments. Although made to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a assortment of aerial weapons: standard bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.
On August six, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the very first atomic weapon utilized in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum close to Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance climate reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Excellent Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.
Date:
1945
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
General: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft six 5/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)
Materials:
Polished overall aluminum finish
Physical Description:
Four-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings. Polished aluminum finish all round, common late-Planet War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial quantity on vertical fin 509th Composite Group markings painted in black "Enola Gay" in black, block letters on lower left nose.
• • • • •
See a lot more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.
Specifics, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Grumman F6F-three Hellcat:
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was originally conceived as an sophisticated version of the U.S. Navy’s then current front-line fighter, the F4F Wildcat (see NASM collection). The Wildcat’s intended replacement, the Vought F4U Corsair (see NASM collection), 1st flown in 1940, was displaying great promise, but development was slowed by troubles, including the crash of the prototype.
The National Air and Space Museum’s F6F-three Hellcat, BuNo. 41834, was constructed at Grumman’s Bethpage, New York, factory in February 1944 below contract NOA-(S)846. It was delivered to the Navy on February 7, and arrived in San Diego, California, on the 18th. It was assigned to Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on USS Hornet (CV12) bound for Hawaii. On arrival, it was assigned to VF-3 exactly where it sustained harm in a wheels-up landing at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii. Right after repair, it was assigned to VF-83 where it was utilized in a education function till February 21, 1945. Soon after quite a few transfers 41834 was converted to an F6F-3K target drone with the installation of sophisticated radio-handle equipment. It was painted red with a pink tail that carried the number 14. Its mission was to be utilised in Operation Crossroads – the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. It flew on June 24, 1946, with a pilot, on a practice flight and was launched, unmanned, quickly after the first bomb test. Instrumentation on board and photographic plates taped to the control stick obtained information on radioactivity. 3 far more manned flights preceded the final unmanned flight on July 25, 1946, which evaluated the very first underwater explosion. Records indicate that exposure of this aircraft to the radioactive cloud was minimal and residual radiation is negligible.
F6F-3K 41834 was transferred to NAS Norfolk and logged its last flight on March 25, 1947, with a total of 430.2 flying hours. It was assigned to the National Air Museum on November three, 1948, and remained at Norfolk until October 4, 1960, when it was moved by barge to Washington and placed in storage. In 1976 this Hellcat was loaned to the USS Yorktown Museum at Charleston, South Carolina. A superficial restoration was performed at the museum, but since of the harsh environment and its poor condition the Hellcat was returned to NASM on March 16, 1982. In 1983, it was sent to Grumman Aerospace where a group of volunteers totally restored the aircraft. In 1985, it was shipped back to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland, and put in storage. NASM’s F6F-3 Hellcat is scheduled to be displayed in the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center at Dulles International Airport in Virginia in 2004.
Transferred from the United States Navy.
Manufacturer:
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Date:
1943
Nation of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 338 x 1021cm, 4092kg, 1304cm (11ft 1 1/16in. x 33ft five 15/16in., 9021.2lb., 42ft 9 3/8in.)
Physical Description:
Heavy armor plate, reinforced empennage, R-2800-10W engine, spring tabs on the ailerons (increased maneuverability), could carry rockets as effectively as bombs.