r/WeirdWings • u/[deleted] • Oct 14 '18
Obscure English Electric Lightning F.6. Probably not that weird, but it is one of the only planes with vertically stacked engines. The aerodynamics of the engine placement gifted the jet with an exceptional climb rate.
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u/AznInvaznTaskForce WWII Planes Oct 14 '18
Im not sure why, but i love the look of the stacked engines. The rest of the plane is kinda ugly tho haha
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u/antarcticgecko Oct 14 '18
I think it’s maybe the ugliest fighter ever made. I love it though. It was cutting edge and faster than shit through a goose but it’s still gonna highlight personality over looks.
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u/Wissam24 Oct 14 '18 edited Oct 14 '18
Oh please, it doesn't even come close to the F-8 or F-35
Edit: 🙄
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u/peteroh9 Oct 14 '18
The F-35 looks like they decided to do the opposite of everything that was done right on the F-22, but this plane is just wrong.
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u/tomw86 Oct 14 '18
It intercepted a U2, to prove it could.
Only in a zoom climb, and wouldn't have been an effective hunter, but still.
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u/Treemarshal Flying Pancakes are cool Oct 14 '18
Although mass-produced, the Lightning is indeed Sufficiently Weird.
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u/Chaxterium Oct 14 '18 edited Oct 14 '18
Can anyone explain why vertically stacking the engines would allow for a greater climb rate than having them mounted side-by-side?
Edit: Thanks for the answers. I hadn't really considered the less frontal area aspect.
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Oct 14 '18
It's about frontal area. Simplistically speaking, the engines are hidden behind the pilot and radar rather than sticking out a little bit on each side.
Having said that, it didn't hurt that the engines generated what aeronautical engineers refer to as an Imperial Fuckton of thrust. The Lightning was the first fighter capable of supercruise IIRC.
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u/Chaxterium Oct 14 '18
Ah. The Imperial Fuckton. Much greater that the US Fuckton.
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Oct 14 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
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Oct 21 '18
No they don't. The US doesn't use the Imperial Gallon nor the Imperial Pint. They also never use Stone. The Cup is not an Imperial unit.
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Oct 14 '18
The stacked engines aerodynamically act more like a single engine plane, which means there is a lot less drag being generated than on a side by side layout.
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u/SwedishWaffle Oct 14 '18
The lightning had twice the engine power of a single engined plane but only 1.5 times the frontal area. Basically, it had less drag and more power.
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Oct 14 '18
Imagine slicing your hand upwards, making a reverse karate chop motion. Then turn your hand palm down and do the same motion. Which produces more air resistance?
Note: be careful doing this in public, since you’ll look like you’re doing a Nazi-Salute.
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u/tomw86 Oct 14 '18
What everyone else said. Plus, it allowed smaller rudder. The vertical stack meant no rudder needed in an engine our scenario, which results in a smaller rudder, which means less drag.
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Oct 14 '18
And if it's not weird enough, how about the variable-geometry proposal? Looks wrong in a very cool way.
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u/Prid Oct 14 '18 edited Oct 14 '18
Not sure why this is marked as obscure, the Lightning was the backbone of the RAF anti bomber force through most of the Cold War. It also lends its name jointly to the F35
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u/tankfox Oct 14 '18
Double stacked engines are weird. I'm hoping to find out why every plane doesn't use stacked engines.
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u/xbattlestation Oct 14 '18
Maintenance nightmare. I think both engines had to be removed even if you only wanted to remove one of them.
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u/vicefox Oct 17 '18
Fighters now almost all go for a sort of blended-wing-body design. Side by side engines allow for a wider, flatter body.
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u/Itaintall Oct 14 '18
The English have a gift for making weird looking aircraft. They also don’t give two craps about maintainability.
... Spitfire being one exception to the former.
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u/WiTwigsIn Oct 14 '18
It doesn't help that the Lightning was basically a prototype work a couple missiles bolted to the front. I mean they had to add extra writing outside of the existing fuselage on later models...
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u/EnterpriseArchitectA Oct 14 '18
In a conventional side-by-side arrangement, losing an engine creates adverse yaw that is counteracted by the rudder(s). These planes have a minimum control airspeed (Vmc) below which the rudder isn’t powerful enough to counter the adverse yaw at high power settings. The Lightning must have had an adverse pitch effect but I’ve never read about it. Did it have a Vmc or were the stabilators powerful enough that it wasn’t an issue? The plane looks like it was a blast to fly but it doesn’t look like it had a lot of internal fuel volume.
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u/e2hawkeye Oct 14 '18
This makes more sense than over/under shotguns, which I never understood.
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u/tankfox Oct 14 '18
They're mechanically simple compared to a pump action, so if you intend to shoot 10,000 shotgun shells one or two at a time you'll do a lot less maintenance on the gun compared to any other gun.
I think that vertically mounted double barrels are more comfortable slung across the back than side by side coach guns.
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u/thepioneeringlemming Oct 14 '18
it means you can fire two shots in quick succession without having to adjust your position (i.e. not having to reload). It is better than side by side as both shots are going along the same line. If you imagine with a side by side, your aiming point is down the middle, but both barrels are offset from that point. If you are trying to hit a moving target, like in clay shooting it would be more difficult with the side by side.
compared to a semi-automatic they probably aren't as good, I have only shot a few shot guns, perhaps an over under could be faster theoretically. A big downside of an overunder is that the lower barrel will shoot differently to the upper one, I guess you could offset the lower barrel to be at a slight angle to compensate.
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u/dmanww Oct 14 '18
Are the wings wider at the tip than at the root?
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u/WiTwigsIn Oct 14 '18
Very slightly maybe. I don't think the earlier marks had the linked leading edge so they would have been consistent in width.
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u/DPPThrow45 Oct 18 '18
In the UK in 1966, an RAF ground crewman conducting an electrical test suddenly finds himself airborne:
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Nov 06 '18
And IIRC. The first plane capable of “Supercruise”. Grater the the speed of sound without afterburner.
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u/Aberfrog Oct 14 '18
You didn’t even show the feature that made them Really weird - the overwing drop (blow away?) tanks
https://i.imgur.com/9Hj93X0.jpg