Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms Space By Flag By Year By Tag

McDonnell Model 60

1948 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History of the McDonnell Model 60

Before and immediately following the end of World War II (1939-1945), the United States Navy (USN) raced to field its first jet carrier-based fighter jets. In this chapter of U.S. aviation history, there are many developments and more proposals that will lead to the service getting a whole new generation of fighter types over the next decade. A request in May 1948 called for a new shipboard short-range turbojet single-seat Defender/Interceptor, although the service ultimately chose two different designs for the role - the Douglas F4D Skyray and McDonnell The F3H Demon, but there are several other notable entries, including the McDonnell "Model 60."

As an interceptor, the design requires excellent launch and climb capabilities to deal with a specific incoming threat in a short period of time. In addition, there is a need for a compact size design that allows the aircraft to be both lightweight and relatively small for storage and operation on space-constrained U.S. aircraft carriers. MacDonald introduced the Type 59 and Type 60, the former featuring a more traditional swept wing layout, a very pointed nose cone layout, and a traditional tail with a single rudder fin. However, the Type 60 opted for a twin rudder approach with a full delta wing configuration. The main aircraft ran against the sides of the cylindrical fuselage, with the pilot sitting in front as usual, behind a flat nose cone arrangement.

A tricycle undercarriage will be used, and excellent visibility outside the cockpit will be provided by a largely unobstructed "teardrop" canopy.

Select delta wing to increase the internal volume of the wing. This means that the main landing gear legs can share space with additional fuel storage and possible weapons, while freeing up the bulk of the fuselage itself. However, no hybrid wing body is used, which would be more beneficial to the design. In addition to the more obvious benefits of the delta wing advocated by McDonnell engineers, another selling point of this approach is improved handling characteristics and dive speed.

Rudder fins are set along the center mark on the trailing edge of each wing.

The Type 60 inherits some design cues from the Type 58 - it uses a Westinghouse XJ40-WE-8 turbojet and takes in air through an intake assembly that is contoured nicely around the circle The side of the fuselage rests against the cockpit wall. The engine will drain through a large opening between the two rudder fins so that the wing surfaces are not exposed to jet cleaning.

The Type 60 also used the same armament scheme as the Type 59, including 24 air-to-air missiles housed in retractable ventral mounted launchers.

It is estimated that the Model 60 can reach near supersonic speeds in level flight and certainly 1.0+ in dive. The missile weapon gave it a healthy frontal "hit" against any incoming enemy target - especially the big Soviet bombers.

As designed, the Model 60 is 45 feet long and has a wingspan of 30.3 feet. As a carrier aircraft, it is also equipped with the usual carrier qualities such as reinforced landing gear, tail hooks and folding wings (wings are set to fold outward from each vertical tail).

Top speed is estimated at 762 miles per hour, with a climb rate of nearly 30,450 feet per minute.

In no case was the Type 60 selected for development, and the design only ended its era as a "paper airplane". The U.S. Navy certainly found its fighters in time and deployed some of the more classic Cold War carrier-based aircraft to see the light of day.

MacDonald continued to develop and market the service for the remainder of its operating time for a variety of aircraft - including the mythical F-4 "Phantom II" multi-role platform that was a worldwide success.