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The YF-28 Alleycat
~This is an original craft and history~
In May of 1986, in a series of conflicts over undisclosed waters revealed a severe tactical flaw in the U.S. naval fighter forces. In a series of aerial engagements, the MiG-28 Fogbank
was shown to be tactically superior to the existing F-14 Tomcats, except in the hands of the Navy’s most elite pilots.
An emergency fighter contract was released to Grumman for an updated Tomcat which retains the flight envelope of the F-14, but with increased low-speed and pre-stall characteristics. The contract proposal was to be due by December 31, 1986, with a prototype completed by April of 1987 upon acceptance of the proposal.
Details
- Type: SPH
- Class: aircraft
- Part Count: 400
- Pure Stock
The Tomcat gets new Legs
To save time for the proposal, the YF-28 was developed off of a modified Tomcat airframe, saving the entire forward fuselage, engine nacelles, and central fuselage. To save weight, the variable-incidence wings were removed and replaced with a delta wing, with a pair of large canards incorporated into the leading edge to increase high-alpha maneuverability by increasing airflow over the wing.
Other modifications included the one-dimensional thrust vectoring engines and actuating intakes originally destined for the F-15 HARV. The twin tail fins were swapped for a single stabilizer to combat the buffering effects from the canards.
Service History
The YF-28 was delivered to the U.S. Navy two weeks ahead of schedule, after making its first flight on March 12, 1987. It was rushed to deployment, first reaching combat squadrons in late August of 1987, just over 15 months after the first request for proposals.
Very quickly, the YF-28 was nicknamed the Alleycat
for the screeching noise that the air made flowing through the canards during the wild maneuvers the -28 could pull.
In a series of encounters through the fall of 1987, the Alleycat proved itself highly capable, stunning the Soviet crews with the first combat displays of post-stall maneuverability as a method to turn dogfights on their tail.
The maneuverability of the YF-28, as well as its low-speed handling characteristics impressed the USMC, as they underwent a procedural procedure exploring the possibility of basing a small subsquadron of YF-28s equipped as quick strike or fast-launch fleet defense fighters from the smaller, non-catapult equipped USMC Carriers .
