Note: This aircraft is located in the Research & Development Gallery on a controlled-access portion of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The gallery will close until further notice beginning May 1, 2013, as part of budget reduction requirements due to sequestration.
This airplane was the world's first jet aircraft to fly using the radical delta-wing configuration pioneered by Germany's Dr. Alexander Lippisch during the 1930s.
The Convair Model 7002 was completed in 1948 as a flying mock-up for the proposed delta wing XP-92 interceptor. (In 1948 the Air Force changed the designation from P for pursuit to F for fighter.) The XP-92 was to be powered with a new propulsion system that consisted of a ramjet engine with several small rockets inside the combustion chamber. It would have been a short range, Mach 1.65 interceptor with a flight time at altitude of 5.4 minutes. The Model 7002 was designed to investigate delta wing behavior at low and high subsonic speeds.
When the XP-92's engine proved impractical to build, the project was shelved in 1948. Even as the XP-92 program was ending, the Model 7002 was being prepared to fly. The 7002 was initially powered by an Allison J33-A-23 turbojet engine and later the J33-A-29 turbojet with afterburner. It was formally delivered to the USAF on May 14, 1949, and named the XF-92. It was flown by Air Force test pilots until its nose gear collapsed on landing on Oct. 14, 1953, ending its flying career. With the experience gained from the XF-92 program, Convair was able to win the competition for the "1954 Interceptor" program and to build the successful delta-wing F-102.
Only one XF-92A was built; it was delivered to the museum in 1969 from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Span: 31 ft. 3 in. Length: 42 ft. 5 in. Height: 17 ft. 8 in. Weight: 8,500 empty; 14,608 lbs. maximum Armament: None Engines:Allison J33-A-29 of 7,500 lbs. thrust with afterburner Crew: One Cost: $6,048,928
PERFORMANCE:
Maximum speed: 715 mph/624 knots Cruising speed: 654 mph/569 knots Range: Not applicable Service ceiling: 40,000 ft.
