108 North American F-108 Rapier

Dave Burgess
Started work on the North American F-108 Rapier - the companion escort fighter to the XB-70. The F-108 project was cancelled in 1959 when it became apparent that the main nuclear threat was the new ICBM's not the Soviet bomber threat. The F-108 and XB-70 were both designed for high speed (Mach 3+), high altitude (70,000+ ft) and were going to utilize the new zip fuels being developed at the time. With the cancellation of the F-108, the whole cost of the zip fuel program had to be borne by the XB-70 project. Later in 1959 , the zip fuel program was itself cancelled.

Dave Burgess
Finished the cockpit; dolled it up with some Mike Grant instrument decals and some seat belts fashioned from tape; Basic model is now assembled. There are issues with warping. I was able to get some out (vert. stab, compression lift strakes) with boiling water and a couple of flat boards. There's also a slight warping of the forward fuselage to the left. Not TOO noticeable, but I couldn't remove that one, so I guess I'll have to live with it...

Dave Burgess
Posted some pics of the finished cockpit and the assembled model. I'll have to learn not to zoom in too close for cockpit shots - it tends to exaggerate the flaws! From a foot or more, it actually looks pretty good. I took a couple of shots of the assembled model: one by itself (you can see the slight bend of the forward fuselage), and one alongside a completed F-15E, just for a size comparison. This baby was a monster! It's very reminiscent of the Avro Arrow - same mission profile (Mach 3+ high speed interception), design (delta wing, single vert. stab), similar size, and similar weapons load (internal storage). The Arrow at least made it into (very limited) production before it was cancelled in early 1959.

Gerald
👍

Robert Podkoński
Looks beautiful! Fantastic job, Dave, as always.