YF-17 Question

All the references I have refer to the YF-17 as the Cobral
I'm sure somewhere in my 'library there is an article on converting kit to YF-17'
Let me know if it would be of help and I'll try to dig it out
Arfa

In F/A-18 Hornet in action # 136, the YF-17, during the LWF competition, was dubbed the Cobra, as Chappell states. It carried a black and white Cobra logo on the nose and moderately different landing gear.

Trying to make a Cobra from a Hornet? Have lotsa fun! There's a ton of work needed to pull that off. Just make sure you put USAF markings on it, not USN!


Fade to Black...

From what I've read the only similarities between the 17 and 18 are general looks
They are both compltely different aircraft.
I have done a search on all the major shop sites and no-one seems to do a kit so interesting times ahead should you accept this mission !

The YF-17 was a much smaller aircraft than the F-18 turned out to be.

I saw a YF-17 on diplay in the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum and it is a "small" air craft compared to the present F/A-18. I think the new Super Hornets would be twice it's size!

Thanks for the input everyone.

I know the YF-17 was a smaller aircraft than the F/A-18, I'll be trying to strike a balance between what the YF-17 was and what the F/A-18 became.

I suspect a production F-17 of say a production block or two after the initial run would have found itself a bit bulked up over the original look.

I'm not really adjusting the fuselage proportions that much except to streamline the nose ahead of the cockpit to drive it over mach 2 or so. I'd like to have a good weapons load on it so I'm keeping the F/A-18 size.

The landing gear are definitely going to get a replacement, I've already started scratchbuilding new ones.

I'm building it up as a two seat advanced interceptor with an infrared tracker on the nose, so I've got to figure out new gun and refueling equipment placements. I'm thinking a refueling receptacle on the right side wing leading edge extension sounds about right, but I havent committed to it.

I've also got to figure out new placement for the airbrakes as I've decided to put a braking chute system in the Hornet's airbrake spot. I suspect the F-17, being a much lighter aircraft would have a significantly high enough landing speed to warrant that feature.

With any luck at all, my Cobra will be something I can show off with some pride as one of those great could have beens in aviation.

P.S. blackwolfscd:
Well she's not getting either USAF or USN markings. In the truest spirit of being hypothetical and trying to forsee what could have been out of what never was, this Cobra is destined for delivery to the Scottish Air Force. I'm doing some sketches of the markings right now, should have them finalized soon.

Very interesting. It's no ordinary Hornet!
I think a change of pace is good every now and then. One of my 1/48 Monogram F-18Cs is going to be done in my personal markings.

I like the "what if" aircraft as well.

Personally, I'm waiting for a 1/48 scale F-16XL and YF-23. I think I'll be waiting for a while!

Cool beans, upnorth! You have to share your results. The YF-17 is on my list also. I may start with a kit but my guess is 75%+ of the donor kit is going to go in the circular filing cabinet.

For those of ya'll who'd like a comparison of the three:



And here's a shot of a Super Hornet next to a Hornet:



The YF-17 wasn't as small as I thought, but it still ain't as big as a Hornet. And the two of those next to the Super Hornet... looks like Bruce Banner next to the Hulk!


Fade to Black...

Some decnt refernces on YF-17 if you can get them are;-
Air Enthusiast March 1974 Page 105..
Air Enthusiast August 1972 Page 280-
Scale Aircraft Modelling July 1998 Page 232 - this is actually an article on 'How to convert an F-18 kit to an F-17
Hope it helps
Arfa

I'll certainly check out the references Arthur, thanks for bringing them to my attention.

I had no idea the Super Hornet was THAT much bigger than the standard Hornet, that's an amazing size difference in the same aircraft family.

I'm not sure how long this will take me, I'm weeding out the good ideas from the bad as I go, so I'm still tossing back and forth between a receptacle or probe based IFR setup, the infrared tracker is a definite keeper though.

When its done, I will put the pictures up for all to see.

I just wish I had been been able to get good pictures of my navalized Gloster Javelin and modern Luftwaffe F-8 Crusader before they met unfortunate ends.

Hummmm.... I have a Hawk 1/72 Javelin I'm thinking of building.

My Javelin was built off an old Heller kit

That's a cool plane. There is actually a resin model of that plane available. I'm contemplating getting it myself.

http://www.anigrand.com/AA2023_YF-17.htm