The US Secret Aircraft That Made Everyone Go Crazy When It Was Released

Рет қаралды 942,015

10 ай бұрын

The Scorpion armed reconnaissance jet from Textron Aviation is one-of-a-kind. No other tactical aircraft like it is currently in existence. The manufacturer took it upon itself to develop a unique aircraft to meet a specific need in the market no other aircraft could fulfill. In their confidence, they decided to use their own money against the norm for military aircraft development.
Typically, the government foots most of the bill and becomes the first user. But the Scorpion is not a typical aircraft. It can be built right in the US and then easily exported to countries all around the world.
At a quarter of the price of an expensive F-16, the Scorpion can cover border patrol, maritime security, drug interdiction, disaster relief, and counter-insurgency warfare roles. It may not have all the bells and whistles of a fully loaded fighter jet, but that is one of many reasons it is such an impressive aircraft.
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Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.
All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.

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@countchocula8884 10 ай бұрын

I was an engineer on this program in Wichita KS. This jet was a slow ugly plane that nobody wanted. It's like an F-18 and a Cessna 172 had a one night stand. The head of Textron at the time thought it was a great idea and somehow imagined a huge market for it. For months and years the marketing department told Textron what they wanted to hear - "Yeah we're SO CLOSE to selling a bunch of these jets to XXX...." For some reason the orders never materialized but Textron kept pushing it. Their frustration at a lack of sales was taken out on the development team. I don't think I've ever been in an office setting with such horrible low morale. This program is another perfect example of some idiot with an MBA who doesn't understand aircraft and won't listen to the common sense of the people who actually know better.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

It really looks like this would be a sweet plane to tool around in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 in. I'm sorry you had to deal with terrible bosses while working on this hopeless diamond.

@spareparts7630 10 ай бұрын

I'm sure it goes from bad to worse when the government and beancounters get involved.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

@@spareparts7630 If the government HAD been involved, Textron wouldn't have wasted money and time building an airplane there was never going to be a market for.

@Oilburnerful 10 ай бұрын

Preach it.

@Rye042 10 ай бұрын

Textron should pushed AT-6 instead, they can compete actually with super tucano's and grab a contract for FMS.

@FastNBulbous 10 ай бұрын

Lol, Dark Skies is doing commercials now? I worked at Textron while they were building it and it wasn’t a secret, and nobody wanted to buy it. The Scorpion was absolute failure from a business perspective.

@eliclegg3804 10 ай бұрын

which is a shame, ive gotten to see it at airshows a few times, i genuinely thought the air force would grab it for the light attack program but the F-35 kinda stopped that.

@liamh9814 10 ай бұрын

The Air Tractor looks to have taken the proposed market instead.

@excell211 10 ай бұрын

That's the porpuse of the channel, actually

@lancerevell5979 10 ай бұрын

Same thing that befell the Northrop F-20 Tigershark. Good aircraft, no market. No contracts.

@laurentj7998 10 ай бұрын

What a pity, the design of this airplane was very nice !

@daviddehass6877 10 ай бұрын

More updates: In February 2018 the Scorpion was eliminated from the USAF's Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance aircraft competition, in favor of the Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine and the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson described the AT-6 and A-29 as "most promising". In 2021, Textron's CEO says other programs have been prioritized above the Scorpion in its defense business.

@howardg2435 10 ай бұрын

The turbo props may be slower, but they have a longer loiter time over target. that is very appealing to militaries for doing low level light strike work.

@scottconyac7846 10 ай бұрын

I worked for Textron Aviation on the Scorpion Program in the Engineering Dept. It was way over budget and behind schedule and during its first flight. We all had to go back to work because they couldn't get the engines to start. A month later, almost all of us got laid off. Simply a commercial aviation had no business building a light fighter jet that was already crowded by so many other companies. Since than I moved to Fort Worth and working for a true defense company... Lockheed Martin delivering 6th Gen; F-35 fighter jets around the world!!!!

@jailbird1133 10 ай бұрын

Cessna already had a light attack aircraft and a trainer.

@michaelbartley9572 6 ай бұрын

You're an engineer that builds f35s but don't know the f35 is a fifth gen shot 6th. Yeah I'm calling bs. The u.s. hasn't developed the 6th gen of fighters yet.

@KermitFrazierdotcom 19 күн бұрын

Ill bet the Security was crazy at the Fort Worth plant.

@captaintoyota3171 10 ай бұрын

Dude if i was rich id totally buy one of these. Personal jet with big stable wings on a budget? Yes please

@angelosasso1653 8 ай бұрын

There are more affordable options for you.

@PureCountryof91 3 ай бұрын

@@angelosasso1653ones that look better too..

@KermitFrazierdotcom 19 күн бұрын

Duslde if I was rich I'd do something else with my $$$$$

@PureCountryof91 19 күн бұрын

I would look at the Aeralis. Its super modular, multi engine capable, and by that, it has various available options. And, it looks sooo much better.

@MrWigglesWorth 10 ай бұрын

Its interesting how "cheap light attack/ISR" has become a niche in the aviation world. We should get a video on the AT-802U Sky Warden that JSOC just bought. A crop duster converted into an attack plane. Almost as versatile as a helicopter in terms of where it can land and take off from, but with the higher reliability and capability of a fixed wing aircraft. I think that is low key going to be one of the coolest aircraft one could fly in the US military.

@solofilmproduction 10 ай бұрын

Looks excellent! So much potential for Central / South American and Asian markets.

@paulqueripel3493 10 ай бұрын

Hasn't he done it? I watched one the other day by someone.

@stewartcarroll304 10 ай бұрын

Ed Nash wasn't it

@ernestmalone44 10 ай бұрын

Dust the corn fields or the enemy. Just change your loadout.

@philsalvatore3902 10 ай бұрын

A jet cannot begin to compete with a helicopter for certain missions such as attacking armor. The helicopter can attack from difilade, hiding behind trees and firing over top of them to attack enemy troops and armor. Helicopters can navigate around the battlefield at altitudes below 15 meters using terrain and foliage to hide their movements. The stiff wingers cannot do this.

@thehawk7064 8 ай бұрын

Makes me LOVE and appreciate the A-10 even more and I didn’t think that was possible.

@agentp6621 10 ай бұрын

I worked on this project installing testing equipment. They were hoping the USAF would seek a dual role as an attack and a trainer. They failed to realize the standard to be able to withstand a 6.5 G climb. This aircraft could only handle a 6 G climb. It was rushed and haphazard. They hired people off the street who had no prior aviation experience. I only knew about FOD and took accountability because of my experience as an aircraft electrician in the army. I’m thankful no one got hurt. They would spend a full day cleaning out rivets and whatever else. Backwards from the “clean as you go” method.

@Hardball1Alpha 10 ай бұрын

They've "hired people off the street" since 1776. Now the politicians get their panties in a twist if you contract without union kickbacks.

@JCMills55 10 ай бұрын

When I was a crew chief on fighters we could get a new F-15 for $19 million and the F-5E Tiger II's I worked on were $5 million each. Days long past.

@Classified-cj3uk 10 ай бұрын

You can buy an f-5 for 995,000

@icemanxidkp 10 ай бұрын

whats that cost adjusted for inflation

@princybella5386 10 ай бұрын

@@icemanxidkpExactly money was worth a lot more back then.

@ltcuddles685 10 ай бұрын

Yeah... the value per dollar was different back then. Doesnt technically make them cheaper back then.

@dannydaw59 10 ай бұрын

Was that 1990? In Top Gun Tom Skerrit mentioned $15 million as the price. It might have been the f14 tomcat.

@skeletononcrystals5608 10 ай бұрын

Man, it looks so nice

@cyclonicleo 10 ай бұрын

At the very least, it would make a great jet trainer, but I feel that it has a lot of promise.

@LackofFaithify 10 ай бұрын

It only suddenly became a jet trainer when they could not sell the thing. Oh, it also lost a competition to be a trainer. So yeah, no.

@philsalvatore3902 10 ай бұрын

Most modern air forces specify a trainer that has the qualities of their front line combat jets. They want supersonic and often want afterburners so the trainee gets to learn how to manage these systems competently before they get into the front office of their $100 million combat jet.

@ThumperH60 10 ай бұрын

Interesting and very versatile airframe.

@mikedrop4421 10 ай бұрын

This plane has definitely not gotten much coverage. Thanks guys.

@CF26CEnt 10 ай бұрын

I've always liked the look of the Scorpion, it looks like a mini Tomcat to me, in a "we have a Tomcat at home" kinda way.

@SamaelVR 10 ай бұрын

The Housecat

@what3973 10 ай бұрын

THATS WHAT IM SAYINGGGG

@atom7nine 10 ай бұрын

Absolutely fabulous Textron

@robertwhatley9861 10 ай бұрын

Smart design. Thanks for the video

@WTH1812 10 ай бұрын

Bring back the F-20 Tigershark and the YF-23 airframes with upgraded engines, electronics, and avionics.

@LeonAust 10 ай бұрын

silly comment on many levels.

@WTH1812 10 ай бұрын

@@LeonAust ... Really? Huge cost of new aircraft development is designing the airframe. Why reinvent the wheel when it's cheaper to refit the tyre?

@jamiestallwood5080 10 ай бұрын

⁠@@WTH1812They have refit the tyre with proven platforms I.E F-15, F-16, F-18 etc. There is no market for a modern F-20 when you can offer the F-16 with its massive spares, support & knowledge pool. The legacy F-5 operators are few and far between nowadays and those of which who are friendly with the U.S have ordered F-35.

@WTH1812 10 ай бұрын

@@jamiestallwood5080 ... One of the most under appreciated facets of WWII military production is the value of differing capabilities. For example, the P-47 which with fuel drop tanks reach most targets in Germany was supplanted by the P-51. The P-47 then switched to a role of suppression bombing ahead of the front lines using increased bomb loads and strafing to target troop assemblies, rail assets, marshaling yards and so forth. This pattern continued in Korea as the transition to jets was made by both sides with varying levels of success. In Vietnam, there was no match for the F-4 II Phantom until there was. F-111s supplanted F-105 in bombing sorties. And so forth. The point being, that while selling off James Wright's excess production of F-16s from 35 years ago, and there's big profit margins in the F-35, the NGAD scheduled for 2014 is still scribbling on drawing boards and drafting tables while ego's squabble over whose willy is widest.

@Ghost_Hybrid 10 ай бұрын

Scorpion is a cool jet! Saw one in person, static display at an airshow.

@occamsrayzor 10 ай бұрын

That is one beautiful aircraft.

@dutchman7216 10 ай бұрын

That was interesting thank you.

@sim.frischh9781 10 ай бұрын

I know the Scorpion, it´s an interesting design, i hope for the creators that it will see success. Would be a shame if it just dies out.

@arnehurnik 10 ай бұрын

It'd be a great addition for poorer countries.

@sim.frischh9781 10 ай бұрын

@@arnehurnik Even for the rich ones it could be a good addition, like for the southern US border patrol, given all the surveilance systems it has on board. Just to give one example.

@Rye042 10 ай бұрын

@@arnehurnik the poorer countries bought Kai FA-50 and M346. Border patrol uses turbo prop (super tucano) since it's cheaper with more load out than this. This aircraft is DOA.

@drones7838 10 ай бұрын

Part of this jet was designed in my hometown. This jet has been around for a long time at least 10 years it’ll go somewhere when the war kicks off

@TheWorstBridger 10 ай бұрын

Why? The f35 and f22 fill its roll perfectly as is

@stratometal 10 ай бұрын

@@TheWorstBridger Less expensive, easier maintenance, quicker deploy and they will fill in the gaps as F-35 and F-22 get downed from use or shot. The amount of time either of those 2 take to manufacture plus the required rare metals means they are slow to replace. Heck the F-22 is no longer in production thanks to Congress, loosing one means zero replacement. But I am sure the plane to fill the gap will not be this one but the Air Tracktor.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

@@stratometal Countries that can afford jets want fast jets, not a subsonic POS with a marginal weight capacity (fully fueled it can only tote about 3,500 pounds) and countries that can't afford jets will buy a fleet of turboprops, not a handful of smurfjets flying on a pair of APUs.

@stratometal 10 ай бұрын

@@katherineberger6329 Oh I know, but sometimes the want what they can't afford, those are usually the "Kim Juns" of the world. They want what the big bois do cuz monkey see monkey do, all about perceived status. That's all I am getting at. These people wanted to cater to those from what it looks like. Also Turboprops are freaking awesome, superfan of the SkyWarden and other similar turbo props.

@williamscoggin1509 7 ай бұрын

Cool Aircraft! 👍🏻

@daystatesniper01 10 ай бұрын

A very useful design with lot's of options

@MGAFFY 10 ай бұрын

It almost reminds me of what a modernised A-10 would look like.

@pahtar7189 10 ай бұрын

Much smaller payload but higher speed. And of course no gigantic gatling gun. It could mount machine guns, but they're not going to take out hard targets like the A-10 can.

@stratometal 10 ай бұрын

@@pahtar7189 Yup, the A-10 is built around its gun, they will never take it out no matter what, its an integral component

@chasespeer251 10 ай бұрын

I imagine if someone asked me to draw a light attack version of a F-14 with static wings this is damn near what I would come up with

@LeonAust 10 ай бұрын

@@stratometal The A10 is old tech and would not last long over a battlefield, as for the 30mm it would not be capable of penetrating modern MBT but would be capable of damaging a modern IFV or APC.

@jeffrielley920 10 ай бұрын

Look up the A-9 and the SU-25.

@bendrenth441 10 ай бұрын

It peaked my interest the moment I saw the compact shape and Harrier-like overhanging bubble cockpit.

@geoffkingman-sugars4515 9 ай бұрын

'piqued'❓

@markstopkey4085 10 ай бұрын

I love this content!

@troyyoung953 10 ай бұрын

I like the concept. Good looking bird

@georgeclontd4984 10 ай бұрын

Great aircraft. I hope one day it might be revived and find its place...

@matdrat 10 ай бұрын

Seems like the new trainer T-7A Red Hawk can be adapted to these roles.

@X-JAKA7 10 ай бұрын

Content like this is getting better and better as everybody gangsta until we all die.

@nellinecronje6911 10 ай бұрын

This would make a great PSS subject!

@miketran4289 10 ай бұрын

Its like a F-14 and F18 had a baby.

@halonsox 10 ай бұрын

Exactly!

@modelermark172 10 ай бұрын

It's an interesting aircraft to be sure. That said, a better name would have been "Scorpion II," since - as far as I know - the first US aircraft of this name was the Northrop F-89.

@sannyassi73 9 ай бұрын

Well, at least now I know why everyone is crazy. Thanks for the enlightenment!

@pilotdawn1661 8 ай бұрын

Very cool and very smart.

@user-fl4dx5fm3g 10 ай бұрын

Your video of the Textron Scorpion was most interesting. However, when you count/number munitions stations, you count them from left to right facing FORWARD. I was in the USAF in the eighties and I['m pretty sure the stations are still numbered the same way. I hope this helps.

@nevrock1 10 ай бұрын

First Dark Skies video not to have a film clip of the wrong aircraft in the wrong theater. Thought for sure they show B-24s over North Africa or an F-84 in Korea.

@michaelhowell2541 10 ай бұрын

🤔😂🤣

@jrrarglblarg9241 10 ай бұрын

If random stock images bother you, go watch cartoons. Literally every documentary made by anyone with any budget will end up using stock images that are not 100% accurate to the specific words on the screen at that exact moment. Get over yourself.

@nevrock1 10 ай бұрын

@@jrrarglblarg9241 or a Zero over California.

@joshschneider9766 9 ай бұрын

@@jrrarglblarg9241nah dude stop making excuses for crappy film making.

@jrrarglblarg9241 9 ай бұрын

@@joshschneider9766 You seem angry. Go touch grass. Buy a frisbee or something.

@VivyX2 10 ай бұрын

very cool. i want one

@geirbalderson9697 10 ай бұрын

Gosh, i would love to have one in my garage!

@blin_tonk 10 ай бұрын

It gives me a faint image of a Cessna A-37 Dragonfly

@dlkline27 10 ай бұрын

I never heard of this aircraft until I found this video. Evidently it suffered a fate similar to the Fairchild T-46.

@konekillerking 10 ай бұрын

Desperate for new material. If I remember it was third in a group of three, and was the most expensive.

@LackofFaithify 10 ай бұрын

If by suffered you mean was surplus to requirement, then yes. It was one of the many shit hardware ideas born out of fighting insurgent groups but unlike so many, thankfully was not purchased.

@cojaxart8986 10 ай бұрын

Two prototypes? N531TA and 532TA.

@whytebearconcepts 10 ай бұрын

Except the Eaglet helped bankrupt Fairchild and led to the company collapsing.

@missalaineous8468 10 ай бұрын

there are many secret aircraft types that were never disclosed. my uncle was a test pilot for the FR-426 and the T-32b (the latter's top speed was over Mach 7.6)

@schlirf 10 ай бұрын

Now, if only the powers that would permit enlisted and lower NCO's use it; they'd have volunteers beyond belief...including a certain slightly over-the-hill 19 delta! Great Video, and Thanks!

@gordonhorn8867 10 ай бұрын

I'd buy one!

@dareka9425 10 ай бұрын

The Scorpion looks like it is made for Hot Shots 3!

@Pau_Pau9 10 ай бұрын

I wish they also implemented swing-wing version of this aircraft. It will essentially be mini-F-14!

@Eis_ 10 ай бұрын

That's like saying that a Cessna 172 should have swing wings. Lmao. This thing can't even go transonic. Adding that would just be detrimental to its turn rate while not really improving it's LD ratio.

@Pau_Pau9 10 ай бұрын

@@Eis_ Bu-bu-but, Its swing-wing!

@miket2120 10 ай бұрын

I wouldn't call it a US secret aircraft, as least not in the national security sense. It's more of a commercial project secret, so the competitors don't get any proprietary information. It's common practice in many industries, from aircraft to sports apparel.

@invictusinvidia 10 ай бұрын

Damn I really want one !

@SuperTrb0 10 ай бұрын

When you ask your mom for an FA-18 but she says you already have one at home.. The FA-18 you have at home.

@jeffreed1828 10 ай бұрын

The same reason the F-20 Tigershark was never built may sink the Scorpion. It won’t be used by the US military so foreign governments won’t be satisfied with “substandard “ jets.

@Legion-xq8eo 10 ай бұрын

It’s not that they are “substandard” jets, it’s that they won’t recieve the continued support and upgrades that a US military adopted fighter would!! What u bought is what u get, there would be no future upgrades or things added to it like if u bought something adopted by the US military!!

@jrrarglblarg9241 10 ай бұрын

@@Legion-xq8eo Off-the-shelf commercial aviation engines and avionics could make it cheaper to maintain and longer lasting/more easily upgradable to future tech than proprietary milspec stuff, so there’s probably a useful crossover point in engineering longevity here.

@larryhyak2529 10 ай бұрын

Nice looking top wing support aircraft............

@chief8388 10 ай бұрын

I wish Burt Rutan's/ Scaled Composites ARES "Mud Fighter" had made it to production. Great little battle craft. Light, cheap and effective.

@timbrwolf1121 10 ай бұрын

If they beef this up a bit and give it the ability to act as a missile truck. It would be perfect for the national guard. It would free up huge amounts of budget for other air services. Then if deployed the guard aircraft can be used to truck missiles for more capable combat aircraft and perform air patrols over less contested areas.

@m3tactical393 10 ай бұрын

It looks like the T-7A Red Hawk.

@masterlayangan2811 10 ай бұрын

*( MASTER LAYANGAN )* saya suka model pesawat tempur ini.👍👍🇲🇨

@vojtechpribyl7386 10 ай бұрын

L-159 should be at the same cost per flight hour if not less.

@jbauern57 10 ай бұрын

It would make a good COAST GUARD plane for the coastlines

@johnforsyth7987 10 ай бұрын

It was a good idea. But it suffered the same fate as the F-20 Tigershark. As for being a secret. Wichita, KS. is a city of over 400,000. This jet flew directly over the largest city in Kansas many times.

@Rilesmansan 10 ай бұрын

F20 was purposefully killed by DoD to reduce the cost of the F16.

@peceed 10 ай бұрын

F-20 was created in bad time, and deals with Taiwan and India were blocked (perfect aircraft for them). Scorpion is unsellable as it is. L-159 ALCA and AT-802U kill it.

@draconian6692 10 ай бұрын

It looks good

@RachmatGozali3535-pl1xm 10 ай бұрын

Super aircraft

@michaelreedx6823 10 ай бұрын

I'd hate to say this but the area of the market they were trying to corner was taken over by Drones.

@darvinclement8404 10 ай бұрын

Kind of reminds me of an Su-25.

@johnslugger 10 ай бұрын

*It's about time we made something cost effect and mass produced!!!*

@leb6206 10 ай бұрын

saw one of these flying in wichita last year, it was a great sight to see!

@oxcart4172 10 ай бұрын

U saw the only one!

@leb6206 10 ай бұрын

@@oxcart4172 i was very confused as to what it was, it didnt look familiar. once i saw it was a scorpion my jaw dropped!

@ice-xv1hi 10 ай бұрын

It looks like a cross between an F18 and an A10.

@DavidFMayerPhD 10 ай бұрын

It reminds me of the F-20: an excellent machine that NOBODY WANTED because it was obsolete, despite achieving all published goals. I doubt that there is any serious market for such an aircraft.

@jamiestallwood5080 10 ай бұрын

Excellent machine but didn’t sell due to market saturation, in the F-20’s case it was due to everyone buying F-16’s but in the Scorpions case it had to compete with the AT-6, A-29, AC-208, AT-802, L-159, OV-10, M-346/YAK-130 and many others. It is claimed Cessna/Textron investigated their market potential but for £10 I could have told them to not to bother. I appreciate ambition but their efforts were in vein as this segment has many platforms with very few apparent buyers.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

Countries that can afford jets want fast jets, not a subsonic POS with a marginal weight capacity (fully fueled it can only tote about 3,500 pounds) and countries that can't afford jets will buy a fleet of turboprops, not a handful of smurfjets flying on a pair of APUs.

@stevekolarik2857 10 ай бұрын

Seen this plan many times flying around Wichita, Ks during its early testing days. No secret there.

@cranedaddy678 10 ай бұрын

So much potential there!

@jadams3427 10 ай бұрын

Does this aircraft bring anything new to the world that is not already covered by many others; some quite old ? E.g. Super Tucano, Saab 105, Cessna T37/A37, Pilatus PC-21, BAe Hawk, Alphajet, Alenia M-346, KAI T-50,..... I think the list can be a lot longer.

@what3973 10 ай бұрын

i mean its a mini f14

@thekulolali 10 ай бұрын

It's just new f5 tiger with more money and less capabilities. I mean drones exist, what the point having this.. Basically it's the missing middle class. Like in society. It's rather going bigge or smaller

@DIREWOLFx75 10 ай бұрын

"sees a market for up to 2 thousand" The problem is that noone is sane enough to actually go for this SMART concept. Seriously, even just reducing your "advanced" number of aircraft by 10-20% and replace them with an equal cost of this aircraft would allow a huge increase in both training hours for the pilots as well as having a larger airforce overall which is a great advantage. . In many ways, this plane is basically a modern version of the SK-60/SAAB-105 trainer/light strike. It's a great concept, but the question is whether buyers will be able to overlook the lack of bling to just get something that WORKS and that they can fly ALL THE TIME.

@stratometal 10 ай бұрын

Buyers know nothing about anything except if its being in use by the guys they envy, bling bling indeed. Blind idiots. And that is good. Less well armed rogue nations out there.

@fatmangoboom7722 3 ай бұрын

Pretty awesome, I wish I could have the brains to build make or help creat something awesome! That said been blessed in other ways and I am thankful for those blessings

@Roadglide911 10 ай бұрын

I think I’ll buy one.

@nexusoldbind5015 10 ай бұрын

It's a shame they never put this into production this could be an excellent jet engine trainer for someone switching from propeller and turboprop to jet engine aircraft I'm amazed no one wanted it 🤔 I also love the fact that kinda looks like a mini F14 😅 I think it's kind of ingenious to use off-the-shelf parts for a fighter aircraft

@effervescentrelief 10 ай бұрын

@@hvacqualityassurance7116 Exactly, it wasn't sanctioned by the powers that be who could make a little cash on the side, so it never got the green light. Corruption.

@kevinschultz6091 10 ай бұрын

@@hvacqualityassurance7116 - you have a cite for that? Because I just checked the wiki, and there's no mention of it being banned for sale - just that some folks were "interested", but nothing came of it. Because otherwise, you're attributing corruption where "the product didn't meet our needs" (as the video above mentioned) is sufficient.

@nomorerainbows 10 ай бұрын

@@kevinschultz6091 Corruption should always be assumed when we are talking about DC and the DoD. Always.

@kevinschultz6091 10 ай бұрын

@@nomorerainbows - then it should be simple for you to provide evidence in this particular instance, then.

@recoil53 10 ай бұрын

@@hvacqualityassurance7116 Actually it's market would be strange. It costs $20M with a $3000/flight hour maintenance cost. The newest version of the F-16 is $63M and $7000 maintenance. It's not surviving against a force that can shoot back. So if there is a real insurgency, it's dead. So yeah, repressive states like Myanmar that kill their own civilians could use it. But over Ukraine or Afghanistan? No go. In those instances, a regular turboprop plane is cheaper - the A-29 is $10/each & $1000 maintenance. If the market is poor countries that can't afford jets, they will give up some capability to save. Half the upfront cost, 1/3 the maintenance cost So you don't need corruption to explain it.

@NetVoyagerOne 10 ай бұрын

I wonder if a stripped-down racing version could be made for the civilian market.

@bendrenth441 10 ай бұрын

That would be sweet!

@stratometal 10 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same!

@justsomedude8118 10 ай бұрын

These are bizjet engines and aren't rated for aerobatics.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

@@justsomedude8118 The F124 is an aerobatic version of the bizjet engine - it's fine. This would be a sweet plane to tool around in Microsoft Flight Simulator in. Yes, I said in Microsoft Flight Simulator. That's the only real use case for it.

@justsomedude8118 10 ай бұрын

@@katherineberger6329 F124 has a much higher fuel burn, but is a fantastic powerplant. Using one of these would likely be ideal vs two higher bypass engines for this use type. Sure, there'd be less thrust at low speeds, but it wouldn't suffer in the lapse of thrust vs airspeed common with higher bypass ratio powerplants.

@arrjay2410 10 ай бұрын

Nice ad for the Scorpion.

@sweetbriarhuslin7371 10 ай бұрын

Brother your giving this jet a f22 worthy title

@docgillygun9531 10 ай бұрын

Cool concept but with no armor, light payload, no main gun, and low speed and ceiling, this plane just won't fit the bill for any kind of offensive or defensive action in 2023. It's like an unstealthy F117 stealth bomber.

@1milesnpr 10 ай бұрын

Probably late to the party but I'll say this anyway. Reminds me of the F5. More or less same production schedule off their own backs, lightweight, can throw it around, fast enough and can carry whatever you want. Unfortunate this aircraft was overlooked. The F5 and its descendants were, and still are, such great planes.

@PlugInRides 9 ай бұрын

The F-5, while lightweight, was a capable A2A, supersonic jet fighter. The Textron Scorpion, unlike the FA-50, HAL Tejas, or JF-17, is a sitting duck if it encounters enemy fighters.

@southerncross86 9 ай бұрын

No possible comparisson with F5, the F5 was createdwith a purpose, a rqmt from politicians, and it is a true capable fighter

@profo4544 9 ай бұрын

@@southerncross86 he might not mean the f5, he probably means the f-20. The later descendant

@Boredoutofmywits 8 ай бұрын

We are not in the late 50's. And the F5 was like twice as fast.

@sojolly 6 ай бұрын

Bravo to the team that pulled this off. It reminds me of the breakneck pace that the A-12 and SR-71 was developed. You have achieved what the folks developing the F-20 Tigershark could not. A cheap workable fighter for those countries that need such a beast. They dont need a modified commercial aircraft as many have tried before, they need a purpose built machine. You folks have done Wichita Kansas proud and honored the great aviation heritage that flows thru your community. As a member of the original prototype YF-22A design team i salute you.

@LittleManFlying 10 ай бұрын

"A Cessna One Eight Two" 😂

@utley 10 ай бұрын

this aircraft wasnt very well hidden from public, I used to see this aircraft while being developed in Centennial airport in Denver. AFAIK it never was finished except for the first model.

@DecrepitBiden 10 ай бұрын

Then they PURPOSELY didn't care to hide it. Former USAF. If they want to hide it, they'd put it in Area 51.

@JSFGuy 10 ай бұрын

It was hidden in its development, once it has blown and going cross-country then it's no longer hidden.

@utley 10 ай бұрын

@@JSFGuyactually I might be thinking of another aircraft called the javelin that was designed by the israelis. Looks very similar to the scorpion.

@W1ckedRcL 10 ай бұрын

Looks a lot like the T7A trainer. With swept wings instead of straight, a slight redesign of the engine air intakes, and more powerful engines this plane could be a real contender for smaller or poorer countries to have a light attack fighter.

@DallasGraves 10 ай бұрын

“Cheaper than upgrading an A-10 or F-16” USAF: “you had my curiosity but now you have my attention”

@orbitingancient 10 ай бұрын

Hmm, good timing

@larrys.feraca306 10 ай бұрын

Looks like a variant could be made into a "swing wing" or oblique angle wing design. Why not??!

@pahtar7189 10 ай бұрын

Because the mechanism for a swing wing is heavy and would have dramatically cut payload.

@LeonAust 10 ай бұрын

lmao....................why not?

@jrrarglblarg9241 10 ай бұрын

“Modular wing design” with easily dismounted wings was mentioned.

@geoffreyherrick298 10 ай бұрын

Cost effectiveness. Swing wings were big in the 60s and 70s, but they've gone out of style. Nowadays, the watchword is stealth.

@Easy-Eight 10 ай бұрын

The big competitor to this aircraft is a good drone. Also, there is a huge market of rebuilt Cold War jets. Most nations don't need over 75 refurbished and upgraded Mirage jets in their air forces. Israel and South Africa rebuilt one Nesher, Kfir, or Mirage III (V) per week. BTW, the way the USA is going, that state of the art military is doing us no good when we're losing control of two to three cities per year to absolute crime. Portland, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Detroit, New York City, Philidelphia, Baltimore, and many other cities are third world bad.

@stewartstone3926 10 ай бұрын

Looks like a revisit to the T-38/F-5 and T-37/A-37 Dragonfly concepts

@geoffreyherrick298 10 ай бұрын

Like an enlarged BD-10.

@evanbenjamin4578 10 ай бұрын

May not have all the High speed low drag features by comparison,...But This aircraft has some incredible reconnaissance capabilities.

@davedixon2068 10 ай бұрын

like?...high altitude capability? high speed? long range? high payload? stealthy?

@MTD156 10 ай бұрын

A glorified training aircraft. You describe it and the work on it as if you were talking about reverse engineering a flying saucer.

@what3973 10 ай бұрын

the f14 if it was a trainer

@Hardball1Alpha 10 ай бұрын

Must be a competitor... insults before reason.

@bobfeller604 10 ай бұрын

You can achieve outstanding results when the government is kept out of it.

@tacticalpickle7 10 ай бұрын

Very nice place

@markl8111 7 ай бұрын

Amazing how private industry can design, build, and fly a advanced fighter, less expensive than a gov. There's a lesson somewhere in this.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

The Textron Scorpion is literally an American manufacturer going "What if we duplicate a plane that is already readily available for under $10 million, and make it cost $20 million because no government is footing the development bill?" The Scorpion is an Aero L-159 ALCA but less capable and more expensive.

@JSFGuy 10 ай бұрын

Less capable and more expensive? The video clearly stated its interchangeability and Mission profile flexibility. Cost to operate and loiter time. How is that less capable? Composite design and modular.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

@@JSFGuy The Aero L-159 is ALSO modular, has a similar loiter time, costs less to operate (about $1,600 per flight hour)... AND it's faster (so it can get into and out of trouble spots quicker - "shoot and scoot" and built on a well-understood airframe. When you're comparing it to $30,000 an hour to operate an F-16 the Scorpion sounds good, but most air forces are comparing it against a plane with a much more modest cost per flight hour; and if it comes down to it an F-16 can tote ten times the payload and still snipe as many Scorpions as it has missiles.

@JSFGuy 10 ай бұрын

@@katherineberger6329 well now you're comparing two opening day or Frontline service, it's not meant to be a with adversaries. That 159 cost $1,600 per flight hour I find that a stretch. Now the 159 can be an affordable fighter. The Scorpion is not quite done for that I think you know. I don't know that 159 to be as modular as this proposed new design with off-the-shelf components. One thing you do want is Parts availability and that would be the engine avionics and landing gear.

@katherineberger6329 10 ай бұрын

@@JSFGuy L-159: Proven airframe + less expensive + dirt-common engine (the Honeywell F124 is a military version of the Garrett (now Honeywell) TFE731, one of the world's most common bizjet engines - and in fact the SAME engine the Scorpion uses). The L-159 is the airplane that the Scorpion is trying to compete with, and there's absolutely no reason to put funds into an unproven airframe when a proven airframe with over a half-century of success (the L-159 is a modernized version of the L-39 and L-59 trainers) is available for less money. The only way the Scorpion is going to get users is if the USAF buys it, and that ship sailed with the T-X program. If the USAF buys a new jet ISR/strike plane it's almost certainly going to be based on the Boeing/Saab T-7 airframe.

@JSFGuy 10 ай бұрын

@@katherineberger6329 well, that it shows the 802 and already had a mishap with it and that operation has kind of cooled off. They have made blunder decisions in the past and they continue to do so. Willits surveillance and some closer support so they did once a different approach with a different platform and wind up choosing a crop duster a damn good one at that. 30 years ago they put out for a JPAT wound up ordering a turboprop instead of a jet again

@PC-vq5ud 10 ай бұрын

Too vulnerable to current ground anti-aircraft, manpads, etc.

@robertdragoff6909 10 ай бұрын

Top secret? Well, after this video, it ain’t top secret no more!

@LoneWolf-kz5bo 10 ай бұрын

Oh that’s what I saw at the Great Texas air show. Saw one in San Antonio

@utkarshg.bharti9714 10 ай бұрын

I wonder why Textron is not promoting this to the Philippine and other smaller air forces allied with the US. Countries like Malaysia, Thailand and others in Southeast Asia that are under the US protection could do very well with this jet.

@recoil53 10 ай бұрын

It's only good against rebels that aren't very armed. Against a modern jet? And Embraer has a turboprop that's half the cost and 1/3 the maintenance cost.

@countchocula8884 10 ай бұрын

I was an engineer for this jet in Wichita KS. Textron marketed this jet EVERYWHERE they could think of. At the end of the day nobody wanted it because it was a slow ugly POS. It didn't have any capabilities beyond other existing aircraft.

@minovskyparticles1834 10 ай бұрын

Super Tucano is a cheaper and better option for CAS

@philsalvatore3902 10 ай бұрын

Philippines bought FA-50s from Korea.

@Azman_Hamid 10 ай бұрын

Malaysia is buying the FA-50 . I think most of our SE Asia neighbours have as well.

@toadelevator 10 ай бұрын

Seems like the best fit for this would be the same niche as the OV 10 Bronco used to fill. The ease of maintenance seems like it would also be a big selling point over the "big boys". F 22s and F 35s are fantastic aircraft, but the systems and the humans onboard might get a bit saturated trying to do everything in a modern war scenario. Might be nice to have an asset that can loiter nearby, in a more dedicated role supporting specific actions within the big picture.

@darthazua 9 ай бұрын

Malaysia has already chosen FA-50 light combat aircraft from South Korea. Single engine from superhornet with max speed of 1.5 mach. Also features decent weaponry, gatling gun, air to air and air to ground missiles. AESA radar. quite impressive for LCA or trainer aircraft.