The Republic XF-12 Rainbow was an American four-engine, all-metal prototype reconnaissance aircraft designed by the Republic Aviation Company in the late 1940s. Like most large aircraft of the era, it used radial engines, specifically the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major.

2017年10月23日 · The XF-12 was born from a mid-war requirement brought about by the USAAC (United States Army Air Corps) ATSC (Air Technical Service Command) describing a high-performance, high-altitude long-range platform to assist in photography and reconnaissance of potential vital enemy targets - primarily in the Pacific Theater of war against the likes of ...

The Republic XF-12 Rainbow was a high speed, high altitude reconnaissance airplane powered by four 3,000 horsepower R-4360 radial engines. It was able to cruise at over 450 miles per hour with a service ceiling of 45,000 feet.

The Lockheed YF-12 is an American Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor prototype, developed and manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. The interceptor was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a potential replacement for the F-106 Delta Dart interceptor for the United States Air Force (USAF).

The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic United States Navy fighter which was built in 1977. The XFV-12 design attempted to combine the Mach 2 speed and AIM-7 Sparrow armament of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter for the small Sea Control Ship which was under study at the time.

Initially planned as a post-war transport, the only two built went to USAAF as XF-12A, their first four-engine aircraft designed specifically for photo-recon duties. Redesignated as XR-12A in June 1948.

I first read about the XF-12A Rainbow in an Aviation History edition and immediately fell in love with it. It is such an elegant looking plane; its lines are beautiful. Someone had rocks in their head when they made the decision to use it for target practice.

2020年1月16日 · On May 1, 1965, the first and third YF-12A’s were used to set several FAI Class C-1 Group 3 (turbojet-powered landplanes) absolute records, including; sustained altitude of 80,257 feet and speed over a 15/25-KM closed course of 2,070.1 mph.

The XR-12 (designated XF-12 prior to June 5, 1948) was built to meet a 1943 AAF requirement that reflected the infatuation of Col. Elliott Roosevelt with the “convoy fighter” – a flying battleship, bristling with guns, that would accompany Allied bombers to Berlin and Tokyo.

2017年10月25日 · The XF-12 was successfully demonstrated to the USAAF pilots at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, but suffered a landing accident back at the Republic plant in Farmingdale, on Long Island, on July 10, 1947. Captain William W. Elliot, from Wright Field, made a hard landing that sheared the right main landing gear strut off.