X-31 Quasi-Tailless Thrust Vector Jet - Extreme Angle of Attack

On January 19, 1995, an X-31 experimental aircraft was making a routine test flight from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Centre when the chase pilot suddenly made a series of radio calls: "NASA One, We have an ejection!! We have an ejection!! The aircraft is descending over the North base area… I have a chute… The pilot’s out of the seat and the chute is good…"
Despite the loss of the first prototype, the X-31 program proved to be a successful collaboration between the United States and Germany.
In fact, the program was groundbreaking in more ways than one. The two only X-31 models ultimately carried out over 500 flights between 1990 and 1995, providing invaluable information for the design of next-generation highly maneuverable fighters.
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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.

[@lancerevell5979]

Pitot tube ("peetoh") not "pilot tube".

[@woodysranch2690]

How could a publisher of airplane videos not know how to pronounce this. Made me cringe more than once

[@lancerevell5979]

In my four years as a USAF avionics tech on jet fighters, I tested and replaced many pitot tubes! 😎

[@rustyshackleford5285]

@@woodysranch2690 He does this all the time. Virtually every single "documentary" these dark channels produce has basic errors like this. Basically they seem to just read wikipedia, gather some stock footage, and throw it up on YT without any sort of expertise or QC.

[@WRX7182]

That drove me nuts!

[@BobY52944]

@@WRX7182 Much like a pirate with a ship's wheel down his pants.

[@ejcomlink]

Just for future reference the correct term is “Pitot Tube” or “Heated Pitot Tube”, not “Pilot Tube”! A pitot-static system is a system of pressure-sensitive instruments that is most often used in aviation to determine an aircraft's airspeed, Mach number, altitude, attitude, and altitude trend. A pitot-static system generally consists of a PITOT TUBE (pronounced = PEE-TOE TUBE), a static port, and the pitot-static instruments. This series of mini-documentary video are incredible and informative, but the terminology can sometimes be mispronounced or misunderstood. But, all in all, very good content and portrayal of the covered subjects! Keep up the great work! E. James

[@RichardCollette42]

Came here to comment on the pitot tube but you said it more eloquently than I would have. Clearly he was reading a script and the brain only looks at the the structure of a word, usually the first and last letters so I can understand the mistake.

[@utbdoug]

Probably just reading the auto corrected text lol

[@lancerevell5979]

@@utbdoug I abhor "auto-correct"! It causes so many errors. I turn it off on all my devices.

[@EncrypticMethods]

some student pilot on his checkride "WHERE IS MY AIRSPEED"

[@chrisrh281]

I rewound it a couple times asking if he was actually saying pilot tube.

[@glike2]

I worked on the VECTOR program which included some EFM program people. Here is a fun story from the EFM program simulated combat with contemporary fighters. The X-31 won all engagements. The thrust vectoring advantage was so great that during one flight the X-31 stayed at low altitude, which is a classical fighter engagement tactical disadvantage, and the pilot taunted the opponent on the radio, "come on down".

[@LukeVilent]

Looking at the manoeuvres of the plane, I can't help remembering my childhood and teen years, in which I have been spending my summers at Ramenskoye near Moscow. For those who may not know, the largest military airfield in Russia, about 5km long, is situated there. There is an abandoned quartz sand quarry right near the airfield. Its bottom has filled with ground water, some 3-5 meters deep at places, and it became a spontaneous resort for the locals. As a child, I biked there almost every summer day to have swim. At the very same time, right in the sky above, the aces have been training figures very much like those in this video. In particular, the experimental Su-47, the counterpart of X-29 with forward-swept wing, was to be seen there in action on the daily basis. Growing up with that, I considered those ace turns as something usual, to the point of being annoying. Imagine having to hear jet fighter shockwaves all day long. Now that I'm writing those lines, from another time and another land, I understand what an unusual childhood I've actually had.

[@jamesmaddison4546]

Oh man getting to see the su47 all the time must've been pretty cool. I do understand you saying how it could get annoying after awhile. I live by the base that Lockheed builds the f35 out of, I see those flying over all the time, along with f16s, f22s sometimes, and periodically a flight of f18s (it's a joint base), a few times a month t38 talons will be in the area doing training, its surprising how freaking loud those talons are man. Everyone here believes they're also flying a secret aircraft out of there doing tests because 1-2 times a month around 4 freaking am there's a jet flying around that's INCREDIBLY LOUD. I mean exponentially louder than anything else that's usually around here because it can be nowhere near the house and it will still shake all the windows to the point you think they're about to break. It's been going on for a few months now and still noone has an answer as to what it is 🤷

[@Iskelderon]

An interesting US-German cooperation, you can clearly see the influence the airframe design had on the Eurofighter.

[@Wobblybob2004]

Ummm No. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKTdgYCwocaFo7c

[@josephjboyle1528]

Other way around. Check the dates.

[@Iskelderon]

@@josephjboyle1528 It's literally an experimental extension of the BAe EAP program that formed the basis for the Eurofighter.

[@Morris2182]

@@Iskelderon I think you were right when you said it was an experimental extension from Bae EAP, i.e. tech was taken FROM eurofighter and had vectored thrust added for said experiments 👍 I think EAP first flew in ‘86 so will assume this was first and X31 followed in ‘90

[@Thinkflite]

The UK equivalent flew years before the X-31... its not a game of copies but simply, this us the best configuration for maneuverability and supersonic speeds. Funnily enough, the eurofighter can run rings around even an F-22 but unlikely to get close enough for it to matter

[@xodiaq]

“X-31 was groundbreaking in more ways than one” right after the plane crashed into the ground… 😆

[@mk6315]

The road of engineering is paved with broken shit lol

[@lancerevell5979]

The F-16 wasn't the only "lawn dart"! 😉

[@alexandregrynagier1762]

I saw with my own eyes this plane doing manoeuvers even Vtols, or helicopters would struggle to do. Even a Fokker triplane isn't more manoeuverable than this odd machine. I wouldn't get involved in a dogfight with this thing, that's for sure!

[@zoomzoom2276]

It’s a shame that Ice froze over the sensor on that model

[@michaelgautreaux3168]

Har, har, har.

[@cavemanbum]

The first time I'd ever even heard of this aircraft was its presence in the video game, ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighter, released by Jane's Combat Simulations in 1997. The X-31 was a playable aircraft, and its capabilities were astounding. Getting used to the thrust vectoring was tricky, but when it worked, it was incredible.

[@doncalypso]

I remember that game... I had it, but I was horrible at using thrust vectoring.

[@rastarn]

I thrashed the living crap out of that game. The thrust vectoring on the X-31 was just the best. It was so easy to line up for multiple kills in a short space of time, and dodging incoming fire was so much easier, as long as you picked it up early and turned to face it quickly. Great game!

[@RIXEFX]

Fighter's Anthology, a Jane's combat sim, had the X-31 EFM, and X-29FSW, and X-32 ASTOVL, along with the F-22A, and the F-22N.

[@ianbaird1774]

A blast from the past

[@markplott4820]

also look at HIMAT program.

[@KJ-kn8pg]

The X-31 looks like a fused A-4 skyhawk and eurofighter typhoon, cool design in my opinion.

[@ViceCoin]

Skyhawks are not manuverable, and lack canards or thrust vectoring.

[@h.cedric8157]

SkyPhoon hahaha

[@brewiy8149]

So did I

[@human683]

@@ViceCoin No shit, he said it looked like one

[@williamakers7465]

Also the tail of a f16 it looks like

[@beamer.electronics]

X-31 combines science, engineering, and art in a way that aesthetically looks beautiful - a sky dancer.

[@brainwashedbyevidence948]

I believe the best example of aesthetics is the F-22.

[@andrewthomas695]

And collaboration.

[@brainwashedbyevidence948]

@le Hoarderz Al-Shekelsteins su-35 is better though!

[@beaconblaster33]

Su-47 got very good aesthetics

[@davidcruz8667]

Pitot... "PEE-tot". Also, as far as I know pitots and other sensor components such as inlet ice detectors currently have heating elements to prevent such icing. One of our tests during launch of the F/A-18 series aircraft includes pitot heat, you have to physically touch it very quickly or it will burn your hand very fast. Works.

[@shadowbanned3716]

that plane pulled some amazing maneuvers. I like how it was a proof of concept and we see that thrust vectorinf being applied today

[@ipposaur]

I like how the narrator likely read "pitot tube" and assumed it was a typo and should be "pilot tube". Never change, Dark Dude

[@michaelgautreaux3168]

Pure magic. Some aircraft today are praised for their agility but the X-31 was lighting the sky on fire 30 years ago! Super vid! Many thanx 👍👍😉. Be safe 🦊

[@scotts.2624]

Thank you, this brings back memories. I appreciate the effort you go through to bring the obscure corners of aviation to light.

[@glike2]

Hi Scott S. EFM or VECTOR? I was on VECTOR. Yes good memories with an eclectic international team. Fun!

[@motard126]

I love how people comment about flying this in a video game, and now they are expert test pilots.

[@GaiusCaesarAugustusGermanicus.]

Have you flown one in a video game? If not, you have no room to speak

[@Draco_Alpha]

that plane is spectacular. it’s amazing to see what it’s capable of... almost like a star fighter from Star Wars or Babylon 5.

[@jonathanwiggill8242]

I remember I was in my late teens when this plane was featured in the news sections of either Air International or Air Forces Monthly - It was so very far ahead of it's time that it just blew my mind yet more information or photos were sadly not forthcoming in the pre-internet era. Thank you so much for making this insightful documentary report on a somewhat known but still mysterious aircraft. Only one other airplane fascinated me as much in-period - The 'Ares' a close support ground attack jet by Scaled Composites which unfortunately never went into production. I would be so grateful if you would research that aircraft for a possible future video.

[@tylervanorman492]

YOU ARE ONE A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!! LOVE IT!!

[@nitehawk86]

My absolute favorite plane in Jane's ATF from 1996

[@DefinitelyNotEmma]

I waited for a video about the X-31! When german and american (basically Germans with an American visa lol) aeronautic engineers come together you get amazing aircrafts like this one. Both the Eurofighter and to a degree American thrust vectoring aircraft profited heavily from this project.

[@martincourtenay-blake5792]

The Eurofighter took nothing from this project. In fact the X31 was heavilly influenced by the BAe EAP which was developed into the Eurofighter. However a thrust vectoring version of the Eurofighter's EJ200 engine, called the EJ230, was developed but, to date, has not appeared on an actual aircraft. The Eurofighter Typhoon is regarded to be more than agile enough as too no need it.

[@Taliyon]

I love all the obscure aircraft on this channel!

[@rayceeya8659]

The X-31 always reminds me of Dale Brown's "Day of the Cheetah". Loved those books when I was a teen.

[@lycossurfer8851]

You can't forget Old Dog and the rest of the aircraft used, he wrote some great stuff

[@topturretgunner]

Very intriguing aircraft.

[@MrFlint51]

The Hawker Harrier "jump jet" used thrust vectoring to convert from horizontal flight to vertical landing. During the Falklands War of 1982, Harrier pilots used vectoring in flight, or "VIFfing" to evade an enemy aircraft on their tail. By changing thrust from horizontal to vertical, the Harrier appeared to suddenly jump straight up, at the same time slowing its forward speed, so that it was behind the enemy aircraft and could fire at it.

[@CHRISXTR3M3GAMING]

I've done this in DCS it works

[@UAL012]

I spent 2 years in the Palmdale area of California (aka hell). The ONLY good thing for me was that I was there when this plane flew and saw it more than once. It was a small plane but pretty impressive to see. The other unique plane was the X-29. Being able to see these planes, the SR-71, The Space Shuttle Endeavor on the 747 being flown to Florida (That was SERIOUSLY impressive and LOUD), the MD-11 (they were doing a lot of flight testing with that plane), and MANY other planes was amazing.

[@bronze_age_wonders]

Impressed. You have done several things the others do not do. And avoided several key mistakes they all make.

[@GuntherRommel]

I think Dark Skies is my favourite it of all your channels. Great video as always.

[@rodgerhecht3623]

I was working at Edwards the first time i saw it practicing for the paris air show . I thought it was in trouble and trying to make it to the lake bed . I was amazed at what that plane could do. A few days later they were really doing some crazy stuff.

[@adrianmarriner5742]

Thanks for making the video .

[@habbyhouse]

Great video as always.

[@bobthompson4319]

the x-31 and x-29 are the coolest xplanes that are jets.

[@89apaul]

@Dark Skies, you are the man

[@mattblack9069]

Great video, excellent delivery, your style of presentation is ideal.

[@dominiccoscarelli305]

Yay more info on obscure planes. I love it

[@rjds1800]

Possibly the most beautiful experimental plane.

[@williamsquires3070]

This looks like something that would appear in a James Bond movie.

[@markplott4820]

or an Episode of AIRWOLF.

[@musewolfman]

It must be. 4:04, that's Jack Wade, from the CIA, in the pink Hawaiian shirt, directing Bond's taxiing.

[@garyhamman8934]

I have always liked the trust vectoring program. F-22 reaps the reward of this program, as well as other aircraft and rocket programs. Thank you for a well done film.

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

I don't disagree with the sentiments at all! Though I do question -- as I'm not an expert, nor knowledgeable enough in this field -- whether rockets apply here? --My understanding was "thrust vectoring" being specifically the manipulation of the exhaust through deflection, to transfer the force applied to the plane, in the opposite direction. Whereas with rockets, it's a gimbal system which pivots the entire rocket engine or the bell nozzle (where the thrust originates).-- So I'm pre-submission editing that, after deciding to pop over to the Wiki page, where I then discovered it's.... basically down to semantics, and not at ALL as contrasting between the terms/definitions as I had originally thought! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust_vectoring As for why I'm even bothering to reply at all... is simply because someone else may have a similar thought and can spare them :P _"This humble pie is the best when eaten right out of the oven!"_ lol (edit: don't know why Google switched strikethrough from wrapped with ~~ to -- but didn't update their support page...)

[@Only_God_Is_Allah_SWT]

This thing had 3D thrust vectoring while f-22 only has 2D for less than 20° of up/down turning. It's more like exchanging the horse for the donkey in the race.

[@weasle2904]

@@Only_God_Is_Allah_SWT Full 3D thrust vectoring is not particularly useful. The F-22's engines are quite exceptional considering they are extremely high thrust, capable of super cruise, thrust vectoring, and exhaust shielded which protects against infrared tracking. Even today there are no dual engines that come close to matching the F-22's. The top speed is still classified and the engines may be even more powerful than is publicly stated.

[@benstandard4196]

@@weasle2904 I remember the F22 wasn't really good at reducing the visibility of the engine's exhaust heat

[@thanewage403]

Thrust vectoring is sweet!

[@brotherjim3051]

This was one of my favorites in Jane's Fighters Anthology on PC. Love this video. You should also do one on the F-105 Thunderchief.

[@russell4866]

Great video about a fantastic plane. Thanks for uploading it l really enjoyed it.

[@markrixson7791]

I disarmed and removed the ejection seat on the #002 in NASPAX VX-23 and my name is on the bulkhead behind the seat before reinstalling the disarmed static seat ~ amazing aircraft. Also worked with the X-32 and X-35 ~ good times

[@eaglebrink]

I was at the Paris airshow in 1995 when the X31 made it's appereance!!! Whe had been baffeled by the SU27 with it's cobra maneuvre untill the X31 came by!!! It gave a little show, stood on it's tail in the air, swung around and left the scene... Everybody whent WHOOOOOW!!! I'll never forget that.

[@darklordojeda]

I remember Jane's Advanced Tactical Fighters for PC back in the mid 90's and this plane was in the opening cinematic sequence. It was all animated and the plane pulled an insane extreme G turn, they had the pilot let out a serious grunt as the maneuver was executed.

[@scottsmith4315]

Great friggen video. Great friggen plane!

[@derSebbes1]

I really enjoy watching your videos and I am excited every time you bring out a new one. Keep up the good work! But there is one thing that would make your videos even better: Speak a bit slower and way more steadily. You speak way too fast and it sounds totally hectic, as if the words really need to get out quickly. It sometimes maked ypu hard to understand.

[@laszlozoltan5021]

as fascinating as this jet was, is the information dark skies obtained and presented in this short vid. kudos

[@edrdnc6706]

Note to your script editors: A video on a aircraft test program probably shouldn't be described as "groundbreaking" 0:52

[@pops91710]

In all my years working on fighter jets in the USAF I have never heard the pitot tube called a PILOT tube. The correct pronunciation is PEE-TOE tube, named after Frenchman Henri Pitot. Even so, I have heard others in the USAF call it a PEE-TAWT tube (except for the pilots who knew better), so don't feel bad.

[@circuitsandcigars1278]

Reminded me of the Hammerhead fighter in the series Space Above and Beyond

[@kre4ture218]

Went to the museum today and looked at this beauty, pretty astonishing to see something like that in the flesh

[@jsfbr]

Great presentation. 👏👏👏

[@billsmith5166]

Helpful comments about Pitot tubes are great. The complaints are a PITA. Cut him some slack. This was a good video.

[@garyjust.johnson1436]

Interesting video!

[@carlosalejandro7315]

Cool maneuverability

[@paulybassman7311]

Hey Dark! What about a video on the Blue Steel missile carried by the British RAF V bomber force during the cold War. Great channel/s 👍👌

[@johnlewan1114]

Delivery of amazing content about all kinds of aircraft, and a bunch of people whining about the pronunciation of one word. I'll bet none of them post anything, or add to the collective knowledge of the world. I appreciate all of your videos, keep it up.

[@stephenlittle7534]

What an amazing aircraft wow.

[@fooman2108]

The air inlet tube that runs the instruments in the aircraft is a PITOT (pronounced Pee-tow) tube....The loss of the first prototype was partially caused by a NON-heated tube (this is usually mitigated at higher airspeeds)...

[@bentaylor4845]

Just plain awesome what they accomplished

[@benjaminnewbury6159]

It clearly influenced the development of the Eurofighter - they look very similar. Please could you consider doing a video on the Nimrod?

[@DavidLee-df888]

It's more a fork/ parallel development. Both had roots in the British EAP

[@thesmirkingwolf]

I used to fly this when I played Jane's ATF Gold, and even scratchbuilt a scale Lego model of it.

[@glynnjacobs9602]

I flew it too in ATF Gold and liked it a lot! My only problem was having problems with upper pitch authority/range on my joystick which limited my maneuvering abilities. Fun sim, might have to get a digital coupler for my joystick to get some hours in again! Glynn "WARDOG" Jacobs

[@glynnjacobs9602]

By the way, it's a "pee-toe" tube not "pilot tube"! I'm surprised that it didn't have a heated pitot tube, even helicopters have them! Burned my hand on one on a Huey while going around the front and not paying attention! The static shock got me and the burn was just a gray ash mark because it was so hot!

[@ceverett68]

I loved Jane's atf

[@CSMwarhammer]

I'd love to see the model!

[@lancerevell5979]

@@glynnjacobs9602 Yep, got my heater marks a couple times!

[@alexandregrynagier1762]

I remember seeing this plane at le Bourget International Air Show. Probably the most impressive demonstration i ever saw, and i don't think we'll withness this again as such a level of manoeuverbility isn't required, unless you want to engage a dogfight with a fokker DVII a Pitts or a Su27... The video clips shown here are not doing justice to the true aircraft's capabilities, because seeing a jet beeing able to manoeuver as tight as a stunts aircraft is quite crazy. I still wonder how many Gs the pilot took during this outstanding demonstration flight!

[@LostPilotage]

No G loading when the wing is stalled. The extreme AOA this aircraft flew were in a stalled state, applying thrust vectoring.

[@Teknophreak]

@@LostPilotage A wing being stalled doesn't eliminate g - loads. If the plane is accelerating/decelerating, it will experience g. To answer the question of how many g, not as many as you might think. The tight loops, etc are done at low speeds, so g isn't that bad. Turning at high speeds is where you see the biggest g loads.

[@krystalbrooks6869]

I like watching about the projects that happened when I was living out there. Then I start to feel my age...lol How life was so much simpler back then.

[@Harbalz]

It's a smooth ride

[@soundsandambientvideos380]

wow we need these

[@michaelpfister1283]

One of my favorite X-planes, and like others have said I "flew" this plane in ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighter. Truly amazing! Though to this day, for pure "awesome" factor, I prefer the look of the X-29. :-)

[@markplott4820]

I think the Grumman X-29 Swept Foreward wing Aircraft was more impressive.

[@matthewcaughey8898]

The X-29 was actually based on WW2 German experiments in forward swept wing shape but the Germans obviously didn’t have the skills in composite high strength materials that made the X-29 possible

[@markplott4820]

@@matthewcaughey8898 - the JAPANESE wanted to put Swept forward wings on their Pull & Pusher prop planes , but also lacked Materiels and Science to do it.

[@jameshelton2161]

Neat platform !

[@exarkun42]

Would love to see the Horten Ho-229 covered. Thank you for the stream of fascinating content!

[@lordilluminati5836]

never flew IIRC

[@BlackCatRedScarf]

@@lordilluminati5836 The prototype had its first flight in 1st March 1943. Horten had a lot of relevance in the development of flying wings and their research already had good results in the 30s, but only much later with the "3 thousands project" (1000km/h, 1000km range, 1000kg payload) they got some financial support and made the first prototype of the Ho-229. It was a reasonable plane for available technology, but it came in a very late stage of WW2.

[@matthewcaughey8898]

@@BlackCatRedScarf the trouble was at that point the Germans were using a large amount of wood and glue in various combinations. Unfortunately they were also using extensive amounts of concentration camp prisoners for free labor. The ME-163 had similar issues in construction as the forced laborers found that peeing in the glue and putting small rocks under reinforcement bands would cause the wood to literally separate in flight and the rocks would cause structural weakness that high speeds would exploit by ripping off wings. The other issue was the jet engines themselves, they were built in underground workshops of varying quality. Typical life expectancy for a Junkers Jumo 004-B turbojet was about 30 hours before overhaul. The BMW jet was not much better, plus they were tricky to handle throttle wise. Advanced too quickly many would flame out or catch fire. It would have worked and it would have been deadly until the 8th Air Force found where the parts were coming from and bombed it into non existing

[@alanhelton]

You can definitely see the fact that Germany took full knowledge and ran with it to the euro fighter competition

[@skg8268]

I think you will find that the Typhoon was designed around the EAP flown by British Aerospace. While the Germans were involved with the design the bulk of the technology used was designed in Britain.

[@964cuplove]

A) I’d say all the x-31 data is probably well known and well outdated at the time of the Eurofighter design. B) and why not it was a joined program, no reason to not use the knowledge that came from it.

[@allgood6760]

Thanks.. New to me👍

[@aaronfrizzel3821]

So good

[@myizukai8478]

Living near Pax River NAS in Maryland was without a doubt one of the best times of my life as I watched this and the rise of the V22 osprey and JSF project

[@db5757]

I read somewhere that the whole cockpit area was from the F18. But no mention of it in the initial design development. I could be wrong though. Wouldn’t be the first time.

[@halweilbrenner9926]

Sehr gut!

[@maxthomson2948]

It's interesting to see the design language from this aircraft cross over with aircraft like the EuroFighter Typhoon

[@vladamirkb1]

Very cool.

[@DavidLee-im8tg]

I love the basic design. It hails from the 80s/90s when it seemed that canard/deltas were everywhere. Today we have the Rafale, Gripen, Eurofighter, J-10 etc., but next gen aircraft all appear to have similar blended wing/body designs which I don't find as visually appealing.

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

Pffft!! it's the gay........ "AIR-DOLPHIN" .........ah ah ih ih ah ah ah eh eh eh!! 😆😂🤣

[@bricology]

I agree about the aesthetics of the earlier fighters. But design reached a plateau that simply pushing for more speed and maneuverability couldn't break free of, so focusing on stealth became more important, and complex curves and canards are not very stealthy

[@ROOSTER333]

Top 5 channel subbs for sure

[@pavementsailor]

1995: Autonomous landing and vector thrust. 2005 to today: Navy footage of the 'Tic Tac' over Navy testing areas. Let's see what happens when we crank it up to 11.

[@UncleManuel]

Seems like that prototype #1 was... ...wait for it... ...ground breaking. 🤪😁

[@ericheng9790]

I find it refreshingly and great that the head of the program took full responsibility and ownership of the first prototype’s crash, didn’t blame anyone else, that’s how it should be!

[@kineticdeath]

interesting twist that the surviving example went to Germany for display. I just had it in my mind that the US would end up keeping it and putting it in the Smithsonian or something. That really is some international partnering there!

[@johnwilson2338]

All of the "Big Players", aerospace wise, were all atwitter with the excitement of busting out their slide rulers and figuring out how to make something Better! 😆😆🧐seriously! 👍✌🖖

[@Halemmeric2010]

Love the content ... keep it coming .. great stuff

[@therealtiamat]

Awesome Collaboration between USA and Germany, like also in the area of VTOL Planes developed together with Dornier

[@MrMilitary219]

Any chance of a video on the F3d Skyknight??? It looks like such a cool aircraft and night fighter!

[@little_black_raincloud]

It's "pitot tube"! I have mentioned this mistake in the past, but have spotted it once again. I love the dark video's, and never even complained about the narrarators cadence. Apparently I can understand English at a greater frequency than many others. Accuracy is key.

[@jlehm]

I bet most of the “ufo” sightings people saw back in the day were this plane and/or drone helicopters.

[@freerbt4839]

This paved the way for the F22

[@volkerhauff6565]

We need new collaboration projects like this in the future

[@Wurtle38]

I'm pretty sure I saw it fly in Dayton, OH in the 90s. it could fly down the runway and spin 360 degrees flat

[@henrypena2547]

Super AWESOME Aircraft U.S.A. and Germany😀

[@keeganpenney169]

This thing led to the game Hawx with it's different flight mode that allowed you to do impossible maneuvers

[@WonderfulAircraft]

Thrust vectoring is a cool technology and its effect on an aircraft's performance is jaw dropping. However, I feel like it came to combat aircraft a little too late to really be useful, at least for maneuverability purposes, as close range combat is essentially non-existent in fighter aircraft now and that's not likely to change anytime soon. Seems many fighters are plenty maneuverable enough without it so it probably isn't going to become the "feature that all new fighters will have" like some people thought it might(including myself) when it was first being developed with programs like the X-31 and F-18 HARV.

[@WildBillCox13]

Small correction. It's Pitot tube, pronounced Pee-tot. It's a tube used to sample ambient medium

[@German_CG_Artist]

I am so happy to know that ive seen it in real live

[@justanotherfella4585]

There’s me thinking that this is pretty recent stuff & then realising that 1995 is twenty-six years ago. Time really does speed up as you get older.

[@stephendoherty1275]

Granddad said, "Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer to the end you get, the faster it goes"!

[@mikailvito7200]

I refuse to believe that 1995 is not 5 years ago.

[@freesk8]

I think it's pronounced "pee-toe tube." French word. Silent T on the end.

[@gojewla]

He talks so fast, no wonder he misread that!

[@user-zh9kc7tw4n]

The bigger problem with Thrust vectoring is that it reduces the power and with the manouvers you redece the speed and energy making yourself more of a sitting duck. The manovuers looks great though..

[@robstone4537]

Yeah it’s a bit like watching guys do burnouts on a Friday night at the beach front and thinking that guy is going to win the race on Sunday.

[@policerKJO]

Imagine , if you will, an f-16 variant with wing and canards similar to the x-31and also thrust vectoring!

[@spartanx9293]

F16s with thrust vectoring worked it was viewed as unnecessary