NASA TO TEST FIGHTER DESIGN AT EDWARDS : TAILLESS AIRCRAFT TO DEMONSTRATE INCREASED STEALTH CAPABILITY, AGILITY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Providing a glimpse of what future fighter aircraft might look like, NASA and McDonnell Douglas plan to fly a tailless aircraft - a design that holds promise for stealthier, more agile fighter jets.

To demonstrate tailless flight, the program will fly two remote-piloted, 28 percent scale aircraft at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The two X-36 aircraft will use ailerons that split to provide yaw control and that raise and lower in a normal fashion to provide roll control.

The program is a joint effort by NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., and McDonnell Douglas. Plans call for making 25 flights in 1997 using Edwards' dry lake beds.

``It does not fly well on its own like a paper airplane or balsa wood airplane,'' said George Kidwell, acting deputy director of aeronautics at Ames. ``It's very unstable. It depends on its flight controls to fly.''

Each of the two X-36 aircraft weighs 1,270 pounds, and is made of carbon epoxy and machined aluminum. Each stands 3 feet high, is 18 feet long and has a wingspan of about 10.4 feet.

By eliminating the tail, an aircraft will have less weight, providing for more range, and less drag. Another advantage of a tailless design is that it makes the aircraft harder to detect by radar.

The X-36 will use a technology called thrust vectoring that was developed on a number of test programs at Edwards over the past several years. Thrust vectoring involves directing the blast from a jet engine to improve an aircraft's agility.

Researchers expect the X-36 will be more agile than the F-18, regarded as the most nimble jet used by the U.S. military.

A flight schedule has not been set at this point. In the wake of a series of accidents involving unmanned aircraft, the latest occurring Nov. 12 at Dryden, Ames officials decided to bring NASA engineers who are not involved with the program to conduct an independent review prior to conducting flight tests.

``Pending that review, we'll establish a flight schedule,'' said Rod Bailey, Ames' X-36 project manager.

The Nov. 12 accident involved an aircraft called Theseus, a twin-engine, remote-piloted aircraft. Theseus broke apart and crashed on a dry lake bed near Rogers Dry Lake during a flight test.

Program officials hope to begin conducting flight tests soon, before winter rains make Edwards' dry lakes unusable, Kidwell said.

The X-36 aircraft were produced by McDonnell Douglas' Phantom Works, a Skunk Works-like company that is trying to produce products in less time and at significant lower costs.

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Photo: Designed without a tail and piloted by remote control, this experimental McDonnell Douglas-NASA X-36 is slated to undergo testing for stealth and maneuverability at Edwards Air Force Base.

Photo courtesy NASA