J-20 5th Gen Fighter Thread VI

[taxiya]

Holy f*ck, I just saw that! At first I was like, "What is this guy talking about?" Then I stared at the picture and saw it. Damn, that is clever - I've been looking at pictures of this plane for years and I never noticed that detail.

hehe, very often the secrete is hidden right in front of our eyes.

 

[latenlazy]

For the canard to work to its purpose, it has to be on different plane than the wing on the same side. Conventional aircraft does that, Rafale, Eurofighter and JAS-39. However that will increase RCS.

J-20's solution is very smart, by having different angle, the canard does the same job as on different plane. The trick is that, the canard is coplanar with the main wing on the other side of the fuselage, this arrangement reduces the RCS to the same level as if they are coplanar to the same side main wing as you suggested.

Hmm. Never thought about the dihedral/anhedral arrangement that way. That’s actually very clever, and is also consistent with the approach they took to reduce specular angles on other dimensions of the plane’s geometry.

Edit: Looks like the Rafale took the same approach.

 

[taxiya]

Hmm. Never thought about the dihedral/anhedral arrangement that way. That’s actually very clever, and is also consistent with the approach they took to reduce specular angles on other dimensions of the plane’s geometry.

Edit: Looks like the Rafale took the same approach.

I am afraid that Rafale is not taking the same approach. Compare them at the right angle and photographing vantage point.
Rafale is close-coped canard, while J-20 is far-coped canard closer to Eurofighter. The two configurations work very differently. I would guess that it would be very difficult/meaningless for Rafale to do the same while maintaining its canard at that vertical position.

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[latenlazy]

I am afraid that Rafale is not taking the same approach. Compare them at the right angle and photographing vantage point.

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At least based on the frontal view from the diagram that was shared it looks like the canards on the opposite end are coplanar with the wing. This geometric relationship may not hold at other angles for the Rafale but seems to for the frontal view. Of course I’m basing it off a diagram, not a photo. Only sharing initial impressions on my part.

 

[taxiya]

At least based on the frontal view from the diagram that was shared it looks like the canards on the opposite end are coplanar with the wing. This geometric relationship may not hold at other angles for the Rafale but seems to for the frontal view. Of course I’m basing it off a diagram, not a photo. Only sharing initial impressions on my part.

I think that diagram was way off on two points:

1. Rafale's canard root is vertically on a higher plane than the main wing. This can also be seen on photos of side view. Also can be seen is that Rafale's main wing root entends forward under the canard (see below).
2. From no photo the canards are shown canted.

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[latenlazy]

I think that diagram was way off on two points:

1. Rafale's canard root is vertically on a higher plane than the main wing. This can been seen on photos of side view. Also can be seen is that Rafale's main wing root entends forward under the canard (see below).
2. From no photo the canards are shown canted.

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Looks like you’re right.

 

[taxiya]

Looks like you’re right.

that is a perfect photo to show everything I was trying to say, thanks.

 

[james smith esq]

For the canard to work to its purpose, it has to be on different plane than the wing on the same side. Conventional aircraft does that, Rafale, Eurofighter and JAS-39.[...]

As did the Mikoyan Project 1.44/1.42, which it has been supposed by some, that the J-20 design either was based upon, or copied. Obviously, NOT!!!

And, don’t forget the J-10!

 

[Hyperwarp]

Canards of the J-20 always reminds me of the Naval YF-23 proposal (Canards, all-moving tails).

For me a J-20 v2.0 that looks like it would be extra cool. One of my personal favorites is off-course the tailless X-36.

NATF-23 proposal

X-36

 

[Air Force Brat]

Canards of the J-20 always reminds me of the Naval YF-23 proposal (Canards, all-moving tails).

For me a J-20 v2.0 that looks like it would be extra cool. One of my personal favorites is off-course the tailless X-36.

NATF-23 proposal

X-36

However there should be no dispute from anyone that Chengdu's J-20 is a "clean sheet" design aircraft, with Dr. Song and Yang Wei's heart and genius, "Stealthy" and gorgeous, she's one of a kind.

and all the talk about redesigning this airplane is just that, the basic planform and layout are near perfection, they WON'T mess with it! It does exactly what it was designed to do, and does it in its present configuration, WS-15's will only be gravy on top.