Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia

Role	Experimental aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Scaled Composites
First flight	11 October 2017
Introduction	2017
Status	Under development (2017)
Number built	Two
Developed into	Scaled Composites 437 Collaborative combat aircraft)

The Scaled Composites Sierra (Model 401) is an American experimental aircraft, designed and produced by Scaled Composites of Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, introduced in 2017. The two examples built were constructed for an unnamed customer to demonstrate "advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques" for the production of research aircraft for both industry and government. First flight was on 11 October 2017.

Design

The Model 437 began as a conceptual design, based on the Model 401, exploring a multi-mission low-cost attritable aircraft. The Model 437 Vanguard is a crewed variant of the original concept powered by a single Pratt & Whitney 535 engine with approximately 3,400 pounds of thrust. The aircraft has a wingspan of 41 feet and is 41 feet long with a gross takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds. After completion of envelope expansion, the M437 Vanguard will have a range of approximately 3000 nautical miles and an endurance of 6 hours. The aircraft can carry up to 2,000 pounds of payload in multiple locations including an internal weapons bay sized to accommodate two AIM-120s.

The Model 401 is a single-seat experimental prototype of broadly conventional configuration. The pressurized cockpit is enclosed by a bubble canopy and the plane incorporates a single jet engine and retractable tricycle landing gear

A low-wing cantilever monoplane, it has lightly swept constant-chord wings with trapezoidal inner sections It has a butterfly or V tail.

The aircraft is made from composite material. It has a 38 ft (11.6 m) span wing and a fuselage also of 38 ft (11.6 m) in length. Empty weight is 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) and gross take off weight is 8,000 lb (3,629 kg). The engine used is a single Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5D powerplant, producing 3,045 lbf (14 kN; 1,381 kgf) of thrust.

Aero Vodochody

Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) Model 437 aircraft by Scaled Composites
First flight 11 October 2017

General Info

Crew: one
Length: 38 ft (12 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft (12 m)
Empty weight: 4,000 lb (1,814 kg)
Gross weight: 8,000 lb (3,629 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5D turbofan, 3,045 lbf (13.54 kN) thrust

Powerplant

Scaled Composites 401 experimental/demonstrator aircraft

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 0.6
Endurance: 3 hours
Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Armament

Up to 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) of stores on five external hardpoints
Up to 570 kg (1,250 lb) of external fuel on two "wet" hardpoints

Special Links Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled)
Model 437 aircraft by Scaled Composites

Links to Youtube & Others

The Model 437 Vanguard, the latest experimental aircraft from ‘bleeding-edge’ aerospace firm Scaled Composites, flew for the first time yesterday, and now we have received new details about it, and specifically why this stealthy drone concept has a cockpit, as well as how it was designed and constructed. The process of turning the Vanguard, which first emerged earlier this month, into a reality notably gave parent company Northrop Grumman a valuable opportunity to demonstrate new digital engineering and advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Scaled Composites Model 437 aircraft

2015: The first customer for the L-39NG Stage 1 was announced at the Paris Air Show in June 2015. LOM Praha, a Czech state-owned enterprise, has ordered the L-39NG for use at its Flight Training Center at Pardubice Airport.

Youtube Link

The War Zone delved into these techniques and much more about the crewed Model 437 in an interview with Colin Miller, Vice President for Engineering within Northrop Grumman’s aeronautics sector.

Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) Model 437 aircraft by Scaled Composites
First flight 11 October 2017