Warbird Information Exchange

In another recent thread, I mentioned that last month's AOPA Pilot magazine had a "Test Pilot" quiz which asked what was the largest American single-engine aircraft built and deployed during World War 2. They claimed that the answer was the Grumman Avenger but the maximum weight that they specifically noted was actually less than that of the somewhat smaller Republic P-47 Thunderbolt according to at least one of my reference books.

Either way that got me to wondering - what is the largest (either by weight or physical size - length / wingspan / height) "single-seat" aircraft of any type and also specifically a "fighter" too?

It's not single-seat and you could probably argue it's only nominally a "fighter" but the Lockheed YF-12A variant of the SR-71 Blackbird was (according to Wikipedia) 102 ft long with a wingspan of 56 ft and weighed in at just under 61,000 lbs.

I think that that may be a good starting point...

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Hughes XF-11?

The A-12 was the single seat, CIA version of the SR-71. That's what comes to mind for me... I imagine it takes the weight and length categories, with the U-2 maybe taking the span category.

I think that it might be more useful if you would also take the trouble to look up and post the weights and/or dimensions by which you think your nominations might qualify....

Just sayin'.

From what I was able to look up, the XF-11 had an impressive 101 ft wingspan - which may be hard to beat - but its gross weight was "only" 58,300 lbs and it was technically a two-seat aircraft, intended to carry a navigator/photographer.

Also, apparently the "F" part of XF-11 designation was not for "fighter" so much as it was still being used for photo-recon aircraft at the time (just like the F-4 and F-5 variants of the P-38 and the F-6 version of the P-51.)

And in regard to the U-2, obviously it was never a fighter either and some variants were two-seats, but even the basic, original single-seat version was impressive in that the wingspan is listed as 103 ft - but max. take-off weight was only 40,000 lbs.

Actually, now that I have looked around more online*, those numbers seem to be the ones for the later U-2R / TR-1 variants - one of which also says the wingspan was actually 104.8 ft - and that the earlier U-2A/C/D variants had wings only 80 ft 2 in across and gross weights of only around 24,100 lbs.

*See here: https://www.blackbirds.net/u2/u2specs.html

_________________
“To invent the airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything!” - Otto Lilienthal

Natasha: "You got plan, darling?"
Boris: "I always got plan. They don't ever work, but I always got one!"

Remember, any dummy can be a dumb-ass...
In order to be a smart-ass, you first have to be "smart"
and to be a wise-ass, you actually have to be "wise"

If you're talking American, the YF-12 is going to be hard to beat, especially since it did fly and wasn't just a drawing board exercise.

However, if you're opening it up to the world, I think you could make a good argument for the MiG-25 Foxbat, with a Maximum Takeoff Weight of nearly 81,000 lbs. In size, however, it was half the length and had a 10 ft. shorter wingspan.

The Su-27 is also heavier but not physically bigger with a MTOW of just over 67,000 lbs.

I think the largest "fighter" ever built however was the Tupolev Tu-28, a 2 seat bomber interceptor. It was 98 1/2 feet long, with a 57 1/2 foot wingspan and a MTOW of over 96,000 lbs. It's combat weight was even heavier than the YF-12 at 88,185 lbs.

The Myasishchev M-55, NATO reporting name "Mystic" laughs at the cute little U-2. Not a fighter, but single seat, 122' span, 75' length, 52,000lbs MTOW as per Wiki

While not the biggest, she's still pretty big.

Might be good to better define the question.
Single seat only, or single pilot operation?
Largest by physical dimension (span etc) or MTOW
Fighter/interceptor/recon/research?

Until you add 'role' in there a Vostok is probably the winner for single seat MTOW

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

A fighter in name....The F-111, a large aircraft by any standards.

Any long range fighter of today is huge by "fighter" standards. Take a good look at a F-15, F-22, Eurofighter or SU-whatever. The need for twin engines, fuel and electronics have made fighters huge. Go to your model shelf and compare a P-51 to a F-100...huge difference in size in just 10 years.

The efforts to make a smaller, more nimble and cheaper fighter, namely Kelly Johnson's F-104 (the USAF A and C variants) and Petters' Gnat in the UK were only partially successful because Western customers wanted/needed more than just "simple" day fighters.

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Though this thread was about single seaters- we seem to be drifting (as we often do is such threads ) with F-111's, Arrows, Tu-28's, YF-12's...

The MiG-25, F-22, Su-35, J-11 are all similar, and J-20 and PAK/FA (neither operational yet/ever?) are all pretty close in length, span and MTOW if we are just talking single seat fighters/interceptors, size and weight wise. wiki:
F-22, 62' overall, span 44', MTOW ~83,000 lbs
MiG-25, 64' overall, span 45', MTOW ~80,000
Su-35, 72' overall, span 50, MTOW ~76,000
PAK/FA, 65'overall, span 45, MTOW ~77,000
J-20, 66' overall, span 44, MTOW ~80,000?

Still sticking with the Mystic for single seat span.

Nope: Mystic wingspan 'only' 37.46 m (122 ft 11 in). Solar Impulse 2 wingspan: 71.9 m (236 ft)

Ahh good catch, forgot about the Solar Impulse- I had looked up the Global Flyer which went around the world solo (114' span). Perhaps the Impulse does not exude the same fervor of fire breathing war birds, but a notable engineering and flight achievement.

Fair point: I do like Paul Allen's Stratolaunch too: not single-seat but a monster nevertheless.

well since we are drifting, I'll submit the Northrop F-15 Reporter.
Originally a two-seater, the firebomber conversion was a single seater.

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Rajay,

I think it may be the newer Sukhoi Su-35 which is a 76,000 lb jet...three tons heavier than the(two seat) CF-105! Uncharacteristic of large aircraft, she is very good at her mission so far.....

Dimensionally she is also very very close to the Arrow and RA-5 Vigilante which is also an interesting comparison, and also similar in size to the two seat RA-5c which tipped the scales at 79,588. As for piston fighters...perhaps the Boeing F8B. It wasn't a success.