what are some experimental/tech demo aircraft that you wished would have been picked for mass production instead of what we got today

[-]

WesternBlueRanger@reddit

Yeah, the X-32 struggled with the STOVL trials.

Boeing went with a familiar, but more limited layout that resembled the Harrier in approach.

Lockheed Martin bet the farm on the lift fan design; it was riskier, but had considerably more performance margins and was resistant to hot gases from the exhaust circling back into the engine air intakes, which caused the X-32's engine to loose thrust and overheat.

Lockheed then went a step further, demonstrating that their aircraft could take off vertically, go supersonic, and land vertically as well. Boeing had to remove parts off their test aircraft to demonstrate vertical take off and landing, and that impacted their ability to go supersonic. Lockheed showed that their design had far more performance margin, whilst it was clear that the X-32 was at the edge of its capability.

Also, the test design wasn't the same as the final design; the X-32's test aircraft were all delta winged. The final design was a more conventional wing and rear tail configuration; this was done because the performance requirements had been refined and the delta wing design would not meet the requirements, and it was proving difficult to build. Boeing promised that their final design would not require separate configurations.

[-]

AdhesivenessNo7808@reddit (OP)

Yeah, which is why I understand this ugly thing never got the green light,

I specifically liked the payload because of how the current US military operates, the Harrier approach to svtol was cheaper so that's why I liked it, but I understand why it didn't work , I'm just saying that if a parallel world existed out there where the x-32 was functionally operable during the demotit might have won instead of the f35

[-]

WesternBlueRanger@reddit

I don't think the X-32 would have been greenlit regardless of the STOVL issues.

The fact that Boeing was proposing a massive redesign from the test article to the proposed production vehicle was enough of an alarm bell to the DoD; the delta wing configuration wasn't going to meet requirements, and Boeing was having production issues with their wing design.

Lockheed's aircraft didn't change between the test article and what was proposed for the production variant. With the lift fan configuration proven, they were the closest to what would resemble a production article. And their design had more margin for growth, which was needed since the requirements changed in many key areas, which added weight and complexity to the aircraft.

[-]