"Switchblade"
Name would've made more sense on a swing-wing aircraft, but I couldn't think of any other name for this one until AFTER I already named it...
However,
Switchblade is still better- or at least more proper for a fighter- than its "actual" nickname, Polecat. I also just thought of "Balisong," which would've been awesome given the X-29 kinda looks like a butterfly knife mid-fold. These names are all unofficial, though, because the X-29 didn't have an official name.
Now, onto the aircraft performance itself. Despite being largely based on the F-5E Tiger, its forward-swept wing and canards create a significantly different flight model, featuring extreme maneuverability but reduced stability. However, with skill and a bit of experience, the X-29 can be an incredibly dangerous ally- or enemy- that can beat almost any fighter in close-quarters combat.
PEA Lore:
During The Scourge War, X-29 was the leader of "Tiger Legion," which was basically just a horde of F-5Es, along with a couple early F-5s, F-11s, and later F-20s. This absolute barrage of fighters actually had strength comparable to that of Scourge Jet swarms, meaning that their presence would've changed the tide of basically any battle.
Unfortunately though, would've. See, to keep a bit of humor in the Scourge War, I decided X-29 has to suffer being the center of a running joke in which he and his squad always arrive to the battle late, sometimes even after the skirmish has ended completely, meaning that while he and his clan absolutely have the potential, skill, and strength to save any battle, he is always late for the sake of humor. Don't worry though; he'll have his cathartic moment to arrive on time when it matters most.
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Predecessor [PEA-G] Grumman X-29 Switchblade
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 26.1ft (8.0m)
- Length 48.9ft (14.9m)
- Height 13.7ft (4.2m)
- Empty Weight N/A
- Loaded Weight 22,566lbs (10,235kg)
Performance
- Power/Weight Ratio 1.742
- Wing Loading 99.1lbs/ft2 (483.8kg/m2)
- Wing Area 227.7ft2 (21.2m2)
- Drag Points 2722
Parts
- Number of Parts 88
- Control Surfaces 7
- Performance Cost 445
@CrestelAeronautics More than likely, despite his currently humorous role in the war, I'd say he's one of the least morally unhinged PEAs in participation, so most likely he'd be a Knight Ace (if he can actually get enough victories to become an ace lol)
@LunarEclipseSP Thanks! :D
For PEA-G4, I've mainly being focusing on three things:
1. Actual part efficiency, even though some of the more recent ones are a bit up there in terms of part count, I've tried my best to reduce, remove, or otherwise eliminate parts that don't improve performance or visual quality (a problem which PEA Gen 1 and 2 suffered, while Gen 3 leaned on it so much that it sacrificed aesthetics)
2. Flight performance, take the PEA-G FA-18F vs the PEA FA-18F. Due to my lack of knowledge back then, many PEAs were unstable fliers (though there were a few gems like the F-86H). Knowing what I know now though, I've managed to make almost all PEA-Gs fly incredibly stable while retaining a fairly realistic degree of agility. Also worth noting: most of them have been tested and confirmed to be AI-compatible for dogfights and landing at Wright Airport.
3. As you said, aesthetics and accuracy, while some of the first-second gen PEAs looked fairly good (take the Bearcat for example), I've used a variety of tricks and methods to ensure that each PEA-G doesn't just perform well, but looks the part! After all, the true nature of PEA is "part efficiency without sacrificing aesthetics," in the words of Chii himself!
@StockPlanesRemastered Wait really? I didn't know that when I chose the name, that's cool! :D
@TheUltimatePlaneLover
So…
According to the description, and Larry “Solo Wing Pixy” Foulke’s Ace Classifications, he’s the 3rd type of ace? Correct?
i will be waiting for that moment :))
I love this PEA-G4 series because it's mainly focusing on shape accuracy.
It was going to be named Switchblade the program was successful. But like the SU47 program they found that it suffered from earoilastic twist and wing flutter.
I'm working on a F37
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