The F10F Skylance was a multirole, carrier based fighter built for the navy in 1956. After the first flight of the YF-10F, the navy ordered 400 F10F aircraft for service, though only 292 F10F-1 aircraft and 38 RF10F aircraft were delivered on account that American Air Corp. was purchased by Global Technologies Inc. in 1979 and was eliminated from the Global Technologies subsidiaries in 1988. Development began in September of 1953 under contract N282 of the U.S Navy defense department. The prototype of the plane was completed in 1955 and its first flight took place on September 18th of 1954. The prototype was described as having “great low altitude flight characteristics and a great top speed at high altitudes.” The aircraft was not without its flaws though. During carrier testing, pilots noticed the violent nose-down tendencies at low speeds and the Turborail T-4400 High-Bypass turbojet would stall out if it did not receive enough air during landings and maneuvers, which could cause dangerous spin stall movements and potentially fatal crashes. The first prototype, YF-10A 162767 was without infrared systems and guns, though made up for it with its potent AIM-9P Sidewinder missiles. The prototype was lost after a hydraulic leak led to a failure and the elevator locked and stopped the plane from pulling up, causing it to go nose down into a large open area somewhere outside of Mojave California, leaving a large plume of black smoke for the residents of the town to witness. The pilot thankfully ejected with minor injuries. This would not be the first YF10 aircraft to be destroyed. After some research and tweaks of the T-4400 engine, the issue with compressor stalling would be fixed and thus provide more power and have less of a chance to fail. Many tests at NAWS China Lake proved that the engine was inferior and would make the plane feel sluggish and heavy during maneuvering and training (this would later be addressed by the introduction of the Pratt & Whitney TF-30 Low-Bypass turbofan. The later models of the YF10 would have the new engine installed and be described as “hot rods” by the test
pilots. The YF10F-1, the second iteration of the Skylance, would have an improved fire control system, two Colt Browning 20mm cannons, and provisions for dumb bombs and rockets. Testing followed through for two months until the next version would be available for evaluation and flight studies.
AIM-7 Sparrow (missile by ReinMcDeer)
Early testing began with the AIM-7 Sparrow missile in June of 1957. The missile would prove incredibly potent on the Skylance platform and therefore provisions would be installed under the air intakes.
AIM-9P (missile by Rexzion)
The plane was generally used for AIM-9P and AIM-9E use and therefore would be tested with them to begin with. There had been a few instances where the Sidewinder missile would fly from the underwing rails and damage the leasing edge control surface, though this was combated by giving the missile a small delay before the rocket engine would ignite.